Leader: Cachada Anabela
Coauthor(s): Nuno Durães, Ana Cláudia Dias, Carla Patinha, Armando da Costa Duarte, Joana Lourenço, Tânia Caetano, Sónia Mendo, Ruth Pereira
Disciplines
Biogeochimie
Biologie
Chimie
Ecologie
Genomique
Keywords
Irrigation water
Soil
Contamination
Microbial community
Industry
Agriculture
Metagenomics
Soil enzymes activity
Soil organic matter degradation
Abstract
Soil is a vital resource responsible by multiple ecosystem services, crucial for the wellbeing and sustainability of human populations. Only in the last decades, faced with the level of degradation of soils within its territory, the European Commission has recognized the importance of soil functions. Indeed, it is now accepted that the maintenance of soil quality is vital for the European economic competitiveness. For centuries human activities have negatively affected soil functions, for example, through point/diffuse contamination. Estarreja is known for its large chemical complex, and several studies and projects were performed in the region to evaluate the presence of contaminants in groundwater, soil and biota. Some hotspots of contamination (both organic and inorganic) were identified in groundwater, which is used to irrigate farmlands. The cycling of contaminants between soils and aquifers may progressively affect the diversity and key specialized functions of the soil microbial community, especially important in agricultural soils.
Thus, due to the importance of agricultural activity in the region (occupying 54% of land), it is crucial to understand how soils health may be affected by this source of contamination. Therefore, with this project we intend to link these two aspects by measuring some ecological key indicators (e.g.: the structural diversity of the soil microbial community, the degradation of soil organic matter and the activity of enzymes involved in the main geochemical cycles) to assess how the circulation of contaminants between aquifers and local agricultural soils is affecting the quality of this resource compromising its use for agriculture.
Participants
Durães Nuno, Dias Ana Cláudia M. , Patinha Carla, Duarte Armando da Costa , Lourenço Joana Isabel do Vale , Caetano Tânia , Mendo Sónia Alexandra Leite Velho, Pereira Ruth
See the project