Vicenç Carabassa

Vicenç Carabassa
CREAF Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications | CREAF

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24
Publications
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397
Citations

Publications

Publications (24)
Article
Full-text available
While open-pit mining activities represent one of the human-derived most impactful land cover changes, these changes and the linked restoration processes can be challenging to assess. This article presents a reproducible methodology carried out with cloud processing of satellite images (Google Earth Engine (GEE)) to evaluate the evolution of open-p...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Executive summary The present document reports the ecosystem services assessment in the 6 NL4DL case study areas. The document describes the methodology for estimating the potential ecosystem services provision in the six NL4DL case study areas. The choice of how to estimate and map ecosystem service indicators depends on several factors, among whi...
Article
Full-text available
The goal of this study was to evaluate biochar’s resistance to microbial decomposition and its impact on native soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition. Conducted in a vineyard with a sandy loam Mediterranean soil with neutral pH and low organic carbon content, the experiment involved the application of 6.5 g biochar kg−1 derived from pine (PB) and...
Article
Full-text available
The lack of topsoil is frequently a limiting factor in limestone quarry restoration. This implies that new technosols for maintaining target habitats must be created using mining wastes as the main components. We designed three different technosols using different combinations of mineral materials (mining wastes, excavated soils and topsoil), organ...
Article
Full-text available
In the field of mine engineering, a cross-section topographic survey is usually carried out to perform volumetric calculations of earth movement in order to restore areas affected by extractive activities. Nowadays, Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) technologies make it possible to perform the same work by using indirect meth...
Chapter
Full-text available
Construction of Technosols mixing mineral (soils or mine debris) and organic materials is a reliable solution to recover the soil functions of the degraded mined lands. The addition of an organic amendment allows a faster establishment of vegetation cover, reduces soil erosion, and promotes higher carbon sequestration at both the medium and the lon...
Article
Full-text available
Unmanned Aerial Systems, or drones, are very helpful tools for managing open-pit mining operations and developing ecological restoration activities. This article presents a method for identifying water erosion processes in active quarries by means of drone imagery remote sensing, in the absence of pre-existing imagery or mapping for comparison. A D...
Article
Full-text available
This study implements the ecosystem service framework to link the concepts of farming activity and ecosystem restoration within the circular economy. It proposes a method for identifying social indicators of ecosystem restoration that can be taken into account in the transition towards more circular and sustainable agricultural systems. Using a cas...
Article
Full-text available
Nature-based solutions can significantly contribute restoration projects in areas affected by desertification processes, where they are necessary for reverting land degradation. Currently, one innovative solution is The Cocoon™, which has been designed as a new ecotechnology for improving seedling establishment. The Cocoon consists of a donut-shape...
Article
Full-text available
Mining is an essential activity that supports the provision of raw materials. However, the extraction process of mining has deep environmental impacts. For this reason, restoration actions are mandatory, and monitoring is a key step in ensuring the renaturalization of affected areas. Erosion processes are one of the main problems that affect restor...
Preprint
Full-text available
In the light of the current climate crisis, one of the most serious ecological threats is the increase of desertification. In this context, restoration projects are necessary for reverting land degradation, and nature-based solutions could help them. The Cocoon™ has been designed as a new ecotechnology for improving seedling establishment. The Coco...
Article
Full-text available
Mining is an important activity of the primary sector with strong economic and environmental impacts. All over the world, governments have made efforts to regulate mine restoration by monitoring and assessing the evolution of mined sites. Our work aims to synthesize various remote sensing applications into a single workflow in order to obtain carto...
Article
Full-text available
Ecological restoration projects of degraded natural areas or rainfed agriculture in the Mediterranean region, especially when they include the plantation of woody species, generally shown to be very expensive and inefficient, mainly due to the large number of leaks during the first summer drought. Even in cases where support irrigation is carried o...
Article
Soil rehabilitation in the context of the restoration of quarries, dumping sites, or road slopes often requires the prior addition of organic amendments to improve the substrates used for Technosol construction. Bio-wastes coming from advanced Mechanical-Biological Treatment Plants, mainly compost-like-outputs (CLO) and digestates (DGT), are new an...
Article
Full-text available
Accurate mapping of open-pit mine areas is a prerequisite for the efficient resource management of extractive companies, but also detailed mapping is a requirement for public administrations, especially regarding the monitoring of restored areas. In previous works, our team has contributed to a better knowledge of the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems...
Article
Full-text available
The use of Technosols for the restoration of limestone quarries overcomes the usual ‘in situ’ scarcity of soil and/or its poor quality. The use of mine spoils, improved with mineral and/or organic amendments, could be an efficient and environmental friendly option. Properly treated sewage sludge from urban wastewater treatment plants could be a sui...
Article
Several methods and criteria to evaluate and assess quarry restoration are available in the scientific literature, but they are very specialized and time consuming. Furthermore, there is a lack of evaluation tools appropriate for technicians involved in these types of activities, such as quarry engineers, restoration managers and quality control su...
Article
Full-text available
Open-pit mine is still an unavoidable activity but can become unsustainable without the restoration of degraded sites. Monitoring the restoration after extractive activities is a legal requirement for mine companies and public administrations in many countries, involving financial provisions for environmental liabilities. The objective of this cont...
Article
Quarry restoration in Mediterranean environments usually needs organic amendments to improve the substrates used for technosol construction. Digested sewage sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants are rich in organic matter, N and P and constitute an available an economically interesting alternative for substrate amendment. However, their...
Article
Ecotoxicity of three potentially toxic metals (PTM) (Cu, Zn and Cr) in a slightly acidic sandy soil was tested using the soil respiration test (OECD-217) in order to determine EC50 values for the carbon transformation activity of microorganisms. Addition of an organic amendment of Populus leaves was also crossed with metal spiking in order to inves...
Article
Several methods have been proposed to quantify biochar C recalcitrance but their suitability is questionable. The aims of this work are: i) to compare the suitability of thermal or chemical oxidation and acid hydrolysis methods to quantify biochar C-pool in a biochar-amended soil, and ii) to calculate the biochar content in the soil through a mass...
Article
Full-text available
Quarry restoration is often limited by the characteristics of the soil or the substrate available. Residual soils and spoils from extraction activities are the most commonly available materials for soil replacement. These substrates are often rich in rock fragments, low in organic matter, and less weathered and poorer in nutrients than the original...

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