Soil sampling design and sampling techniques for soil properties monitoring – common difficulties related to forest soils

Mathematical models and statistical analysis are key instruments in soil science scientific research as they can describe and/or predict the current state of a soil system. These tools allow us to explore the behavior of soil related processes and properties as well as to generate new hypotheses for future experimentation. A good model and analysis of soil properties variations, that permit us to extract suitable conclusions and estimating spatially correlated variables at unsampled locations, is clearly dependent on the amount and quality of data and of the robustness techniques and estimators. On the other hand, the quality of data is obviously dependent from a competent data collection procedure and from a capable laboratory analytical work. Following the standard soil sampling protocols available, soil samples should be collected according to key points such as a convenient spatial scale, landscape homogeneity (or non-homogeneity), land color, soil texture, land slope, land solar exposition. Obtaining good quality data from forest soils is predictably expensive as it is labor intensive and demands many manpower and equipment both in field work and in laboratory analysis. Also, the sampling collection scheme that should be used on a data collection procedure in forest field is not simple to design as the sampling strategies chosen are strongly dependent on soil taxonomy. In fact, a sampling grid will not be able to be followed if rocks at the predicted collecting depth are found, or no soil at all is found, or large trees bar the soil collection. Considering this, a proficient design of a soil data sampling campaign in forest field is not always a simple process and sometimes represents a truly huge challenge. In this work, we present some difficulties that have occurred during two experiments on forest soil that were conducted in order to study the spatial variation of some soil physical-chemical properties. Two different sampling protocols were considered for monitoring two types of forest soils located in NW Portugal: umbric regosol and lithosol. Two different equipments for sampling collection were also used: a manual auger and a shovel. Both scenarios were analyzed and the results achieved have allowed us to consider that monitoring forest soil in order to do some mathematical and statistical investigations needs a sampling procedure to data collection compatible to established protocols but a pre-defined grid assumption often fail when the variability of the soil property is not uniform in space. In this case, sampling grid should be conveniently adapted from one part of the landscape to another and this fact should be taken into consideration of a mathematical procedure.

Transformation of Medicago truncatula with the arginine decarboxylase gene to modify polyamine metabolism toward water deficit resistance

Dissertation submitted to obtain a Ph.D. (Doutoramento) degree in Biology at the Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica da Universidade Nova de Lisboa

The hyperaccumulator Sedum plumbizincicola harbors metal-resistant endophytic bacteria that improve its phytoextraction capacity in multi-metal contaminated soil

Endophyte-assisted phytoremediation has recently been suggested as a successful approach for ecological restoration of metal contaminated soils, however little information is available on the influence of endophytic bacteria on the phytoextraction capacity of metal hyperaccumulating plants in multi-metal polluted soils. The aims of our study were to isolate and characterize metal-resistant and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) utilizing endophytic bacteria from tissues of the newly discovered Zn/Cd hyperaccumulator Sedum plumbizincicola and to examine if these endophytic bacterial strains could improve the efficiency of phytoextraction of multi-metal contaminated soils. Among a collection of 42 metal resistant bacterial strains isolated from the tissues of S. plumbizincicola grown on Pb/Zn mine tailings, five plant growth promoting endophytic bacterial strains (PGPE) were selected due to their ability to promote plant growth and to utilize ACC as the sole nitrogen source. The five isolates were identified as Bacillus pumilus E2S2, Bacillus sp. E1S2, Bacillus sp. E4S1, Achromobacter sp. E4L5 and Stenotrophomonas sp. E1L and subsequent testing revealed that they all exhibited traits associated with plant growth promotion, such as production of indole-3-acetic acid and siderophores and solubilization of phosphorus. These five strains showed high resistance to heavy metals (Cd, Zn and Pb) and various antibiotics. Further, inoculation of these ACC utilizing strains significantly increased the concentrations of water extractable Cd and Zn in soil. Moreover, a pot experiment was conducted to elucidate the effects of inoculating metal-resistant ACC utilizing strains on the growth of S. plumbizincicola and its uptake of Cd, Zn and Pb in multi-metal contaminated soils. Out of the five strains, B. pumilus E2S2 significantly increased root (146%) and shoot (17%) length, fresh (37%) and dry biomass (32%) of S. plumbizincicola as well as plant Cd uptake (43%), whereas Bacillus sp. E1S2 significantly enhanced the accumulation of Zn (18%) in plants compared with non-inoculated controls. The inoculated strains also showed high levels of colonization in rhizosphere and plant tissues. Results demonstrate the potential to improve phytoextraction of soils contaminated with multiple heavy metals by inoculating metal hyperaccumulating plants with their own selected functional endophytic bacterial strains.

