Organic matter of urban soils: A review

<p>Soil contamination is widespread across Europe. In particular, contamination of urban soils by metals is poorly characterised. This is a major environmental concern, especially given that urban recreational amenities may be located on former industrial sites and/or may possess ex situ soils derived from industrial areas. We surveyed soils from nine urban recreational sites (15 samples per site) in Cork city in order to assess the degree of metal contamination. The results show that Pb concentrations exceed national background levels in all soil samples from all sites by a mean of 600 % and at least 140 %. Mn, Fe and Zn are enriched above background levels in all soil samples from three (Mn and Fe) to five (Zn) of the sites and, at the remaining sites, show 7 &#8211; 14 localised hotspots. Similar hotspots characterise Cu, Rb and Sr, which each exceed background levels at eight or more sampling locations at four sites. Co, Ni, As and Sn concentrations exceed background levels in at least three hotspots at each of three to six sites. Overall, metal concentrations are highest in the sites closest to the city centre, reflecting diverse sources that potentially include traffic and current and historical domestic coal burning and industry. At each urban site, the element grouping Zn and Pb recurs in 50 to 80 % of locations and enrichment in the element grouping Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn and Pb recurs in approx. 50 % of locations; Ni and As recur in approx. 10 % of the locations. At three sites, elevated concentrations of Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn and Pb are associated with high LOI (Loss-on-ignition) values &#8211; a proxy for the amount of soil organic matter present &#8211; and near-neutral pH values. Conversely, low LOI and acidic pH values are associated with lower concentrations of these elements. This indicates that soil metal concentrations are influenced by the amount of organic matter present and by pH. &#160;Future analyses and experiments will further investigate links between soil organic matter and metal concentrations.</p>

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Organic matter of soils and technogenic surface formations of residential areas of the city of Perm

АгроЭкоИнфо ◽

10.51419/20215527 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (47) ◽

pp. 27-27

Author(s):

Natalia Moskvina ◽

Igor Shestakov ◽

Natalia Mitrakova

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Urban Soils ◽

Left Bank ◽

Residential Areas ◽

Humus Formation ◽

Functional Zone ◽

Humus Type ◽

Reclaimed Soils ◽

The City ◽

Technogenic Surface Formations

On the territory of the left-bank part of Perm, the urban pedocomplexes (UPC) were distinguished as a combination of soil and technogenic surface formations on the same soil-forming rocks within a certain functional zone. Within the UPC, formed on eluvial-deluvial loams and clays in the zone of multi-storey buildings, the surface horizons of soils and TSF (technogenic surface formations) were studied. A change in the zonal trend of humus formation in reclaimed soils was observed as an increase in the content of organic matter, as well as in a change in the type of humus to the humate side. The conservation of zonal features of humus formation in non-purposefully recultivated urban soils and TSF was noted. It manifests in a low or medium content of organic carbon, the formation of a humate-fulvate type of humus. Keywords: URBAN ECOLOGY, URBAN SOILS, URBAN PEDOCOMPLEX, HUMUS, HUMUS TYPE, SOIL PROPERTIES

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Bioaccessibility of As and Pb in orchard and urban soils amended with phosphate, Fe oxide and organic matter

Chemosphere ◽

10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.01.049 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 173 ◽

pp. 153-159 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Meifang Cai ◽

Murray B. McBride ◽

Kaiming Li ◽

Zhian Li

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Urban Soils ◽

Fe Oxide

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Carbon and Metal(loid)s in Parkland and Road Verge Surface Soils in the City of Liverpool, UK

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy10030335 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 335 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Luke Beesley ◽

Eduardo Moreno-Jiménez ◽

Phil Jenn ◽

Nicholas W. Lepp

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Urban Soils ◽

Public Spaces ◽

Soil Survey ◽

Water Soluble ◽

Surface Soils ◽

Road Verge ◽

C Storage ◽

The City

Urban soils are at the interface between land and people and provide a wide variety of important ecosystem services to highly populous areas. The aims of this soil survey were (1) to measure the bulk density, carbon (C) storage and pH of surface soils (0–15 cm depth) from public spaces (parks and road verges) in the city of Liverpool, UK, and (2) to determine the likely impact of these master variables on heavy metal concentrations (As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn). The bulk densities and organic matter contents varied considerably in the predominantly sandy textured soils within the city boundary, resulting in diverse C densities from 1–10 kg C m2. Organic carbon formed the majority of the labile, water-soluble and extractable C pool in these soils, a fact not easily elucidated from their organic matter or C content alone. The copper and lead concentrations in the sampled soils were correlated with organic matter and organic carbon in water-extracts. Cadmium and zinc appeared to be dependent only on soil pH, whilst arsenic was related positively to organic matter, but negatively to pH. Interrelationships, and hence synonymous distributions, of all metal(loid)s existed, but were strongest between Cu and As, and Cu and Pb. These results suggest that the diverse bulk densities, and hence carbon storage, of the urban soils surveyed influenced the dispersal of metals and arsenic.

