SOIL HEALTH AND LAND USE MANAGEMENT Edited by Maria C. Hernandez-Soriano Soil Health and Land Use Management Edited by Maria C. Hernandez-Soriano Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2011 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. As for readers, this license allows users to download, copy and build upon published chapters even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. Notice Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published chapters. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book. Publishing Process Manager Ivana Zec Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic Cover Designer InTech Design Team Image Copyright Lycha, 2011. DepositPhotos First published December, 2011 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechweb.org Soil Health and Land Use Management, Edited by Maria C. Hernandez-Soriano p. cm. ISBN 978-953-307-614-0 Contents Preface IX Part 1 Soil Characteristics Control Biogeochemical Processes 1 Chapter 1 Soil Fertility Status and Its Determining Factors in Tanzania 3 Shinya Funakawa, Hiroshi Yoshida, Tetsuhiro Watanabe, Soh Sugihara, Method Kilasara and Takashi Kosaki Chapter 2 The Role of Aluminum-Organo Complexes in Soil Organic Matter Dynamics 17 Maria C. Hernández-Soriano Part 2 Land Use Impact on Soil Quality 33 Chapter 3 Quantifying Soil Moisture Distribution at a Watershed Scale 35 Manoj K. Jha Chapter 4 Pesticide Contamination in Groundwater and Streams Draining Vegetable Plantations in the Ofinso District, Ghana 51 Benjamin O. Botwe, William J. Ntow and Elvis Nyarko Chapter 5 Fire Impact on Several Chemical and Physicochemical Parameters in a Forest Soil 67 Andrea Rubenacker, Paola Campitelli, Manuel Velasco and Silvia Ceppi Part 3 Soil Fertility and Irrigation 87 Chapter 6 Nutrient Mobility and Availability with Selected Irrigation and Drainage Systems for Vegetable Crops on Sandy Soils 89 Shinjiro Sato and Kelly T. Morgan VI Contents Chapter 7 Forest Preservation, Flooding and Soil Fertility: Evidence from Madagascar 111 Bart Minten and Claude Randrianarisoa Part 4 Soil Nitrogen Management 131 Chapter 8 Strategies for Managing Soil Nitrogen to Prevent Nitrate-N Leaching in Intensive Agriculture System 133 Liu Zhaohui, Song Xiaozong, Jiang Lihua, Lin Haitao, Xu Yu, Gao Xinhao, Zheng Fuli, Tan Deshui, Wang Mei, Shi Jing and Shen Yuwen Chapter 9 Nitratation Promotion Process for Reducing Nitrogen Losses by N 2 O/NO Emissions in the Composting of Livestock Manure 155 Yasuyuki Fukumoto Part 5 Soil Salinity 175 Chapter 10 Effect of Salinity on Soil Microorganisms 177 Celia Maria Maganhotto de Souza Silva and Elisabeth Francisconi Fay Part 6 Soil Pollution Management 199 Chapter 11 Arsenic Behaviour in Polluted Soils After Remediation Activities 201 Francisco Martín, Mariano Simón, Elena Arco, Ana Romero and Carlos Dorronsoro Chapter 12 Restoration of Cadmium (Cd) Pollution Soils by Use of Weeds 217 Masaru Ogasawara Chapter 13 Herbicide Off-Site Transport 229 Timothy J. Gish, John H. Prueger, William P. Kustas, Jerry L. Hatfield, Lynn G. McKee and Andrew Russ Part 7 Soil Pollution Assessment 253 Chapter 14 Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Sediments Pollution with Heavy Metals of Small Water Reservoirs 255 Bogusław Michalec Chapter 15 Molecular Analyses of Soil Fungal Community – Methods and Applications 279 Yuko Takada Hoshino Contents VII Chapter 16 Earthworm Biomarkers as Tools for Soil Pollution Assessment 305 Maria Giulia Lionetto, Antonio Calisi and Trifone Schettino Preface “Be it deep or shallow, red or black, sand or clay, the soil is the link between the rock core of the earth and the living things on its surface. It is the foothold for the plants we grow. Therein lays the main reason for our interest in soils.” Roy W. Simonson, USDA Yearbook of Agriculture, 1957. The British naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) was probably the first scientist to examine a soil profile and suggest factors responsible for the structure of the various layers. Nowadays, Soil Science is the science dealing with soils as a natural resource on the surface of the Earth, including soil formation, classification, and mapping. In addition, understanding the physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils is essential, and how these properties relate to the use and management of the soils. Soils play multiple roles in the quality of life throughout the world, not only as the resource for food production, but also as the support for our structures, the environment, the medium for waste disposal, water, and the storage of nutrients. Healthy soil, meaning the 'fitness' (or condition) of the soil in relation to its inherent (or potential) capability, is productive, sustainable, and profitable. If soil can sustain biological productivity, maintain environmental quality, and promote the health of plants and animals, it is considered healthy. Understanding the impact of land management practices on soil properties and processes can provide useful indicators of economic and environmental sustainability. Soil Health and Land Use Management is a book designed by InTech - Open Access Publisher in collaboration with recognized authors from Europe, North and South America, China, and Japan, unifying biological, chemical, and agricultural approaches to research on soil health. This book is intended to provide a broad vision of the fundamental importance of soil health and the development of feasible management and remediation strategies to preserve and ameliorate the fitness of soils. Simultaneously, this book also provides a deep insight 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 reading to a global audience of scientists, researchers, environmental educators, administrators, technicians, managers, students, and the general public. X Preface The first two chapters discuss the necessity of a thorough characterization of soil properties in order to develop management and remediation strategies, with a particular focus in the mineralogical composition and the turnover of organic matter. The chapters in section two present relevant case studies about the impact of land use on soil health, while section three and four introduce several strategies to improve land management. The last three sections encompass chapters dedicated to environmental scenarios of high concern, as being salt-affected soils or degraded, due to heavy metals or contamination from pesticides. Remediation strategies and long- term effectiveness are presented in section six, while section seven launches novel methodologies for highly efficient evaluation of soil pollution. The sixteen chapters of this book can be read independently, but like the different components of soil, they mutually benefit and enrich each other, orchestrating a valuable composition that depicts current trends in soil health from a multidisciplinary approach. For their excellent work, special thanks to the technical editor and sincere appreciation to Ms Ivana Zec, the Publishing Process Manager who coordinated the publication process of this volume, and assisted me and the authors in completing our tasks smoothly and in a timely manner. M.C. Hernández-Soriano North Carolina State University USA . SOIL HEALTH AND LAND USE MANAGEMENT Edited by Maria C. Hernandez-Soriano Soil Health and Land Use Management Edited by Maria C. Hernandez-Soriano . the soils originated from Cenozoic rocks or deposits. On the other hand, these soil properties generally did not significantly differ for different land uses. Soil Health and Land Use Management. Soil Health and Land Use Management 8 Averages for soils from different parent materials 1) Averages for soils under different land uses 1) Variable Volcanic rocks Granite and