fg

Various

Volume VIII |

Coastal Environmental Changes Along the North Western Coast of Egypt Case Study from Alexandria to El Alamein Coast

Abstract: The present paper aims at highlighting the urban development, fishing activities, tourism, industrial development and agricultural activities that affect delicate and valuable coastal ecosystems. A supervised classification, post-classification, change detection techniques were applied to Land sat images acquired in 1991 and 2007, respectively, to map land cover changes along the north-western coast of Egypt, from Alexandria to El Alamein. A supervised classification was carried out on the six reflective bands for the two images individually with the aid of true ground data. The truthful ground information, collected during field trips using ancillary data, visual interpretation and experts’ knowledge of the area using GIS, further refined the classification results. Post-classification change detection technique was used to produce image through cross-tabulation. Changes among different land cover classes were assessed. During the study period, a very severe land cover change has taken place as a result of agricultural and tourist development projects. These shoreline and land cover changes led to modifications of the environmental properties.

Volume VIII |

Assesment of Degradation Processes and Limitative Factors Concerning the Arenosols from Dăbuleni-Romania

Abstract: Soil degradation can be described as a process by which one or more of the potential ecological functions of the soil are harmed and also like a process that lowers the current and/or future capacity of the soil to produce goods and services. The arenosols from Dăbuleni Plain, located in the SW of the Romanian Plain, have a large extension due the aeolian sand deposits which covers the Danubian loess terraces. The main degradation processes affecting the arenosols are the removing and deposition of soil material by wind forces. This type of degradation causes loss of topsoil and severe sand accumulation, which reflects in terrain deformation. The loss of topsoil induces a decrease in depth of the A horizon due to the removal of soil material by the wind because of their sandy texture and insufficient protection offered by vegetation. We should also mention that the forest shelter belts are being destroyed. An irregular removal and depositions of soil material by wind action causes deflation hollows, hummocks and dunes which lead to “terrain deformation” with severe consequences concerning land quality.

Volume VIII |

Soil Quality Cards for Participatory Soil Quality Assessment in Organic and Smallholder Agriculture

Abstract: Healthy soil is the basis of high quality food production. Increased awareness toward safe and healthy environment further aggravated the significance of soil quality evaluation and adoption of rational management practices. Evaluation of soil quality is crucial but expensive task for organic growers and smallholder agriculture. Participatory approach in soil quality assessment, thus, can serve the purpose of soil quality assurance for quality production. Physical, chemical and biological soil quality parameters are identified through participatory discussion and they are integrated in a way familiar to farmers. Farmers evaluate their farm soils based on their existing knowledge, agro-ecological condition and farming system of the area. This approach bridges farmers’ ideas with scientific facts with minimum financial investment. Initiatives have already been taken in this line, however, strengthening and institutionalization of the process is needed to replicate this practical technique. Preliminary work in Baccheuli, Chitwan, Nepal indicated the approach as practical, easy, cost effective and convincing to farmers. Moreover, this enhanced confidence to farmers of their soil quality and supported for further strengthening of organic and smallholder agriculture in Nepal.

Volume VIII |

Notions Regarding the Relation between Landforms and Soil in the Eastern and North-Eastern Region of the Romanian Plain

Abstract: The present study aims at rendering the way the geomorphologic features of the eastern and northeastern regions of the Romanian Plain, influenced by the subsidence movements, is reflected in the soil cover. For its achievement, there was used Romania Soil Map, 1:200 000 scale and field mapping, inventorying the soil cover at the level of class, type and, partially, subtype. In the mentioned area located between the Argeş and the Siret, besides the soils (chernozems, phaeozems, reddish preluvosols) the genesis of which is triggered by the bioclimatic conditions characteristic to steppe, forest steppe and nemoral zone, there also develop soils with azonal and intrazonal character. Thus, the presence of large floodplains imposed the noticeable extension of the soils developed on recent fluviatile deposits (alluviosols). At the same time, the altitude and reduced relief intensity impose an increased phreatic level, which is mineralized in many areas and, consequently, certain soils are affected by hydromorphism (Gleysols and gleyic subtypes) and salinization (solonchaks and salinic subtypes, solonetz and alkalic subtypes). Another characteristic of the studied region is linked to the presence of certain soils buried under alluvial and proluvial deposits. The calculation of the topographical-pedogenetic index (Florea, 1997), as a rapport between non-zonal and zonal soils, emphasizes the pregnant influence of the local conditions from the Buzău and the Lower Siret subsidence plains compared to a series of higher plains (Râmnic, Galaţi).

Volume VIII |

The Evolution of the Urban Public Transport During the 1950-2006 Period in Romania

Abstract: Although it has numerous tangencies with road transport, the passengers’ urban transport represents a transitional sector between the road transport and the railway transport. The increase of the number of inhabitants and the development of the cities, alongside the population’s need to move, determined the evolution of the urban transport. The scope of the present study is to show the dynamics of the number of cities with common transport, the evolution and the geographical distribution of the tram, bus, minibus and electric bus networks between 1950 and 2006. Another objective of this paper is to show the dynamics of the fleet and passengers transport during the same interval. The evolution of the transport network, of the carriages and the transport of passengers by metro between 1980 and 2006 was also analysed.