Fate Hazardous elements in soils surrounding a coal-fired power plant complex

Proceedings of the 13th International UFZ-Deltares Conference on Sustainable Use and Management of Soil, Sediment and Water Resources - 9–12 June 2015 • Copenhagen, Denmark

Municipal solid waste management system: decision support through systems analysis

Thesis submitted to the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Engineering

Risk-based decision support system for life cycle management of industrials plants

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores

Unveiling the mating system and genetic variability in the yeast Kwoniella mangroviensis using molecular approaches

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Genética Molecular e Biomedicina

Long-term behaviour of railway transitions under dynamic loading application to soft soil sites

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia Civil

Aqueous biphasic system based on cholinium ionic liquids: extraction of biologically active phenolic acids

Phenolic acids are aromatic secondary plant metabolites, widely spread throughout the plant kingdom. Due to their biological and pharmacological properties, they have been playing an important role in phytotherapy and consequently techniques for their separation and purification are in need. This thesis aims at exploring new sustainable separation processes based on ionic liquids (ILs) in the extraction of biologically active phenolic acids. For that purpose, three phenolic acids with similar chemical structures were selected: cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid and caffeic acid. In the last years, it has been shown that ionic liquids-based aqueous biphasic systems (ABSs) are valid alternatives for the extraction, recovery and purification of biomolecules when compared to conventional ABS or extractions carried out with organic solvents. In particular, cholinium-based ILs represent a clear step towards a greener chemistry, while providing means for the implementation of efficient techniques for the separation and purification of biomolecules. In this work, ABSs were implemented using cholinium carboxylate ILs using either high charge density inorganic salt (K3PO4) or polyethylene glycol (PEG) to promote the phase separation of aqueous solutions containing three different phenolic acids. These systems allow for the evaluation of effect of chemical structure of the anion on the extraction efficiency. Only one imidazolium-based IL was used in order to establish the effect of the cation chemical structure. The selective extraction of one single acid was also researched. Overall, it was observed that phenolic acids display very complex behaviours in aqueous solutions, from dimerization to polymerization and also hetero-association are quite frequent phenomena, depending on the pH conditions. These phenomena greatly hinder the correct quantification of these acids in solution.

Analysis of a controversial decision process: the case of the pumped hydro storage power plant Atdorf in Germany

Based on the report for the unit “Métodos Interactivos de Participação e Decisão A” (Interactive methods of participation and decision A), coordinated by Prof. Lia Maldonado Teles de Vasconcelos and Prof. Nuno Miguel Ribeiro Videira Costa. This unit was provided for the PhD Program in Technology Assessment in 2015/2016.

Earthwork optimization system for sustainable highway construction

In highway construction, earthworks refer to the tasks of excavation, transportation, spreading and compaction of geomaterial (e.g. soil, rockfill and soil-rockfill mixture). Whereas relying heavily on machinery and repetitive processes, these tasks are highly susceptible to optimization. In this context Artificial Intelligent techniques, such as Data Mining and modern optimization can be applied for earthworks. A survey of these applications shows that they focus on the optimization of specific objectives and/or construction phases being possible to identify the capabilities and limitations of the analyzed techniques. Thus, according to the pinpointed drawbacks of these techniques, this paper describes a novel intelligent earthwork optimization system, capable of integrating DM, modern optimization and GIS technologies in order to optimize the earthwork processes throughout all phases of design and construction work. This integration system allows significant savings in time, cost and gas emissions contributing for a more sustainable construction.

Litterfall production in intact and selectively logged forests in southern of Amazonia as a function of basal area of vegetation and plant density

Nutrient recycling in the forest is linked to the production and decomposition of litter, which are essential processes for forest maintenance, especially in regions of nutritionally poor soils. Human interventions in forest such as selecttive logging may have strong impacts on these processes. The objectives of this study were to estimate litterfall production and evaluate the influence of environmental factors (basal area of vegetation, plant density, canopy cover, and soil physicochemical properties) and anthropogenic factors (post-management age and exploited basal area) on this production, in areas of intact and exploited forest in southern Amazonia, located in the northern parts of Mato Grosso state. This study was conducted at five locations and the average annual production of litterfall was 10.6 Mg ha-1 year-1, higher than the values for the Amazon rainforest. There were differences in litterfall productions between study locations. Effects of historical logging intensity on litterfall production were not significant. Effects of basal area of vegetation and tree density on litterfall production were observed, highlighting the importance of local vegetation characteristics in litterfall production. This study demonstrated areas of transition between the Amazonia-Cerrado tend to have a higher litterfall production than Cerrado and Amazonia regions, and this information is important for a better understanding of the dynamics of nutrient and carbon cycling in these transition regions.

