Impaired Soil Health in Agricultural Areas Close to Fe-Ni Mines on Euboea Island, Greece, Caused by Increased Concentrations of Potentially Toxic Elements, and the Associated Impacts on Human Health
The effects of four main practices tillage versus no-tillage, and intensive grazing versus extens... more The effects of four main practices tillage versus no-tillage, and intensive grazing versus extensive grazing, applied in characteristic agricultural and grazing lands of Crete Island were evaluated in situ using nine soil quality indicators. The following nine representative indicators of soil quality were evaluated using the rapid visual assessment methodology adopted at European level in the context of the EU research project iSQAPER: susceptibility to water and wind erosion, surface ponding (under cropping), formation of tillage pan, soil color, soil porosity, soil structure, susceptibility to slaking, infiltration rate, and biodiversity status. These indicators were measured in 48 agricultural field-plots to adequately represent the four above-mentioned practices and the different types of geomorphological patterns existing in the area. Additionally, 38 agricultural fields were sampled in the topsoil to assess cultivation practices (tillage, no-tillage) on soil organic carbon, cation exchange capacity, exchangeable potassium, available phosphorous, and soil aggregate stability. Based on the indicators rating methodology, the appropriate statistical tests were applied and the soils under different managements were characterized in terms of their potential quality and their general agricultural value. The obtained data showed that in agricultural areas, significant differences were detected between tillage and no-tillage management practices for the indicators of soil structure and consistency and infiltration rate. In grazing land, significant differences were found for the soil quality indicators of susceptibility to erosion and infiltration rate for the corresponding practices of intensive and extensive grazing. Organic carbon content, exchangeable potassium content and aggregate stability were greatly affected in tillage versus no-tillage management practices.
Two vulnerable to desertification areas, representative of the Mediterranean environment and impo... more Two vulnerable to desertification areas, representative of the Mediterranean environment and important for the Greek land use conditions, were used as research fields of the present thesis. The areas which are dominated by different soil and climatic characteristics and land use intensities occupy an area of approximately one million acres and located in the prefectures of Chania and Heraklion on the island of Crete.A significant portion of these areas was mapped and studied on the basis of soil, climate and growing vegetation features. By completing questionnaires with the participation of local producers, a set of 70 biophysical and socioeconomic indicators were recorded at farm level on a sample of 171 fields (locally). In the context of this study and according to the implementation of the research project DESIRE, the use of data, obtained from 18 research areas at regional level (1785 questionnaires), was granted. In two of the main land uses (olive grove and pasture) of the re...
The objective of the present work is to contribute to the examination of the interconnections bet... more The objective of the present work is to contribute to the examination of the interconnections between soil classification/soil mapping and soil capability for agricultural use. A pedon scale analytical field along with laboratory data of an episaturated agricultural soil of Thessaly (Greece), allowed for the optimization of soil fertility class evaluation and its corresponding agricultural value. Specific soil properties, low chroma colors and the distribution of redoximorphic features within the soil profile (Fe-Mn concretions) revealed the presence of impermeable argillic horizons, resulting in a perched water table in late winter and spring. The evaluation of the soil pedon was carried out through the accurate parameterization and implementation of a technical soil classification system and a soil rating method, both of which are well known worldwide, and which use detailed soil survey data. The results confirmed the general principle that only by using detailed soil survey field...
Farming practices and biodiversity: Evidence from a Mediterranean semi-extensive system on the island of Lemnos (North Aegean, Greece)
Journal of Environmental Management, 2021
The management of agroecosystems affects biodiversity at all levels from genetic to food-web comp... more The management of agroecosystems affects biodiversity at all levels from genetic to food-web complexity. Low-input farming systems support higher levels of genetic, species and habitat diversity than high-input, industrial ones. In Greece, as in other Mediterranean countries, the role of traditional farming practices has been underlined in studies concerning conservation in agricultural landscapes. With this study, we aim to provide evidence for the potential of semi-extensive farming for biodiversity conservation at landscape-scale, focusing on Lemnos, a medium-sized island in the North Aegean. Evidence was gathered by species- and community-level local-scale surveys on various trophic levels (vascular plants, arthropods, birds). The surveys took place in 2018 and 2019 in 25 sampling areas comprising 106 plots of 100 m2 (vascular plants, arthropods) and 57 points where bird species were recorded. The plots were classified into three landscape types: mosaic agriculture, mixed rangelands and uniform rangelands. The relevés of Lemnos farmlands were assigned to plant communities of 18 phytosociological alliances, grouped into 12 classes. The most abundant arthropods were Coleoptera, Chilopoda, and Hymenoptera, followed by Opiliones and Isopoda, while 133 different bird species were recorded in total, including the recording for the first time on the island of five species. Farming on Lemnos is rather extensive compared to most agricultural landscapes of Europe. Our approach has demonstrated that, given the geographic characteristics of the area, the measured data reveal very high biodiversity. Our explorative findings suggest that moderate seasonal grazing, the mixed habitat mosaic with ecotones, fallow and stubble fields at the landscape scale, and the small size of fields, the kinds of crop, and farm-scale crop diversification, like mixed cultivation and crop rotation, are key practices supporting this diversity. These explorative findings are considered as a first step providing the baseline for future assessments. A wider effort, for systematic evaluation of the impacts of farming practices to biodiversity, is required, as part of a subsidized agri-environmental scheme and/or through a market-oriented product certification system for the area.
