Assisted phytoremediation for restoring soil fertility in contaminated and degraded land

The results of experiments carried out in the National Interest Priority Site (NIPS) Agro Aversano-Litorale Domizio in Campania (southern Italy) within the framework of the project ECOREMED (LIFE11 ENV/IT/275) are used as a basis for reporting the main threats to soil fertility. In this paper we focus on soil degradation and contamination due to illegal waste disposal and burning, widespread phenomena in the NIPS in question, evaluating different options for soil remediation with agriculturebased techniques in light of their impact on the ecosystem services of soils. Bioremediation and assisted phytoremediation are recognized as the best options for protecting human health and enhancing environmental quality, maintaining agricultural soil functions with the application of relatively low-cost protocols. The purpose of agriculture-based remediation techniques is threefold: i) make the area in question safe, interrupting exposure to contaminant pathways through ecological structures such as dense reed plantations or dense turfgrass combined with high-density tree rows for reducing ground wind speed; ii) remediation, aiming to reduce the bioavailable fraction of potentially toxic elements (PTEs); iii) environmental restoration, to improve environment and landscape quality of degraded, but not contaminated land. The technical steps for carrying out phytoremediation projects and the results of their application are described for the following case studies monitored in Campania: i) agricultural soil contaminated by bioavailable Cd (San Giuseppiello site in Giugliano); ii) industrial soil heavily contaminated by Pb and Cd (Ecobat site in Marcianise); iii) agricultural soils potentially contaminated by non-bioavailable PTEs and organic pollutants (Giugliano and Trentola-Ducenta sites); iv) physically degraded soil (Teverola site). In all the case studies phytoremediation proved a low-cost tool to reduce risks for human health and enhance environmental quality, whilst maintaining soil fertility and improving ecosystem services.