Luisella Celi

• University of Turin

Background and aims Plant resilience to drought conditions is modulated by physiological and metabolic responses, including the accumulation of antioxidant metabolites. These mechanisms can be in influenced by nutrient availability, especially phosphorus (P). In European mixed forests, native species with high resource demands often compete with mo...

Background and Aims Plant resilience to drought conditions is modulated by physiological and metabolic responses, including the accumulation of antioxidant metabolites. These mechanisms can be in influenced by nutrient availability, especially phosphorus (P). In European mixed forests, native species with high resource demands often compete with mo...

The current use of fertilizers is inefficient and not sustainable. The majority of the fertilizer applied does not reach the targeted crop but is lost in the water bodies and into the atmosphere, with harmful impact on the environment. To enhance the efficiency and sustainability of current agricultural practices, it is essential to address two com...

In organo-mineral fertilizers (OMFs) with low organic carbon (Corg) final content, the organic fraction enhances the mineral fraction efficiency. Therefore, a high-quality organic fraction is crucial. While geogenic materials like peat have been used extensively for producing high-quality OMFs, exploring alternative organic sources such as biowaste...

Drought and nutrient‐poor soils can increase the invasive potential of non‐native species, further changing the ecosystems they invade. The high adaptability of these alien species, especially in their efficient use of resources, improves their resilience against abiotic stress. Here, we evaluated the response of the North American Quercus rubra L....

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....

Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) is an effective water-saving practice for rice cultivation that may however promote nitrogen (N) losses compared to continuous flooding (CF). The interaction between water, crop residue and N fertilization management can influence the contribution of different N sources to plant uptake. We hypothesized that microb...

The community of soil scientists in Italian universities is small, approximately 100 people as permanent staff, distributed from North to South in groups of variable dimensions. Despite being a small community, their research activities show a wide range of topics, ranging from the molecular to the landscape scale, and encompassing evergreen themes...

Background and aims Iron (Fe) plaque which normally coats rice roots has a strong affinity for phosphorus (P), with a debated effect on plant P uptake. Furthermore, plant responses to P availability shape the rhizospheric environment, possibly affecting the rates of Fe plaque formation and dissolution. The role of Fe plaque to serve as a sink or so...

Background Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for plant growth, taking part in primary cellular metabolic processes as a structural component of key biomolecules. Soil processes as adsorption, precipitation, and coprecipitation can affect P bioavailability, leading to limited plant growth and excessive use of P fertilizers, with adverse impact...

Background and aims Iron (Fe) plaque which normally coats rice roots has a strong affinity for phosphorus (P), with a debated effect on plant P uptake. Furthermore, plant responses to P availability shape the rhizospheric environment, possibly affecting the rates of Fe plaque formation and dissolution. The role of Fe plaque to serve as a sink or so...

Phosphorus (P) cycling in paddy soil is closely related to iron (Fe) redox wheel; its availability to rice has thus generally been ascribed to Fe minerals reductive dissolution. However, the literature aimed to identify the best method for predicting rice available P does not uniformly point to Fe reductants. Rice plants can indeed solubilize and...

Residue incorporation and organic fertilisation are recommended to increase soil organic matter (SOM) content, thus promoting the provision of multiple ecosystem services. However, the positive effect of crop residue on SOM is often considered rather low, thus requiring a deeper knowledge of their management. In addition, organic fertilisation is t...

In high‐mountain areas, Pleistocene glaciations and erosion‐related processes erased most of the pre‐existing landforms and soils. However, on scattered stable surfaces, ancient soils can be locally preserved for long periods, retaining valuable palaeoenvironmental information. Such relict surfaces survived during glaciations either through coverag...

Phosphorus (P) in soil derives from weathering of primary minerals, such as apatites, present in almost all types of rocks, globally ensuring its availability for plants. In natural systems, P availability depends on a concerted interaction between abiotic processes – sorption/desorption, precipitation/dissolution, leaching and runoff – and biologi...

To understand how grapevine sinks compete with each other during water stress and subsequent rehydration, carbon (C) allocation patterns in drought‐rehydrated vines (REC) at the beginning of fruit ripening were compared with control vines maintained under drought (WS) or fully irrigated (WW). In the 30 days following rehydration, the quantity and d...

In high-mountain areas, Pleistocene glaciations and erosion-related processes erased most of the pre-existing soils. However, on scattered stable surfaces, ancient soils can be locally preserved for long periods, either through coverage by non-erosive, cold-based, ice or as nunataks. This study was performed in the periglacial environment of the St...

