Claudio Zaccone

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University of Verona | UNIVR · Department of Biotechnology

Floating islands mysteriously moving around on lakes were described by several Latin authors almost two millennia ago. These fascinating ecosystems, known as free-floating mires, have been extensively investigated from ecological, hydrological and management points of view, but there have been no detailed studies of their rates of accumulation of o...

The humification process is one of the least understood and most intriguing aspects of humus chemistry and vital to the global carbon (C) cycle. Peatlands represent the largest terrestrial reservoirs of organic C and support a unique biodiversity, but are also natural archives of climate and environmental changes. In fact, cores from ombrotrophic p...

Drylands (hyperarid, arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid ecosystems) cover almost half of Earth’s land surface and are highly vulnerable to environmental pressures. Here we provide an inventory of soil properties including carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) stocks within the current boundaries of drylands, aimed at serving as a benchmark in...

The role and distribution of iron (Fe) species in physical soil fractions has received remarkably little attention in field-scale systems. Here, we identify and quantify the Fe phases in two fractions (fine sand, FSa, and fine silt and clay, FSi+Cl), isolated from an agricultural soil non-amended and amended with different organic materials, by Fe...

Climate and time are among the most important factors driving soil organic carbon (SOC) stability and accrual in mineral soils; however, their relative importance on SOC dynamics is still unclear. Therefore, understanding how these factors covary over a range of soil developmental stages is crucial to improve our knowledge of climate change impact...

The incorporation of iron into peralkaline silicate glasses significantly impacts their structural and thermal properties. Here we investigate how addition of iron influences the network connectivity (short- and medium-range order) and glass transition temperature (Tg) with particular regard to the iron speciation and the Fe2+ and Fe3+ coordination...

Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a crucial role in the global carbon (C) cycle representing a key element of soil ecosystem services. Thus, the response of agricultural soils to climate change is important when assessing their SOC accrual potential and fertility. In this research we investigated the influence of global warming on SOC pools, and on c...

Understanding the accumulation and stability of soil organic matter (SOM) pools as a function of time (i.e., soil age) and climate (i.e., precipitation and temperature) represents a crucial challenge. This study aims at investigating the effect of both climate and time on SOM distribution into particulate and mineral-associated organic matter (POM...

Mixed plantations provide numerous benefits in terms of ecosystem and socioeconomic services, as well as on soil chemical and biological parameters; thus, a forest management allowing to recover overexploited soils is highly recommended. Although nurse species may deeply affect soil properties, few studies are present in literature assessing their...

Monitoring crop responses to drought is crucial for understanding the progressive impact of drought on food production and identifying management practices that can enhance agricultural resilience. This study combined drone-based multispectral data (MDd) with laboratory determination over multiple pilot farms to identify the main soil physical and...

Plastic waste pollution has become a global crisis, with millions of tons of plastic expected to accumulate in landfills and in natural environments, posing a serious threat to wildlife and human health. As current recycling methods remain inefficient, there is an urgent need for innovative enzymatic solutions to break down plastics and enable a ci...

Mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) constitutes a major fraction of global soil carbon and is assumed less sensitive to climate than particulate organic carbon (POC) due to protection by minerals. Despite its importance for long-term carbon storage, the response of MAOC to changing climates in drylands, which cover more than 40% of the global...

Mercury (Hg) is known to affect aquatic, terrestrial ecosystems as well as human health, through biomagnification. Mangrove wetlands are potential Hg sinks because of their low tidal velocity, fast sedimentation rate, strong reducing condition and high organic matter content. The spatial and temporal distribution of Hg has been a hot topic of recen...

The decline of soil organic matter (SOM) and micro and macronutrients is among the most serious threats that many agricultural soils in the world are facing. In many countries, soil amendments from a wide range of organic wastes are increasingly used as a win-win strategy to mitigate global warming while enhancing soil fertility and, in turn, food...

