Tamás Hermann

Heavy metals in agricultural soils of the European Union with implications for food safety.

Soil plays a central role in food safety as it determines the possible composition of food and feed at the root of the food chain. However, the quality of soil resources as defined by their potential impact on human health by propagation of harmful elements through the food chain has been poorly studied in Europe due to the lack of data of adequate detail and reliability. The European Unions first harmonized topsoil sampling and coherent analytical procedure produced trace element measurements from approximately 22,000 locations. This unique collection of information enables a reliable overview of the concentration of heavy metals, also referred to as metal(loid)s including As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn, Sb. Co, and Ni. In this article we propose that in some cases (e.g. Hg and Cd) the high concentrations of soil heavy metal attributed to human activity can be detected at a regional level. While the immense majority of European agricultural land can be considered adequately safe for food production, an estimated 6.24% or 137,000km(2) needs local assessment and eventual remediation action.

Maps of heavy metals in the soils of the European Union and proposed priority areas for detailed assessment

Soil contamination is one of the greatest concerns among the threats to soil resources in Europe and globally. Despite of its importance there was only very course scale (1/5000km(2)) data available on soil heavy metal concentrations prior to the LUCAS topsoil survey, which had a sampling density of 200km(2). Based on the results of the LUCAS sampling and auxiliary information detailed and up-to-date maps of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn, Sb, Co and Ni) in the topsoil of the European Union were produced. Using the maps of heavy metal concentration in topsoil we made a spatial prediction of areas where local assessment is suggested to monitor and eventually control the potential threat from heavy metals. Most of the examined elements remain under the corresponding threshold values in the majority of the land of the EU. However, one or more of the elements exceed the applied threshold concentration on 1.2Mkm(2), which is 28.3% of the total surface area of the EU. While natural backgrounds might be the reason for high concentrations on large proportion of the affected soils, historical and recent industrial and mining areas show elevated concentrations (predominantly of As, Cd, Pb and Hg) too, indicating the magnitude of anthropogenic effect on soil quality in Europe.

Predicting the preservation of cultural artefacts and buried materials in soil

This study identifies factors affecting the fate of buried objects in soil and develops a method for assessing where preservation of different materials and stratigraphic evidence is more or less likely in the landscape. The results inform the extent of the cultural service that soil supports by preserving artefacts from and information about past societies. They are also relevant to predicting the state of existing and planned buried infrastructure and the persistence of materials spread on land. Soils are variable and preserve different materials and stratigraphic evidence differently. This study identifies the material and soil properties that affect preservation and relates these to soil types; it assesses their preservation capacities for bones, teeth and shells, organic materials, metals (Au, Ag, Cu, Fe, Pb and bronze), ceramics, glass and stratigraphic evidence. Preservation of Au, Pb and ceramics, glass and phytoliths is good in most soils but degradation rates of other materials (e.g. Fe and organic materials) is strongly influenced by soil type. A method is proposed for using data on the distribution of soil types to map the variable preservation capacities of soil for different materials. This is applied at a continental scale across the EU for bones, teeth and shells, organic materials, metals (Cu, bronze and Fe) and stratigraphic evidence. The maps produced demonstrate how soil provides an extensive but variable preservation of buried objects.

Soil fertility assessment in a case study in Hungary

Introduction The wild plants accommodate to the soil conditions themselves but the plants which are produced by us are grown on different soil types and soil conditions. So it is important to know which soil type can grow arable crops with the best success. (Fekete, 1958) The specific land use allows that the plant production should be profitable in the way of sustainability of fertility on croplands. (Birkas, 2001) Soils have been described for many years in terms of the proportions of particles of different sizes that they contain. This basis of characterization soils developed because particle size is an obvious characteristic related to soil behavior and plant response. (Black, 1967) The main goal of this study was to evaluate crop lands on an objective basis and to create land use classes with the help of the evaluated values. Land evaluation helps the correct planning of agronomic land use very much. This study introduces how you can evaluate the soil fertility through the potential agronomic production. The method determines the production potential of agricultural lands in a quantitative way.

Monitoring soil for sustainable development and land degradation neutrality

The adoption of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) listed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the United Nations urged the scientific community to generate information for planning and monitoring socioeconomic development and the underlying environmental compartments. SDGs 2, 3, 6, 11, 13, 14, and 15 have targets which commend direct consideration of soil resources. There are five groups of SDGs and assigned SDG indicators where soil plays a central role. Frameworks of soil-related sustainable development goals and related indicators which can be monitored in current monitoring schemes are proposed.