Phosphorus (P) is a limiting nutrient in many agroecosystems and, apart from affecting plant growth, can also limit biological N2 fixation (BNF) by leguminous plants. Thus, increasing P supply can have a positive effect on BNF particularly in P-deficient soils. Here, we provide new insights into the response of hairy vetch (Vicia villosa), widely a...

Kofuns are burial mounds of ancient Japan (3rd-7th century CE, defined as Kofun Period). The construction history and archaeological significance of Kofuns of the Late Kofun Period (6th-7th century) still need to be characterized. This study dealt with Tobiotsuka Kofun (Okayama Prefecture, Japan) and aimed to investigate if diversity and structure...

Cover crops can determine positive benefits on soil fertility and rice productivity, although scant attention has been devoted to evaluating the effects of hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) and the incorporation of rice straw with different N fertilization levels on soil N and P availability and crop yields in temperate cropping systems characterize...

Gender equality in Italian soil science is still far from being a reality although an in-depth investigation has never been carried out. In this work we analyse data on women soil scientists working in public research institutions and universities as well as on those affiliated with soil science societies, considering the changes in gender balance...

I ghiacciai di Lauson (Cogne) e Lavassey (Rhêmes-Notre-Dame) hanno subito un drammatico arretramento a partire dalla fine della Piccola Età Glaciale, rispettivamente di 1.3 e 2.3 km, con una superficie residua inferiore al 30% di quella originiaria. Il materiale morenico lasciato dal ghiacciaio viene colonizzato dalla vegetazione che, con reazioni...

A differenza di gran parte dei ghiacciai nel Massicio del Gran Paradiso, e sulle Alpi in generale, il Ghiacciaio di Nel Orientale, nel gruppo delle Levanne, ha subito un ritiro molto ridotto (280 m) a partire dalla fine della Piccola Età Glaciale, grazie alla presenza di uno spesso strato di detriti sulla sua superficie che lo protegge dall’irraggi...

Background and aims Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for plant growth, but is also one of the least accessible in soil. Plants have evolved several strategies to cope with P deficiency and recently the role of the phytohormones strigolactones (SLs) in modulating tomato plants acclimation to P shortage has been described. How SLs regulate the...

Soil organic matter (OM) plays an important role in determining soil functionality and fertility, not only directly, by contributing to the pool of plant available elements, but also through important interactions with nutrient cycling. In this chapter, we will focus on the interaction between the cycling of OM and the major nutrients, namely nitro...

Purpose In plant-soil systems, phosphorus partitioning during the annual cycle related to nitrogen partitioning remains largely unknown. The present study aims at assessing the soil-plant P allocation patterns of four tree species along four phenological stages and its relationship with tissues and soil N concentrations. Methods Cryptomeria japoni...

This work performs a review of the relevant aspects of agronomic dynamics of phosphorus (P) in the soil–plant relationship as a community (crop ecophysiology), the effect of environmental conditions and global warming on the redistribution and translocation of P in some crop, and the use of good agricultural practices with the aim of improving the...

Information about the availability of soil mineral nitrogen (N) in organic greenhouse tomatoes after the application of mobile green manure (MGM), and its impact on plant nutrient status and yield is scarce. Considering this knowledge gap, the effects of legume biomass from faba beans that are cultivated outdoors (FAB), or from feed-grade alfalfa p...

Wildfires induce deep modifications in soils. Water Repellency (WR) is one of the prime edaphic properties experiencing alterations upon heating. Despite occurrence, extent and persistence of burning-induced soil WR has been extensively discussed, the dynamics at the basis of its formation (and loss) are still widely unclear. The vast majority of r...

Paddy soils experience long-term redox alternations affecting the interactions between the biogeochemical cycling of iron (Fe) and carbon (C). Differences in particle aggregation and soil organic matter (SOM) turnover are likely to both affect and be affected by the trajectory of Fe mineral evolution/crystallinity with redox fluctuations. We hypoth...

The third section of the guidebook of the virtual excurion of the 2021 SPSS meeting includes the main activities performed by the research group in the forests of the Lanzo alluvial fan, including La Mandria Park (Torino). The main research topics are the characterization of paleosols developed across many glacial-interglacial cycles from glacio-fl...

Cover crops offer various ecosystem services that contribute to the sustainability of intensive cropping systems. In particular, leguminous cover crops may represent an important source of nitrogen (N) for the following income crop. Through the symbiotic association between plant roots and N2 fixing bacteria, biological N fixation (BNF) may contrib...