The 1:250,000 scale soil map in the years 2000 can be seen as a significant consolidation of soil surveying and mapping activities in the Veneto region, after some pioneering experiences by Alvise Comel in the years 1950–60; furthermore, it has also given the chance to train a group of soil surveyors, that later became part of the permanent staff o...

The history of soil science in Apulia region begins at the Agricultural Station (today CREA—Council for Agricultural Research and Economics) and it continues with the Universities of Bari (mainly) and Foggia. The characteristics of the rural environment and the Mediterranean climate have influenced research in universities and public research insti...

The Italian Society of Agricultural Chemistry (SICA) was founded in Padova on 24 July 1981, to establish a scientific platform for researchers, scholars and scientists working in the wide field of chemistry and biochemistry related to the agriculture. Thus, the common denominator of the SICA members is not the “object” of the study (i.e., soil vs....

Peatlands play a crucial role in carbon (C) sequestration and biodiversity conservation. However, these environments are highly vulnerable, and Europe has lost >60 % of its peatland habitat in recent decades. Cattle grazing and trampling contribute to peatland degradation, which generally result in a shift from moss-dominated vegetation to vascular...

This study investigated the variability of agricultural drought severity, as depicted by vegetation indices, and the bias in identifying drought events when considering a stationary vs nonstationary climate reference. The work leveraged gridded climate data (NCEP CFSv2, CHIRPS 1981–2022), soil properties (OpenLandMap), satellite imagery (Sentinel2/...

Mangrove wetlands are an important component of blue carbon (C) ecosystems, although the anthropogenic impact on organic C accumulation rate (OCAR) in mangrove wetlands is not yet clear. Three sediment cores were collected from Zhanjiang Gaoqiao Mangrove Reserve in Southern China, dated by 210Pb and 137Cs, and physico-chemical parameters measured....

This poster highlights the preliminary results of my PhD project focusing on the impact of climate change on soil organic carbon pools and crop yields.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a key role in the global carbon (C) cycle and represents a key element of the quality and functionality of the soil ecosystem, enhancing its physical, chemical and biological properties. Losses from this large pool could show remarkable impacts on future atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature incre...

The application of biochar to soils, either alone or combined with other amendments, represents a management practice aimed at storing carbon (C) while enhancing soil fertility. However, the long-term effects of biochar application on soil organic C protection against microbial decomposition are uncertain. This study investigated, in a 9-year-long-...

Lignocellulose biomasses (LCB), including spent mushroom substrate (SMS), pose environmental challenges if not properly managed. At the same time, these renewable resources hold immense potential for biofuel and chemicals production. With the mushroom market growth expected to amplify SMS quantities, repurposing or disposal strategies are critical....

Natural and human-induced environmental changes deeply affected terrestrial ecosystems throughout the Holocene. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions provide information about the past and allow us to predict/model future scenarios. Among potential records, peat bogs are widely used because they present a precise stratigraphy and act as natural archiv...

Atmospheric deposition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has increased in northern Alberta, Canada, due to industrial development in the Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR). However, the sources, summertime deposition fluxes and associated spatial patterns are poorly characterized, and the magnitude of contamination has not been directly con...

Future space missions to Mars will depend on the development of bioregenerative life support systems. Mars regolith contains most of the nutrients needed for plant growth, but not organic matter (OM). Although Mars simulants have been deeply characterized and tested as growing media, no data are available about their possible modification occurring...

Lignohumates are increasing in popularity in agriculture, but their chemistry and effects on plants vary based on the source and processing. The present study evaluated the ability of two humates (H1 and H2) to boost maize plant performance under different phosphorus (P) availability (25 and 250 µM) conditions in hydroponics, while understanding th...

The sustainability of Mediterranean croplands is threatened by climate warming and rainfall reduction. The use of biochar as an amendment represents a tool to store organic carbon (C) in soil. The vulnerability of soil organic C (SOC) to the joint effects of climate change and biochar application needs to be better understood by investigating its m...

