**Meet the editor**

Maria C. Hernandez-Soriano, Ph.D. received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Granada (Spain) in 2006, where she completed a M.S. in Agricultural Sciences in 2007. She carried out her thesis studies within an international agreement between the High Council for Scientific Research (Spain) and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), under the

direction of Dr M.D. Mingorance, Dr A. Peña and Prof. E. Smolders, receiving a PhD degree in Bioscience Engineering in June 2009. Dr Hernandez-Soriano has been awarded with a significant number of fellowships, including a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research in North Carolina State University, under the supervision of Prof. D. Hesterberg. She has made a significant number of research contributions published in prestigious international peer-review journals in the area of Soil Science, Environmental Sciences and Chemistry. Her work has been presented internationally in circa 30 conferences. Currently she is holding a Research Position at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven where she is interested in gaining insights into the composition and molecular characterization of organic matter.

Contents

**Preface IX**

**Section 1 Soil Quality Assessment 1**

Chapter 2 **Solute Transport in Soil 33**

**Brazilian Cerrado 87**

Sérgio Henrique Godinho Silva

**in Soil Erosion Models 111**

Antonio França de Freitas

**Land Degradation 139**

Chapter 1 **The Role of Soil Mineralogy, Geochemistry and Grain Size in**

Vito Summa and Maria Luigia Giannossi

S.E.A.T.M. van der Zee and A. Leijnse

Chapter 3 **Physical Indicators of Soil Quality in Oxisols Under**

**the Development of Mediterranean Badlands: A Review 3**

Diego Antonio França de Freitas, Marx Leandro Naves Silva, Nilton Curi, Mayesse Aparecida da Silva, Anna Hoffmann Oliveira and

Chapter 4 **Development of Topographic Factor Modeling for Application**

Chapter 5 **Integrated Indicators for the Estimation of Vulnerability to**

Simoniello, Maria Ragosta and Maria Macchiato

Anna Hoffmann Oliveira, Mayesse Aparecida da Silva, Marx Leandro Naves Silva, Nilton Curi, Gustavo Klinke Neto and Diego

Vito Imbrenda, Mariagrazia D'Emilio, Maria Lanfredi, Tiziana

## Contents

**Preface XIII**




Chapter 14 **The Role of Soil Properties in Plant Endemism – A Revision of**

Chapter 15 **Leachability and Vegetable Absorption of Heavy Metals from**

Chapter 16 **Response of Soil Microbial Biomass and Enzyme Activities**

**Changbai Mountain, Northeastern China 419** Jun Qiang Zheng, Ying Wang and Shi Jie Han

**Under Three Temperate Tree Species to Elevated CO2 in**

María Luisa Bárcenas-Argüello, Ma. del Carmen Gutiérrez-

Contents **VII**

**Conservation Strategies 381**

Castorena and Teresa Terrazas

**Sewage Sludge Biochar 399** Mieko Yachigo and Shinjiro Sato

**Section 4 Soil Microbial Processes 417**

Adam Łajczak

**Section 3 Soil Plant Interactions 365**

Chapter 13 **Effects of Water Stress on Germination and Growth of Wheat, Photosynthetic Efficiency and Accumulation of Metabolites 367** Rui Guo, Wei Ping Hao, Dao Zhi Gong, Xiu Li Zhong and Feng Xue Gu


Chapter 6 **Soil Contamination with Heavy Metals and Petroleum**

Mariusz Fotyma, Piotr Ochal and Jan Łabętowicz

Chapter 8 **Stability of Organic Matter in Anthropic Soils: A Spectroscopic**

Chapter 9 **Effect of Crop Rotation and Nitrogen Fertilization on the Quality and Quantity of Soil Organic Matter 249**

Chapter 10 **Soil Organic Matter Stability as Affected by Land Management**

Chapter 11 **Estimation of Soil Carbon Stock in Taiwan Arable Soils by Using Legacy Database and Digital Soil Mapping 311** Chun-Chih Tsui, Horng-Yuh Guo and Zueng-Sang Chen

Chapter 12 **Changes in Raised Bog Relief During the Holocene Case Study:**

Chapter 13 **Effects of Water Stress on Germination and Growth of Wheat, Photosynthetic Efficiency and Accumulation of**

Rui Guo, Wei Ping Hao, Dao Zhi Gong, Xiu Li Zhong and Feng Xue

**Polish Carpathian Mountains 337**

Elmira Saljnikov, Dragan Cakmak and Saule Rahimgalieva

Agnieszka Rutkowska and Dorota Pikuła

**in Steppe Ecosystems 269**

M.C. Hernandez-Soriano, A. Sevilla-Perea, B. Kerré and M.D.