Strigolactones (SLs) are plant hormones that modulate morphological, physiological and biochemical changes as part of the acclimation strategies to phosphorus (P) deficiency, but an in‐depth description of their effects on tomato P‐acquisition strategies under P shortage is missing. Therefore, in this study, we investigate how SLs impact on root ex...

In the summer of 2003 and 2004, characterized by a rapid glacier retreat, a stony surface covered by well-structured organic-rich mineral debris was observed very close to the Indren glacier terminus (Monte Rosa Massif, NW Italy, 3100 m ASL), on an area covered by the glacier tongue till the year before. The origin and type of this organic-rich mat...

Wildfires play the role of ecosystem shapers in the majority of terrestrial biomes, altering canopy and litter cover and imposing strong modifications on soils. Organic matter (OM) content and composition, mineralogy, pH, aggregate stability and water repellency (WR) are among the main edaphic properties to be affected by heat. Various studies deal...

An organic greenhouse crop of tomato was established in February following cultivation of cowpea (CP) or common bean (CB) for green pod production, or faba bean (FB) for green manuring. The vegetative residues of CP and CB were incorporated to the soil together with farmyard manure (FYM), prior to establishing the tomato crop. The FB plants were in...

Redox fluctuations in hydromorphic soils can influence ecosystem functions by altering the cycling of organic carbon (OC) and other elements in both the aqueous and solid phases throughout the soil profile. Most studies focusing on the mobility of dissolved OC in rice paddy soils have often disregarded the contribution of colloidal particles. We pr...

The study investigated plant-soil interactions along a proglacial chronosequence in the Italian Alps, with a specific focus on pioneer and grassland species structure and biogeochemical processes, with the aim to evaluate the biotic patterns in ecosystem development. We recorded vascular plant frequencies and the mean diameter of one pioneer and on...

The hazardous effects of arsenic are closely linked to its speciation and interaction with different soil minerals, which influence both As mobility and bioavailability. Adsorption onto iron (oxyhydr)oxides is one of the main processes controlling the partitioning of arsenite [As(III)] and arsenate [As(V)] between aqueous and solid phases. Arsenic...

Organic farming systems rely on environment-friendly practices, such as intercropping, crop rotations, enhancement of soil fertility through biological processes, composting, and biological pest control, while excluding the use of synthetic chemicals. However, in organic agriculture the availability of N to plants depends on mineralization rates of...

Inositol phosphates selective retention in soil is related to their great affinity to iron (Fe) oxides, with which they interact by the formation of ligand exchange complexes. Soils contain from amorphous to crystalline Fe oxides forms, as goethite (Gt), whose effect on inositol phosphates retention is well-known. The contribution of other widespre...

Agriculture contributes to over 20% of global anthropogenic GHG emissions and irrigated paddy fields account for 5–10% of CH4 emissions. Main organic input providing methanogenesis substrate is straw. We hypothesized that removing rice straw can mitigate CH4 emissions, and that replacing its carbon (C) input with raw or solid digestate can be a val...

The hormones strigolactones accumulate in plant roots under phosphorus (P) shortage, inducing variations in plant phenotype. In this study, we aimed at understanding whether strigolactones control morphological and anatomical changes in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) roots under varying P supply. Root traits were evaluated in wild-type seedlings...

Aims In deglaciated surfaces, lithology influences habitat development. In particular, serpentinite inhibits soil evolution and plant colonization because of insufficient phosphorus (P) content, among other stressful properties. In nutrient-poor environments, ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) play a key role exploring the soil for P beyond the rhizospher...

Il riscaldamento globale ha impatti enormi sugli ecosistemi alpini. Uno tra gli effetti più evidenti è il ritiro dei ghiacciai, a partire dalla fine della Piccola Età Glaciale (1860 circa), che ha provocato l'esposizione di ampie superfici precedentemen-te coperte dai ghiacciai. Queste superfici sono dei laboratori naturali per la verifica delle te...

La litologia del materiale parentale ha impatti molto forti sulle proprietà chimiche e fisiche dei suoli giovani, particolarmente nelle zone proglaciali liberate dai ghiacciai a partire dalla fine della Piccola Età Glaciale. Le morene del Grande Ghiacciaio di Verra forniscono uno dei pochi esempi al mondo di cro-nosequenza di suoli e di successione...