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Soil organic matter in urban soils: Estimation of elemental carbon by thermal oxidation and characterization of organic matter by solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy

Geoderma ◽

10.1016/j.geoderma.2005.02.004 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 130 (3-4) ◽

pp. 312-323 ◽

Cited By ~ 50

Author(s):

K. Lorenz ◽

C.M. Preston ◽

E. Kandeler

Keyword(s):

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance ◽

Organic Matter ◽

Solid State ◽

Nmr Spectroscopy ◽

Soil Organic Matter ◽

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Urban Soils ◽

Elemental Carbon ◽

13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

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ORGANIC SUBSTANCE IN THE SOILS OF TRANSPORTATION AND RECREATION ZONES OF YAKUTSK

10.31453/kdu.ru.978-5-7913-1195-5-2021-24-31 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Diyana Vasilievna Obutova ◽

◽

Marina Vladimirovna Schelchkova ◽

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Organic Substance ◽

Urban Soils ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Floodplain Meadow

The content of organic matter in the Yakutsk city soils of the recreational zones (squares, park of culture and rest, floodplain meadow) and transport zones (lawns along major transport routes) was studied. It is shown that the urban soils of Yakutsk under green spaces are characterized by low potential fertility. They are poor in humus and are moderately supplied with alkaline hydrolysable nitrogen.

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Enzyme activities of urban soils under different land use in the Shenzhen city, China

Plant Soil and Environment ◽

10.17221/415-pse ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 54 (No. 8) ◽

pp. 341-346 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Z.J. Shi ◽

Y. Lu ◽

Z.G. Xu ◽

S.L. Fu

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Acid Phosphatase ◽

Soil Organic Matter ◽

Direct Effect ◽

Soil Ph ◽

Soil Enzymes ◽

Urban Soils ◽

Urban Park ◽

Shenzhen City ◽

Positive Direct

Urbanization has drastically changed soil properties, and an assessment of these changes is essential for soil management and soil health. The activities of urease, acid phosphatase, invertase and catalase, soil organic matter, pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and clay (< 0.01 mm) content of urban soils under two land-uses in the central built-up area of the Shenzhen city were investigated, and multivariate analysis was used to study the relationship between soil enzymes and soil physical-chemical properties. The results showed that invertase activity in roadside soil was significantly higher than that in urban park soil, whereas catalase activity was significantly higher in urban park soil. Soil organic matter had significant positive correlation with activities of invertase, urease and acid phosphatase but not with catalase. Soil pH had a significant negative direct effect on urease and acid phosphatase activity, but the effect was counteracted by positive indirect effect of soil organic matter. Soil EC had a positive direct effect on activities of catalase and there was a significant correlation between soil EC and soil catalase activities. Soil organic matter, soil pH and EC were the major factors influencing activities of soil enzymes.

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Heavy metals concentration in soils from parks and green areas in Belgrade

Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society ◽

10.2298/jsc0906697m ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 74 (6) ◽

pp. 697-706 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Mirjana Marjanovic ◽

Marija Vukcevic ◽

Dusan Antonovic ◽

Suzana Dimitrijevic ◽

Djordje Jovanovic ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Organic Matter ◽

Urban Soils ◽

Anthropogenic Activities ◽

The Past ◽

Ph Values ◽

Green Areas ◽

The City ◽

Very High ◽

Pb Concentration

The current study included the investigation of several metals and their distribution in urban soils from parks and green areas in the city of Belgrade. The soils were sampled in January and February 2008. The concentrations of Cd, Co, Cu, Pb, Mn and Zn were measured, as well as the pH values and organic matter contents. The obtained results showed that there was a significant level of contamination in some samples, especially with lead, and that it was most probably caused by anthropogenic activities, mostly from traffic. The results were compared with the National legislation and Netherlands standards. Also, the recent results were compared with the data from previous work and it was concluded that there has been a certain increase of the Pb concentration in the past three years. The level of pollution in playground soil was very high and each analyzed sample exceeded the Dutch target value for Cd, Co and Pb.

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