**Strategies 175**

**VI** Contents

Silvia Fontanetti

**Approach 231**

Mingorance

Adam Łajczak

**Section 3 Soil Plant Interactions 365**

**Metabolites 367**

Gu

Chapter 7 **Potassium in Soils of Glacial Origin 205**

**Section 2 Soil Organic Matter Dynamics 229**

**Derivates: Impact on Edaphic Fauna and Remediation**

Raphael Bastão de Souza, Thiago Guilherme Maziviero, Cintya Aparecida Christofoletti, Tamaris Gimenez Pinheiro and Carmem

> Chapter 16 **Response of Soil Microbial Biomass and Enzyme Activities Under Three Temperate Tree Species to Elevated CO2 in Changbai Mountain, Northeastern China 419** Jun Qiang Zheng, Ying Wang and Shi Jie Han

Preface

ture, 1938.

features of plants.

soil productivity and microbial activity.

technicians, managers, students and the general public.

"Essentially, all life depends upon the soil. There can be no life without soil and no soil without life; they have evolved together." - Charles E. Kellogg, USDA Yearbook of Agricul‐

Natural processes and human activities alter the properties and quality of soils over time. The assessment of soil quality entails the evaluation of the capability of a soil to perform its functions not only in present scenarios but also how those functions can be preserved for future land use. Nowadays, it is well recognized that soil quality cannot be determined by single or direct parameters. Therefore, certain indicators have been established to estimate soil quality. Indicators are measurable properties of soil or plants that provide rigorous in‐ formation about the competence of soil functions. Indicators can be physical, chemical, and biological properties, processes, or characteristics of soils, but also morphological or visual

Currently, there is no official methodology for estimating the level of soil quality, but the growing interest in soil protection prompts abundant research to estimate soil quality in wide-ranging environmental scenarios. Overall, research often focus in the study of indica‐ tors such as soil organic matter in relation to soil fertility and structure, physical indicators associated to transport of water and nutrients and crop productivity potential, chemical in‐ dicators linked to plant and microbial activity thresholds or biological indicators related to

*Soil processes and current trends in quality assessment* is a book designed by InTech - Open Access Publisher in collaboration with recognized authors from Europe, South America, China and Japan, unifying biological, chemical and agronomic approaches to research on soil science.

This book is intended to provide a wide depiction of current research conducted in soil qual‐ ity assessment, encompassing general studies on soil processes, evaluation of different indi‐ cators of soil quality and diverse strategies for soil fitness amelioration. Concurrently, this book also provides insights into a suite of specific problems related with land management and soil pollution, from the impact of agricultural practices to the introduction of novel methodologies for soil pollution assessment. Therefore, this volume will be a valuable read‐ ing to a global audience of scientists, researchers, environmental educators, administrators,

The first section comprises seven chapters corresponding to different studies on soil quality assessment, including studies on specific evaluation of different indicators of soil quality and evaluation of relevant soil processes. Section 2 comprises five different studies on soil organic matter dynamic, a significant indicator of soil quality, for scenarios of main rele‐

## Preface

"Essentially, all life depends upon the soil. There can be no life without soil and no soil without life; they have evolved together." - Charles E. Kellogg, USDA Yearbook of Agricul‐ ture, 1938.

Natural processes and human activities alter the properties and quality of soils over time. The assessment of soil quality entails the evaluation of the capability of a soil to perform its functions not only in present scenarios but also how those functions can be preserved for future land use. Nowadays, it is well recognized that soil quality cannot be determined by single or direct parameters. Therefore, certain indicators have been established to estimate soil quality. Indicators are measurable properties of soil or plants that provide rigorous in‐ formation about the competence of soil functions. Indicators can be physical, chemical, and biological properties, processes, or characteristics of soils, but also morphological or visual features of plants.