In the present study, in addition to farmyard manure (FYM), cowpea was applied as green manure and faba bean as an intercrop in an organic greenhouse tomato crop, aiming to increase the levels of soil N. Three experiments (E1, E2, E3) were carried out, in which legumes were either noninoculated or inoculated with rhizobia alone or together with pla...

The recycling of agricultural wastes, co-products, and by-products is necessary for creating circular economic (closed loop) agro-food chains and more sustainable agro-ecosystems. The substitution of N mineral fertilisers with recycled organic fertiliser promotes a circular economy, makes the agricultural system more environmentally sustainable, an...

Phosphorous (P) cycling is often closely coupled to iron (Fe), particularly following mineral weathering or in hydromorphic soils where Fe redox reactions can control the equilibrium between P retention and release. While surface adsorption of P on Fe (hydr)oxides is a well-known and widely studied process, less attention has been devoted to the un...

Background and Motivation: Nitrogen content in tissues of Fagus crenata Blume is key for flowering and seed production. However, there is a lack of information on seasonal intra-plant nitrogen partitioning in this representative tree species typical of heavy snowfall regions in Japan. Therefore, the objective of this study was to elucidate Fagus cr...

Soil moisture strongly affects the balance between nitrification, denitrification and N2O reduction and therefore the nitrogen (N) efficiency and N losses in agricultural systems. In rice systems, there is a need to improve alternative water management practices, which are designed to save water and reduce methane emissions but may increase N2O and...

Aims Grasslands are among the largest ecosystems in the world and store up to 30% of the global reserves of carbon. Decomposition processes have a crucial role in maintaining carbon balance, but few studies have investigated the heterogeneity of this process at small scale, especially in alpine ecosystems. We aimed at investigating the interactions...

A Fragipan (Bx) is a soil horizon hard when dry and brittle when moist, that undergoes slaking upon water immersion, forming a barrier to roots and limiting land use. Brittleness and slaking depend on soil porosity and particle arrangement, but still no agreement exists on the inorganic components responsible for such arrangement. We hypothesized t...

Soil moisture strongly affects the balance between nitrification, denitrification and N2O reduction and therefore the nitrogen (N) efficiency and N losses in agricultural systems. In rice systems, there is a need to improve alternative water management practices, which are designed to save water and reduce methane emissions, but may increase N2O an...

Rice cultivation is recognised as a pivotal source of atmospheric methane (CH4), accounting for 11% of global emissions. The main drivers of CH4 production are redox conditions of soil, substrate availability, and abundance of methanogenic archaea, all potentially governed by management practices for straw and water management. In the present study...

Background The dynamics of phosphorus (P) in the environment is important for regulating nutrient cycles in natural and managed ecosystems and an integral part in assessing biological resilience against environmental change. Organic P (Po) compounds play key roles in biological and ecosystems function in the terrestrial environment being critical t...

The article “Organic phosphorus in the terrestrial environment: a perspective on the state of the art and future priorities”, written by Timothy S George et al., was originally published with incorrect affiliation information for one of the co-authors, E. Klumpp.

Sustainable alternative substrates for advanced applications represent an increasing field of research that attracts the attention of worldwide experts (in accordance with green chemistry principles). In this context, bio-based substances (BBS) isolated from urban composted biowaste were purified and characterized. Additionally, these materials wer...

Vineyard management practices to enhance soil conservation principally focus on increasing carbon (C) input, whereas mitigating impacts of disturbance through reduced tillage has been rarely considered. Furthermore, information is lacking on the effects of soil management practices adopted in the under-vine zone on soil conservation. In this work,...

The adsorption of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) on iron (Fe) (hydr)oxides represents an important stabilization mechanism for soil organic matter (OM) and contributes to soil C accumulation. However, in soils that experience periodic fluctuations in redox conditions the interaction between DOC and Fe (hydr)oxides may not only involve organic coati...

Rapid biodiversity loss has emphasized the need to understand how biodiversity affects the provisioning of ecological functions. Of particular interest are species and communities with versatile impacts on multiple parts of the environment, linking processes in the biosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere to human interests in the anthroposphere (in...

Iron (oxyhydr)oxides may act as a sink and source of arsenic (As) in terrestrial and aquatic systems, therefore studying the mechanisms controlling Fe (oxyhydr)oxide transformation under changing environmental conditions is essential for elucidating the fate of As, in terms of release, mobility and speciation. We provide evidence that aging and As(...