Volcanic eruptions generate huge amounts of material with a wide range of compositions and therefore different physicochemical properties. We present a combined Raman and calorimetric study carried out on four synthetic basaltic glasses with different alkali vs. iron ratio which spans the typical compositions of basalts on Earth. Differential scann...

Ramial wood chips (RWC) amendment has great potential in sustainable agriculture, however more data is needed to assess its effect on soil fertility and carbon (C) storage. In this study, we investigated the effect of a single application of RWC amendment on a silty clay loam soil. During the 5 year experiment, we measured biomass production, grain...

Northern peatlands store globally-important amounts of carbon in the form of partly decomposed plant detritus. Drying associated with climate and land-use change may lead to increased fire frequency and severity in peatlands and the rapid loss of carbon to the atmosphere. However, our understanding of the patterns and drivers of peatland burning on...

In this study, hydrochar (HC), a carbon-rich product originated from hydrothermal conversion treatment (HTC), was obtained from wastes of the wine and dairy industries. The effect of mixing secondary char and compost was tested, before and after the aerobic mixing of compost (COM) and HC at increasing doses (from 15 to 75 Mg ha−1 DM), in an effort...

The liquid viscosity of multiphase systems is usually retrieved by the use of combined chemical analysis and empirical chemistry-based models. Here we present an alternative approach to study the glassy pools in highly crystallized basaltic-andesite and trachybasalt samples obtained from isothermal crystallization experiment at different shear rate...

Thauera is one of the main genera involved in polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production in microbial mixed cultures (MMCs) from volatile fatty acids (VFAs). However, no Thauera strains involved in PHA accumulation have been obtained in pure culture so far. This study is the first report of the isolation and characterization of a Thauera sp. strain, nam...

Iron (Fe) (oxyhydr)oxides represent a significant phase for the organic carbon (OC) stabilization. Due to their high surface areas, short-range-ordered Fe minerals, like ferrihydrite, show a higher ability to stabilize OC than crystalline secondary minerals, like lepidocrocite, goethite, and magnetite. However, how Fe phases and their crystallinity...

The aim of this work is to investigate the mechanisms of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration as a function of time and depth. A chronosequence, consisting of two orders (T2 and T1) of the Adige river terraces (Veneto region, North of Italy) and 3 sites (Q2, Q3, and Q4), has been investigated. The highest and oldest terrace (T1) is located in Mo...

Drought and surface water ponding (DSP) are one of the major natural hazards affecting crop production, especially in low-land irrigated areas. This work focus on an irrigated area in northeastern Italy, a territory of about 400k ha, part of the central Veneto, where water demands is met through a mechanical and well-regulated widespread distributi...

The knowledge of the viscosity of magmas as a function of melt composition and temperature is central in the numerical modeling of the magmatic dynamics and eruptive scenarios. Recent studies suggest that the measure of the viscosity of volcanic melts is affected by the occurrence of nano-scale modification (i.e., crystallization) of the melt struc...

The aim of this work was to understand of how parent material and plant cultivar interactively control soil organic matter (SOM) accumulation and stabilization in vineyards. Three experimental vineyards located in the Valpolicella area (North of Italy) were investigated. These sites were very close each other and, consequently, characterized by the...

We report the first example of very efficient NIR Circularly Polarized Luminescence (CPL) (around 970 nm) in water, obtained thanks to the combined use of a chiral Yb complex and of poly lactic‐co‐glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles. [YbL(tta)2]CH3COO (L=N, N’‐bis(2‐pyridylmethylidene)‐1,2‐(R,R+S,S) cyclohexanediamine and tta=2‐thenoyltrifluoroaceto...

Peatlands are a major carbon (C) sink and represent important habitats for nature conservation because of the occurrence of specifically adapted organisms. Peatlands are typically nutrient-poor environments, and thus extremely sensitive to nitrogen (N) depositions. In fact, increasing N inputs can cause a shift from a Sphagnum moss-to a vascular pl...

