Elisa Novelli

Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a fundamental role in soil health, and its storage in soil is an important element to mitigate climate change. How to include this factor in Life Cycle Assessment studies has been the object of several papers and is still under discussion. SOC storage has been proposed as an additional environmental information in some applications of the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF). In the framework of wider activity aimed at producing the PEF of olive oil, the RothC model was applied to an olive cultivation located in Lazio region (Italy) to calculate the SOC storage and assess four scenarios representing different agricultural practices. RothC applicability, possible use of its results for improving product environmental performance, and relevance of SOC storage in terms of CO2eq compared to greenhouse gas emissions of the life-cycle of olive oil are discussed in this paper. According to the results, in all scenarios, the contribution in terms of CO2eq associated with SOC storage is remarkable compared to the total greenhouse gas emissions of the olive oil life-cycle. It is the opinion of the authors that the calculation of the SOC balance allows a more proper evaluation of the agricultural products contribution to climate change, and that the indications of the scenarios analysis are useful to enhance the environmental performance of these products. The downside is that the application of RothC requires additional data collection and expertise if compared to the execution of PEF studies.

  As part of a collaborative project to investigate human impacts on Quercus suber L. (cork oak) forests, five research groups from countries in Europe and North Africa undertook a survey of soil quality (physical properties, potentially toxic elements) at sites in NW Tunisia and NW Sardinia. All groups performed the analysis of soil samples after agreeing prescribed methodologies to ensure harmonisation and the production of a robust and reliable data set. The data produced were compared using basic statistical methods and revealed strong positive correlation despite minor operational variation. The data indicates that inter and intra laboratory variability differed from parameter to parameter and that good agreement was obtained where methodology was common. Collaborative research introduced the need for common communication plans and exchange of information not normally supplied in analytical reporting.   Key words: Forest soil quality, inter-comparison, Quercus suber L., cork oak, Tunisia, Sardinia, chemical analysis, potentially toxic elements

The soil of unmanaged cork oak forests located both in Sardinia and in Tunisia was characterized. Soil samples were collected in both areas at the depth of 0-10 cm, to determine the pedologic characteristics [humidity, pH, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (N) and texture] and the fungi community. The data were tested for significance with analysis of variance (ANOVA) techniques. The soils of the two studied areas were significantly different as far as pH, TOC % and Sand content are concerned. The texture of Sardinia soil was mainly classified as “sandy-loam” and the Tunisian ones as “sandy-clay-loam”. Concerning the fungi community in Sardinia soil, the most frequent fungi genera were Trichoderma, Penicillium and Paecilomyces. In Tunisian soil the dominant genus was Penicillium followed by the genus Aspergillus.