In this study, chitosan and bio-based substances (BBS) obtained from composted biowaste were used as stabilizers for the synthesis of magnet-sensitive nanoparticles (NPs) via coprecipitation method. A pyrolysis treatment was carried out on both biopolymers at 550°C, and their consequent conversion into a carbon matrix was followed by means of diffe...

Limitations to plant growth because of the lack of nutrients are particularly evident in proglacial areas on serpentinite. The high Mg concentration, the unbalance between Ca and Mg, the low amounts of K and P and the excess of Ni interact and originate the harsh conditions known as the serpentine syndrome. Phosphorus deficiency is particularly int...

In fertilized paddy soils, the role of resource availability on ammonium (NH4⁺) assimilation and immobilization by archaea requires advanced understanding as this may have considerable implications on subsequent catalytic steps in the soil N cycle including archaeal nitrous oxide (N2O) reduction. To gain a deeper understanding about these process l...

Maintaining multiple ecological functions (‘multifunctionality’) is crucial to sustain viable ecosystems. To date most studies on biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) have focused on single or few ecological functions and services. However, there is a critical need to evaluate how species and species assemblages affect multiple processes at the...

La fragilità del fragipan, cui spesso si fa riferimento per l’identificazione, è sinonimo di “cementazione” non permanente dell’orizzonte: gli aggregati, estremamente resistenti allo stato secco, collassano rapidamente quando immersi in acqua. Questo comportamento è stato associato alla presenza di agenti cementanti deboli, ma anche ad una disposiz...

Glacier retreat is one of the most visible effects of climate change in mountain ecosystems. The establishment of vegetation on recently deglaciated surface initiates gradients in many soil properties, but vegetation succession pathways strongly influence pedogenetic evolution. In undisturbed areas there is a trend towards the formation of podzols,...

Spatially explicit knowledge of recent and past soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in forests will improve our understanding of the effect of human- and non-human-induced changes on forest C fluxes. For SOC accounting, a minimum detectable difference must be defined in order to adequately determine temporal changes and spatial differences in SOC. Thi...

Glacier retreat is one of the most visible effects of climate change in mountain ecosystems. The establishment of vegetation on recently deglaciated surface initiates gradients in many soil properties, but vegetation succession pathways strongly influence pedogenetic evolution. In undisturbed areas there is a trend towards the formation of podzols,...

The mitigation of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from rice paddy fields is pivotal in minimizing the impact of rice production on global warming. The large majority of the world rice is cropped in continuously flooded paddies, where soil anaerobic conditions lead to the production and emission of significant amounts of CH4. In this...

Vineyard soils are typically characterised by poor development, low organic matter content and steep slopes. Consequently, they have a limited capacity for conservation of organic matter that is weakly bound to the mineral soil phase. Under such conditions, establishment of permanent grass may improve soil quality conservation. The aim of this stud...

Le torbiere sono ecosistemi umidi caratterizzati da una particolare tipologia di suoli organici, chiamati Histosuoli. Questi suoli presentano una condizione di saturazione idrica che induce all’anossia e, di conseguenza, a un rallentamento dei processi di degradazione della sostanza organica, con l’accumulo di ingenti quantità di materiale organico...

Earth hummocks are small cryogenic mounds, covered by grass, closely spaced in grassland or wetlands. Hummock microtopography establishes specific microclimatic conditions, with small-scale variations in soil thermal properties and water regimes, which influence biogeochemical cycles. These properties, coupled with different litter decomposability,...

Aims: Although paddy soils are generally characterized by relatively high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations and fluxes, little is yet known on how water management influences the cycling of this important organic C pool. This work aims at providing insights into the link between DOC cycling during rice cropping and organic C input to th...

Water management practices alternative to continuous flooding are highly required to enhance water use efficiency and safeguard environmental quality in temperate rice agro-ecosystems. In this work, we carried out a two year field experiment (2012–2013) in a rice paddy in NW Italy to evaluate and quantify the agro-environmental sustainability of th...

Soil aggregation and organic matter conservation are important in the prevention of land degradation. Aggregation processes and organic matter turnover influence each other and depend on the characteristics of both minerals and organic pools. We assessed the relative importance of the organic and mineral phases at the macroaggregate and colloidal s...

Sorption of organic matter (OM) onto soil minerals affects OM dynamics, and is strongly controlled by mineral surface properties. Moreover, the degree and mechanism of interaction between different minerals may influence their surface reactivity. We therefore aimed to understand mineral surface modifications brought about by different Fe (hydr)oxid...