Development of an intelligent earthwork optimization system

Tese de Doutoramento em Engenharia Civil.

Characterization of microbial populations in a wastewater treatment plant focusing on Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Dissertação de mestrado em Bioengenharia

Inducción sistémica de la biosintesis de metabolitos secundarios en plantas aromáticas mediada por rizobacterias. Systemic induction of secondary metablolites biosynthesis in aromatic plants by rhizobacteria.

El uso de microorganismos como inoculantes para incrementar la disponibilidad y toma de nutrientes por parte de los cultivos, es una nueva tecnología que ha dado buenos resultados, observándose un incremento en la emergencia, vigor, mayor desarrollo en la parte aérea y de raíces, registrándose aumentos considerables de los rendimientos en cultivos de interés comercial. Esto es debido a que los microorganismos PGPR (Plant Growth promoting rhizobacteria) sintetizan ciertas sustancias reguladoras del crecimiento como giberelinas, citoquininas y auxinas; las cuales estimulan la densidad y longitud de los pelos radicales, aumentando así la cantidad y longitud de las raíces de los vegetales. Así, se incrementa la capacidad de absorción de agua y nutrientes, haciendo que las plantas sean más vigorosas, productivas y tolerantes a condiciones climáticas adversas, como sequías o heladas. Otro factor benéfico es que ciertos microorganismos solubilizan nutrientes poco móviles en el suelo como el caso del fósforo, segundo nutriente, después del nitrógeno en importancia para el crecimiento de los cultivos. Estos microorganismos también tienen una función muy importante en el control natural de agentes patógenos, a través de la inducción del sistema de defensa en las plantas, aumentando su resistencia a enfermedades, a través de la producción de compuestos bacterianos como antibióticos y sideróforos. Los variados mecanismos mediante los cuales la acción PGPR se lleva a cabo no son plenamente conocidos y, por lo tanto, es necesario determinar con precisión su efecto particular en la biología de la planta beneficiada. Las plantas aromáticas y medicinales inoculadas con microorganismos (rizobacterias) registran un incremento en varios parámetros de crecimiento vegetal (peso fresco parte aérea, peso seco de raíz, número de hojas, etc) y en el rendimiento de aceite esencial (AE). El aumento de la síntesis, y la variación de los porcentajes relativos de los componentes principales de AE en plantas aromáticas, como efecto de la inoculación, podría considerarse como una respuesta defensiva de la planta frente a la colonización de microorganismos dado que varios AE poseen propiedades antimicrobianas. El incremento de estos metabolitos también se ha registrado como respuesta frente a la herbivoría. En el presente proyecto se propone dilucidar la existencia de una relación entre las defensas inducidas por rizobacterias con la producción de metabolitos secundarios en plantas aromaticas y medicinales. The use of microorganisms as inoculants to increase the availability and nutrient uptake by crops, is a new technology that has been successfully applied, with an increase in the emergence, vigor, greater development in the shoot and roots, recording significant increases in yields of crop with commercial interest. This is because microorganisms PGPR (Plant Growth Promoting rhizobacteria) synthesize certain growth regulating substances such as gibberellins, cytokinins and auxins, which stimulate the density and length of root hairs, increasing the number and length of roots. Thus, increase the capacity of absorbing water and nutrients, make the plants more vigorous, productive and tolerant to adverse climatic conditions such as drought or frost.Another beneficial factor is that some microorganisms solubilize nutrients mobile in the soil as the case of phosphorus, second nutrient after nitrogen important for plant growth. These organisms also have an important role in the natural control of pathogens through the induction of the plants defense system, increasing their resistance to disease through the production of compounds such as antibiotics and bacterial siderophores. The various mechanisms by which PGPR action takes place are not fully known and therefore it is necessary to accurately determine its particular effect on the biology of the specific plant benefit. Aromatic and medicinal plants inoculated with microorganisms (rhizobacteria) recorded an increase in several parameters of plant growth (shoot fresh weight, root dry weight, leaf number, etc) and essential oil yield (AE). The increase in the biosynthesis, and changes in the relative percentages of the main components of AE in aromatic plants inoculated with rizobacterias, could be regarded as a plant defense response against microbial colonization, since several AE have antimicrobial properties. The increase of these metabolites have also been recorded as a response to herbivory.