Relationship between hydraulic properties and plant coverage of the closed-landfill soils in Piacenza (Po Valley, Italy)
C. Cassinari,
P. Manfredi,
L. Giupponi,
M. Trevisan,
C. Piccini
Affiliations
C. Cassinari
Istituto di Chimica Agraria ed Ambientale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy
P. Manfredi
m.c.m. Ecosistemi s.r.l. località Faggiola, 29027 Gariga di Podenzano, Piacenza, Italy
L. Giupponi
Centro Interdipartimentale di Studi Applicati per la Gestione Sostenibile e la Difesa della Montagna, Università della Montagna, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Morino 8, 25048 Edolo, Brescia, Italy
M. Trevisan
Istituto di Chimica Agraria ed Ambientale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy
C. Piccini
CRA Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Centro di ricerca per lo studio delle relazioni tra pianta e suolo, Via della Navicella 2–4, 00184 Rome, Italy
In this paper the results of a study of soil hydraulic properties and plant coverage of a landfill located in Piacenza (Po Valley, Italy) are presented, together with the attempt to relate the hydraulic properties in relation with plant coverage. The measured soil water retention curve was first compared with the output of pedotransfer functions taken from the literature and then compared with the output of the same pedotransfer functions applied to a reference soil. The landfill plant coverage was also studied. The relationship between soil hydraulic properties and plant coverage showed that the landfill soils have a low water content available for plants. The soils' low water content, together with a lack of depth and a compacted structure, justifies the presence of a nitrophilous, disturbed-soil vegetation type, dominated by ephemeral annual species (therophytes).