A 3-m thick sediment was found in a limestone mine located in the Apulia region (south of Italy), at a depth of 25-30 m from the current ground level. Samples from 5 layers were investigated by X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (XANES) and Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) at the iron (Fe) K-edge, paired with Raman spectroscopy...

The natural sources of soil organic matter are indigenous plant, animal, and microbial debris continuously produced during organism turnover and biological cycles occurring in the soil. This chapter provides an up‐to‐date brief review of the composting process and compost production; and the chemical, spectroscopic, thermal, biological, biochemical...

The identification of iron (Fe) forms throughout a sediment sequence was investigated by X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (XANES) and Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) at the Fe K-edge, paired with Raman micro-spectroscopy. The contribution of different organic and inorganic Fe-bearing compounds was quantified by Linear Combin...

A 3-m thick sediment sequence, found in a limestone mine located in the south of Italy at a depth of ca. 25–30 m from the current ground level, was investigated. Samples from 5 layers were analysed by X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry and micromorphology. Microbial DNA was analysed by 16S rRNA gene...

Background: Legacy data are unique occasions for estimating soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration changes and spatial variability, but their use showed limitations due to the sampling schemes adopted and improvements may be needed in the analysis methodologies. When SOC changes is estimated with legacy data, the use of soil samples collected in d...

Cattle grazing and trampling is a cause of peatland degradation resulting in peat compaction, shift in plant and microbial community composition, and N inputs in form of excreta. In Alpine peatlands overgrazing has been identified as a main problem for habitat integrity and biodiversity. In the present work, 50-cm deep Belarus cores were collected...

A 3-m thick sediment was found in a limestone mine located in the southern part of the Gargano Promontory, Apulia region (south of Italy), at a depth of ca. 25-30 m from the current ground level. Samples from 5 layers were analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), elementar analysis (CHNS), and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Micr...

The application of biochar is presumed to be a climate change mitigation strategy in agriculture. However, we still need to better understand the effects of biochar application on soil properties, particularly on soil microbial activity. This is because soil microorganisms play a key role in ecosystems functioning, as they have a central role in so...

Legacy data are frequently unique sources of data for the estimation of past soil properties. With the rising concerns about greenhouse gases (GHG) emission and soil degradation due to intensive agriculture and climate change effects, soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration might change heavily over time. When SOC changes is estimated with legacy d...

The occurrence of protozoan parasite, bacterial communities, organic pollutants and heavy metals was investigated in free-ranging species of fin (Balaenoptera physalus, n. 2) and sperm (Physeter macrocephalus, n. 2) whales from the Pelagos Sanctuary, Corsican-Ligurian Provencal Basin (Northern-Western Mediterranean Sea). Out of four faecal samples...

Lakes and lake sediments are significant components of the global carbon (C) cycle, and may store very large amounts of organic matter. Carbon sequestration in lakes is subject to substantial temporal and spatial variation and may be strongly affected by human activities. Here, we report accumulation rates (AR) of organic C (OC), total nitrogen (TN...

Background Legacy data are unique occasions for estimating soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration changes and spatial variability, but their use can pose limitations due to the sampling schemes adopted and improvements may be needed in the analysis methodologies. When SOC changes is estimated with legacy data, the use of soil samples collected in...

The Fe(II)-catalyzed transformation of ferrihydrite into highly crystalline forms may represent an important pathway for soil organic matter (SOM) destabilization under moderately reducing conditions. However, the link between redox-driven changes in soil Fe mineral composition and crystallinity, and SOM chemical properties in the field remains elu...

Northern peatlands sequester carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) over millennia, at variable rates that depend on climate, environmental variables and anthropogenic activity. The ombrotrophic peatlands of central and northern Alberta (Canada) have developed under variable climate conditions during the last hundreds to thousands of years, while in the cours...