Currently, there is no official methodology for estimating the level of soil quality, but the growing interest in soil protection prompts abundant research to estimate soil quality in wide-ranging environmental scenarios. Overall, research often focus in the study of indica‐ tors such as soil organic matter in relation to soil fertility and structure, physical indicators associated to transport of water and nutrients and crop productivity potential, chemical in‐ dicators linked to plant and microbial activity thresholds or biological indicators related to soil productivity and microbial activity.

*Soil processes and current trends in quality assessment* is a book designed by InTech - Open Access Publisher in collaboration with recognized authors from Europe, South America, China and Japan, unifying biological, chemical and agronomic approaches to research on soil science.

This book is intended to provide a wide depiction of current research conducted in soil qual‐ ity assessment, encompassing general studies on soil processes, evaluation of different indi‐ cators of soil quality and diverse strategies for soil fitness amelioration. Concurrently, this book also provides insights into a suite of specific problems related with land management and soil pollution, from the impact of agricultural practices to the introduction of novel methodologies for soil pollution assessment. Therefore, this volume will be a valuable read‐ ing to a global audience of scientists, researchers, environmental educators, administrators, technicians, managers, students and the general public.

The first section comprises seven chapters corresponding to different studies on soil quality assessment, including studies on specific evaluation of different indicators of soil quality and evaluation of relevant soil processes. Section 2 comprises five different studies on soil organic matter dynamic, a significant indicator of soil quality, for scenarios of main rele‐

vance. The chapters in section 3 approach another major indicator of soil quality as being soil-plant interactions. Soil microbial processes, a third major indicator, are addressed in the last chapter.

The sixteen chapters of this book can be read independently, but like different quality indi‐ cators they mutually benefit and enrich each other, providing a valuable composition that depicts current trends in soil quality assessment from a multidisciplinary approach.

For their excellent work, special thanks to the technical editor and sincere appreciation to Ms Romana Vukelic, Publishing Process Managers and Ms Danijela Duric, Head of Produc‐ tion, who coordinated the publication process of this volume and assisted me and the au‐ thors in completing our tasks smoothly and in a timely manner.

> **Dr. M.C. Hernández-Soriano** KU Leuven Belgium

**Section 1**

**Soil Quality Assessment**

## **Soil Quality Assessment**

vance. The chapters in section 3 approach another major indicator of soil quality as being soil-plant interactions. Soil microbial processes, a third major indicator, are addressed in the

The sixteen chapters of this book can be read independently, but like different quality indi‐ cators they mutually benefit and enrich each other, providing a valuable composition that

For their excellent work, special thanks to the technical editor and sincere appreciation to Ms Romana Vukelic, Publishing Process Managers and Ms Danijela Duric, Head of Produc‐ tion, who coordinated the publication process of this volume and assisted me and the au‐

**Dr. M.C. Hernández-Soriano**

KU Leuven Belgium

depicts current trends in soil quality assessment from a multidisciplinary approach.

thors in completing our tasks smoothly and in a timely manner.

last chapter.

X Preface

**Chapter 1**

**The Role of Soil Mineralogy, Geochemistry and Grain**

**Review**

Vito Summa and Maria Luigia Giannossi

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53050

ticular in the smectitic group.

erosion processes.

**1. Introduction**

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

**Size in the Development of Mediterranean Badlands: A**

It has long been recognized that the local Mediterranean climate, tectonics and human im‐ pact interact to determine the gross morphology and surface conditions of this landscape. However, attention has recently been given to the explanatory role of lithology, in particular

For instance, on *biancane* sites, Battaglia et al. [10] found clay fractions to be significantly high. These sites have been reported to possess also high percentage of clay minerals in par‐

Additionally, for these clay minerals, high exchangeable sodium on the exchange complex promotes dispersion (deflocculation) of the clays. The exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), sodium percentage (PS) and total dissolved salts

This chapter aims to contribute to the international framework of research on water ero‐ sion processes, and to identify critical emerging erosional risk factors. It focuses particu‐ larly on experimental research on material properties that could be the promoter of soil

Results show that many components of soil erosional response, such as soil dispersivity, badlands development or surface and subsurface processes like crusting or pipes, are

> © 2013 Summa and Giannossi; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2013 Summa and Giannossi; licensee InTech. This is a paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

strongly affected by spatially variable and temporally dynamic soil properties.

sediment size and clay mineralogy, in explaining the badland formation [1-9].

(TDS) are commonly used to measure the dispersive state.

**Chapter 1**
