Urban sprawl and soil sealing are among the main causes of soil degradation and loss (Urban Sprawl in Europe, the ignored challenge, 2006; The European environment - State and Outlook, 2010 and 2015). In Italy, 5-6 hectares of soil per second in the last decade have been lost for urbanization (ISPRA, 2017), diminishing the capacity to provide essential ecosystem services. Indeed, soil provides food, allows the growth of trees that in turn provide further services. Soil is important for regulating water and energy fluxes, and thanks to the vegetation, serves to ameliorate urban microclimate and generating wellbeing. For all these reasons, also in urban contexts soil protection is dramatically important. In order to reach this objective, different actors including policy and decision makers, scientists and no profit organisations are involved in SOS4LIFE project, funded under the Life+ Programme [LIFE15 ENV/IT/000225]. The main aims of the project are: odemonstration of the effectiveness of an innovative system of "surface credits" as compensative measure to soil loss: new building sites in the municipality are allowed only if the excavated topsoil can be reused, generating new urban green areas; oassessment of soil ecosystem services (e.g. carbon storage, water storage and percolation), in an urban area (specifically, the town of Carpi) (results not ready yet). De-sealing and regeneration actions are carried out in three municipalities of Emilia Romagna Region, in which three 'grey' sites are transformed into green areas, reusing agricultural topsoil dug in the suburban area. The conference work describes the results of the topsoil assessment as substrate for ornamental plants, compared to the technosol extracted from underneath built surfaces (e.g. asphalt), because roots of the new planting, will likely explore both soils at different depths. In the de-sealing site of each town, topsoil and technosol were tested in two plots with two species (Viburnum tinus and Eleagnus x ebbingei) in three replicates. Monitoring of soil characteristics and plant growth and leaf gas exchange, is carried out regularly. The preliminary results show that despite the two species are low demanding, plant performance on technosols shows better trends. This suggests that the technical guidelines for the regeneration of grey urban sites, should take into consideration the topsoil characteristics for undertaking concrete decisions such as irrigation and selection of most suitable species. In addition, the results show that, under certain circumstances, also the technosol, if free of contaminants, may be a valuable substrate for plants.
Turning grey into green: urban regeneration to surge soil ecosystem services
Ugolini F;Maienza A;Baronti S;Sabatini F;Ungaro F;
2018
Abstract
Urban sprawl and soil sealing are among the main causes of soil degradation and loss (Urban Sprawl in Europe, the ignored challenge, 2006; The European environment - State and Outlook, 2010 and 2015). In Italy, 5-6 hectares of soil per second in the last decade have been lost for urbanization (ISPRA, 2017), diminishing the capacity to provide essential ecosystem services. Indeed, soil provides food, allows the growth of trees that in turn provide further services. Soil is important for regulating water and energy fluxes, and thanks to the vegetation, serves to ameliorate urban microclimate and generating wellbeing. For all these reasons, also in urban contexts soil protection is dramatically important. In order to reach this objective, different actors including policy and decision makers, scientists and no profit organisations are involved in SOS4LIFE project, funded under the Life+ Programme [LIFE15 ENV/IT/000225]. The main aims of the project are: odemonstration of the effectiveness of an innovative system of "surface credits" as compensative measure to soil loss: new building sites in the municipality are allowed only if the excavated topsoil can be reused, generating new urban green areas; oassessment of soil ecosystem services (e.g. carbon storage, water storage and percolation), in an urban area (specifically, the town of Carpi) (results not ready yet). De-sealing and regeneration actions are carried out in three municipalities of Emilia Romagna Region, in which three 'grey' sites are transformed into green areas, reusing agricultural topsoil dug in the suburban area. The conference work describes the results of the topsoil assessment as substrate for ornamental plants, compared to the technosol extracted from underneath built surfaces (e.g. asphalt), because roots of the new planting, will likely explore both soils at different depths. In the de-sealing site of each town, topsoil and technosol were tested in two plots with two species (Viburnum tinus and Eleagnus x ebbingei) in three replicates. Monitoring of soil characteristics and plant growth and leaf gas exchange, is carried out regularly. The preliminary results show that despite the two species are low demanding, plant performance on technosols shows better trends. This suggests that the technical guidelines for the regeneration of grey urban sites, should take into consideration the topsoil characteristics for undertaking concrete decisions such as irrigation and selection of most suitable species. In addition, the results show that, under certain circumstances, also the technosol, if free of contaminants, may be a valuable substrate for plants.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