Μελέτη παραγόντων που επηρεάζουν την ερημοποίηση των γαιών
Δύο ευαίσθητες περιοχές στην ερημοποίηση, αντιπροσωπευτικές του Μεσογειακού περιβάλλοντος με σημα... more Δύο ευαίσθητες περιοχές στην ερημοποίηση, αντιπροσωπευτικές του Μεσογειακού περιβάλλοντος με σημαντικές για τις Ελληνικές συνθήκες χρήσεις γης, χρησιμοποιήθηκαν ως πεδία έρευνας της παρούσας διατριβής. Οι περιοχές αυτές που χαρακτηρίζονται από διαφορετικά εδαφοκλιματικά χαρακτηριστικά και εντάσεις χρήσεων γης καταλαμβάνουν κατά προσέγγιση έκταση ενός εκατομμυρίου στρεμμάτων και βρίσκονται στους νομούς Χανίων και Ηρακλείου της νήσου Κρήτης. Σημαντικό τμήμα των περιοχών αυτών χαρτογραφήθηκε και μελετήθηκε ως προς τα εδάφη, την αναπτυσσόμενη βλάστηση και το κλίμα ενώ παράλληλα με τη χρήση ερωτηματολογίων και τη συμμετοχή των τοπικών παραγωγών καταγράφτηκαν σε επίπεδο αγροκτήματος ένα σύνολο από 70 βιοφυσικούς και κοινωνικοοικονομικούς δείκτες σε δείγμα 171 αγροκτημάτων (τοπικό επίπεδο). Στο πλαίσιο της παρούσας διατριβής και της υλοποίησης του ερευνητικού προγράμματος DESIRE παραχωρήθηκε η χρήση των δεδομένων 1785 αντίστοιχων ερωτηματολογίων από 18 περιοχές έρευνας παγκόσμιας κλίμακας ...
Rainfall is the key factor to understand soil erosion processes, mechanisms, and rates. Most rese... more Rainfall is the key factor to understand soil erosion processes, mechanisms, and rates. Most research was conducted to determine rainfall characteristics and their relationship with soil erosion (erosivity) but there is little information about how atmospheric patterns control soil losses, and this is important to enable sustainable environmental planning and risk prevention. We investigated the temporal and spatial variability of the relationships of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield with atmospheric patterns (weather types, WTs) in the western Mediterranean basin. For this purpose, we analyzed a large database of rainfall events collected between 1985 and 2015 in 46 experimental plots and catchments with the aim to: (i) evaluate seasonal differences in the contribution of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield produced by the WTs; and (ii) to analyze the seasonal efficiency of the different WTs (relation frequency and magnitude) related to rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield. Th...
Two soil mapping methodologies at different scales applied in the same area were compared in orde... more Two soil mapping methodologies at different scales applied in the same area were compared in order to investigate the potential of their combined use to achieve an integrated and more accurate soil description for sustainable land use management. The two methodologies represent the main types of soil mapping systems used and still applied in soil surveys in Greece. Diomedes Botanical Garden (DBG) (Athens, Greece) was used as a study area because past cartographic data of soil survey were available. The older soil survey data were obtained via the conventional methodology extensively used over time since the beginnings of soil mapping in Greece (1977). The second mapping methodology constitutes the current soil mapping system in Greece recently used for compilation of the national soil map. The obtained cartographic and soil data resulting from the application of the two methodologies were analyzed and compared using appropriate geospatial techniques. Even though the two mapping meth...