A recent paper by Miszczak et al. (2020) examines metal contamination in mires in Poland and Norway. The authors conclude that lead (Pb) records in ombrotrophic peatlands cannot be used to reconstruct the chronological history of anthropogenic activities due to post-depositional mobility of the metal. We contest this general conclusion which stands...

Background: An insight into the molecular composition of ombrotrophic peats of different geographical origin and collected at different depths was achieved by the humeomics method. The humeomic fractionation allowed the separation of molecular components in either organic solvents or water on the basis of their progressive binding strength to the h...

The First Joint Meeting on Soil and Plant System Sciences (SPSS 2019), titled “Natural and Human-Induced Impacts on the Critical Zone and Food Production”, aimed at integrating different scientific backgrounds and topics flowing into the Critical Zone, where chemical, biological, physical, and geological processes work together to support life on t...

The present study aims to reconstruct vegetation development, climate changes and human impact using an ombrotrophic peat core from the Coltrondo bog in the eastern Italian Alps. Evidence from pollen, micro-charcoal, major and trace elements , and lead isotopes from this 7,900 years old peat deposit has been combined, and several climatic oscillati...

Iron (Fe) speciation in soils is highly dependent on environmental conditions, mineralogy, and chemical interactions with soil organic matter (SOM). The fine silt and clay (FSi + Cl) particle size fraction of soils constitutes a primary organo-mineral fraction and contains SOM with long turnover time. In this study, the FSi + Cl particle size fract...

In a previous study (Zaccone et al., 2018. Appl. Soil Ecol. 130, 134-142), we evaluated the potential ecological partition of microbial and plant DNA across soil organic matter (SOM) fractions linked to conceptual stabilization mechanisms. We found that different microbial taxa (bacterial and fungal) seem to be specifically associated to SOM fracti...

Biochar application is now considered to be one of the most promising agricultural practices to mitigate climate change. However, to fully assess the benefits of biochar, we still need to better understand its effects on soil properties, and particularly on native soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics. In this work, we investigated soil respiration an...

Redox-driven changes in Fe crystallinity and speciation may affect soil organic matter (SOM) stabilization and carbon (C) turnover, with consequent influence on global terrestrial soil organic carbon (SOC) cycling. Under reducing conditions, increasing concentrations of Fe(II) released in solution from the reductive dissolution of Fe (hydr)oxides m...

A natural Mn mineral, i.e., todorokite [(Ca,Na,K)X(Mn4+,Mn3+)6O12•3.5H2O], has been collected in the Apulia region, south of Italy, and evaluated as oxidation catalyst for degradation of methyl orange (MO) dye. This Mn-todorokite mineral has been firstly characterised by X-ray diffraction, wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence, BET, scanning ele...

Elevated concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been observed with rapid agricultural and industrial development in the Songnen Plain, Northeast China, but the prospective sources have not been yet apportioned. The concentration of PAHs was measured in 31 sediment samples from 11 Songnen Plain lakes in 2015. The background f...

Fin and sperm whale Mediterranean populations are classified respectively as vulnerable and endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List and potentially threatened by both infectious diseases and anthropogenic factors. Parasites, bacteria, as well as organic and inorganic pollutants, are considered among the main causes...

Physical fractionation methods used in soil organic matter (SOM) research commonly include density-based procedures with heavy liquids to separate SOM pools with varying turnover rates and functions. Once separated, the heavy SOM pools are often thoroughly rinsed with water to wash off any residues of the heavy liquids. Using four soils with contra...

Soil organic matter (SOM) protection, stability and long-term accumulation are controlled by several factors, including sorption onto mineral surfaces. Iron (Fe) has been suggested as a key regulator of SOM stability, both in acidic conditions, where Fe(III) is soluble, and in near-neutral pH environments, where it precipitates as Fe(III) (hydr)oxi...