Remarks to the debate on mapping heavy metals in soil and soil monitoring in the European Union

We provide an overview of the main features of the LUCAS topsoil survey of the EU in comparison to the GEMAS survey. In addition we describe the policy requirements and scientific principles of soil monitoring programs.

Evaluating Methods of In‐Field Soil Organic Matter Analysis

Abstract The actual content of the soil organic carbon (SOC) has to be periodically measured for soil classification and nutrient management purposes. Traditional SOC tests are relatively time consuming and costly. A rapid field test would be valuable to delineate soil map units with similar SOC to simplify the process of land evaluation while increasing precision. The objectives of this study were to develop and evaluate a new field measurement technique for the quick assessment of SOC. The new method measures the emitted CO2 concentration 3 min after treatment of the soil sample with acidic potassium (K) permanganate solution. The inorganic carbonate content of the soil is measured separately with the addition of sulphuric acid only. Carbon dioxide concentration from both procedures is measured with a portable infrared gas analyzer. The difference between the concentrations measured after the two separate reactions provide an estimate of SOC. Samples from brown forest soils (ca Hapludalf) (0.19–5.53% SOC) were used for the method development. The correlation coefficient between the SOC determined by the new method and laboratory wet combustion method content was 0.76 for the full range of SOC and 0.81 for the soil samples with less than 20% carbonate.

Evaluating the Effect of Nutrient Levels of Major Soil Types on the Productivity of Wheatlands in Hungary

Soil nutrient status is one of the most important constituents of land productivity. The research presented in this article is aimed at describing the influence of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium availability on crop yields across the major soil types of Hungary, under different climatic conditions. For this purpose, historical times series data from a 5-year period (1985–1989) regarding soil, land management, and crop yield of more than 80,000 fields, representing approximately 4 million ha of arable land, were statistically analyzed. The database was recently recovered from statistical archives stored in the format of digital records of the early 1980s and were used to study the productivity of major soil types for winter wheat cropping under balanced fertilizer input. Calculations were made to quantify the effects of soil nutrient levels. The evaluation was also performed for optimal and suboptimal climate conditions. Results show that the effect of nitrogen availability (as obtained from organic-matter content) had the largest influence on winter wheat yields. Up to a 26% difference in yields was observed, both on those soils with balanced material regimes and on those with leaching material regimes, under optimal climatic conditions. The effect of different levels of phosphorous was most significant under optimal climatic conditions on soils with balanced material regimes, reaching up to 17% difference between soils with very low and high phosphorous levels. The effect of different levels of potassium was the least significant in soils with balanced material regimes (maximum 8% difference among categories) and somewhat more pronounced in soils with leaching material regimes. Differences between the effects of nutrient levels due to climatic variation were also observed. According to our findings, stable production can be planned on croplands with average nutrient availability, regardless which of the two soil types they belong to. On the other hand, yield gap can be detected on fields with both low and high nutrient levels among optimal and suboptimal years, for all three nutrients [nitrogen–phosphorus–potassium (N–P–K)] of the analysis. Although our findings are based on historical data, most of the main relationships described are valid under current climatic and management conditions as well.

Development of an Online Soil Valuation Database

There is a constant need for the rational evaluation of every individual piece of land. To provide continuously upgraded, precise technical and economic assessment, an online digital geographic information system was developed. At the roots of the system are cadastral maps from the land registry and soil maps at the scale of 1:10,000. The basis of the technical land bonitation* is the D‐e‐Meter system, which is used not only for croplands but also for grasslands and forests. * As defined by FAO (2003), page 9, “soil bonitation is the comparative assessment of the land quality and productivity with a representative level of agricultural activity. Bonitation involves an analysis of the soil properties, both natural and human‐induced, that determine its crop carrying capacity, both its natural productive capacity and that obtained through agricultural activities.” The algorithm for the calculation of the land quality index, which is the core of the D‐e‐Meter system, was developed with a database of 60,000 plots that were monitored during a 5‐year period. Based on cultivation field records and a comprehensive system of economic valuation, the indicator “total standard gross margin” was calculated and finally a land value index in euro/ha was provided.

SOIL BONITATION AND LAND VALUATION WITH D-e-METER SYSTEM AS A TOOL OF SUSTAINABLE LAND USE

Based on the existing GIS system for the on-line calculation of D-e-Meter soil quality index of agricultural plots, we developed the framework of land value calculation. According to our experience the available digital maps can be effectively utilized for the automatic calculation of D-e-Meter land value from the soil quality index. Moreover the digital database creates further opportunities to improve the sustainability of land use by optimizing fuel utilization, crop rotation etc.