Extreme rainfall events are the main triggering causes for hydro-meteorological hazards in mounta... more Extreme rainfall events are the main triggering causes for hydro-meteorological hazards in mountainous areas, where development is often constrained by the limited space suitable for construction. In these areas, hazard and risk assessments are fundamental for risk mitigation, especially for preventive planning, risk communication and emergency preparedness. Multi-hazard risk assessment in mountainous areas at local and regional scales remain a major challenge because of lack of data related to past events and causal factors, and the interactions between different types of hazards. The lack of data leads to a high level of uncertainty in the application of quantitative methods for hazard and risk assessment. Therefore, a systematic approach is required to combine these quantitative methods with expert-based assumptions and decisions. In this study, a quantitative multihazard risk assessment was carried out in the Fella River valley, prone to debris flows and flood in the northeastern Italian Alps. The main steps include data collection and development of inventory maps, definition of hazard scenarios, hazard assessment in terms of temporal and spatial probability calculation and intensity modelling, elements-at-risk mapping, estimation of asset values and the number of people, physical vulnerability assessment, the generation of risk curves and annual risk calculation. To compare the risk for each type of hazard, risk curves were generated for debris flows, river floods and flash floods. Uncertainties were expressed as minimum, average and maximum values of temporal and spatial probability, replacement costs of assets, population numbers, and physical vulnerability. These result in minimum, average and maximum risk curves. To validate this approach, a back analysis was conducted using the extreme hydro-meteorological event that occurred in August 2003 in the Fella River valley. The results show a good performance when compared to the historical damage reports.
Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece, 2018
The study area is located on the western part of the Gulf of Corinth which is considered as a par... more The study area is located on the western part of the Gulf of Corinth which is considered as a paradigm of an active rift system in Greece. This rift was formed by normal slip on big faults which extend the crust of the Earth in the N-S direction. The morphotectonic indices (hypsometric curve, hypsometric integral, drainage basin asymmetry, ratio of valley floor width to valley height) have been estimated using the 20-m digital elevation model of this area and the ARC software. The normal faults of the study area have been extracted by use of a DEM mosaic of 20-m pixel size, satellite images from Landsat 7 ETM+ and SRTM 90m. Our results highlight the recent activity of the Psathopyrgos normal fault on the basis of a series of morphotectonic evidence and suggest the existence of a single fault segment for a distance of 16 km.
Please cite only the published version using the details provided on the item record or document.... more Please cite only the published version using the details provided on the item record or document. In the absence of an open licence (e.g. Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher or author.
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 2014
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Exploring the Impact of Overgrazing on Soil Erosion and Land Degradation in a Dry Mediterranean Agro-Forest Landscape (Crete, Greece)
Arid Land Research and Management, 2015
ABSTRACT The impact of land management practices on soil erosion and land degradation was assesse... more ABSTRACT The impact of land management practices on soil erosion and land degradation was assessed during three consecutive years (December 2008–November 2011) in a rural area sensitive to desertification (Crete, Greece). The area is characterized by soils formed on flysch parent material, dry sub-humid climate with water deficit concentrated in summer, and frequent drought episodes. Precipitation, water runoff, sediment loss, soil moisture, air and soil temperature, and plant cover were recorded at two sites experiencing overgrazing and sustainable grazing. Sustainable grazing was associated with lower water runoff, reduced sediment loss and lower soil temperature than overgrazing. Plant cover protected soils from water erosion more effectively in the “sustainable grazing” plot than in the “overgrazing” plot. The study identifies overgrazing as a driver of land degradation in southern Europe and points out the contribution of sustainable management of pastoral landscapes in the mitigation of desertification risk.
The effect of land management practices on soil erosion and land desertification in an olive grove
Soil Use and Management, 2013
The need for reliable estimates of soil loss under different land management practices (LMPs) is ... more The need for reliable estimates of soil loss under different land management practices (LMPs) is becoming imperative in the Mediterranean basin to inform decisions on more effective strategies for land management. The effect of LMPs on soil erosion and land degradation has been investigated using experiments from November 2008 to November 2011 in an olive grove in central Crete (Greece). The study area was on sloping land with soils formed on marl deposits which are vulnerable to desertification because of surface runoff and tillage. The experimental design included three treatments with two replicates (3 × 5 m experimental plots) corresponding to the following LMPs: (i) no tillage–no herbicide application, (ii) no tillage–herbicide application and (iii) ploughing to 20 cm perpendicular to the contours. The following variables were monitored: surface water runoff, sediment loss, soil temperature at 10 cm, soil moisture content at depths of 20 and 50 cm, as well as selected climatic ...
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