Grass Vegetation Research Articles

Distribution and habitat preferences of the urban Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) in the north-eastern breeding range in Belarus

The Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) is a species typically known for its successful colonization of urban habitats across Europe in the last century. However, this is a comparably new phenomenon for Belarus because active colonization of towns and cities by the urban Woodpigeon only started within this country in the late 2000s. The spread of the urban Woodpigeon, from the first breeding birds originating at the west border to as far as 530 km to the east of Belarus, occurred during a 25–30-year period. Also previously studied was the spatial distribution, habitat preferences and some nest characteristics of the urban Woodpigeon in Minsk, the largest city of Belarus, in 2012–2017. The average density of breeding pairs decreased from public gardens and parks to green plantations near multistoried buildings. In city blocks, the percentage of the ground covered by grass vegetation, tree crowns and the number of trees can negatively influence nest site selection of the Woodpigeon and indicate that pigeons chose the most urbanized places. Also, the distance to the nests of avian predators (the Hooded Crow and the Eurasian Magpie) was a significant factor negatively affecting the selection of nest sites by the urban Woodpigeon. The selection of nest sites in places with vehicle traffic and human disturbance as a way of avoiding predators was discussed. The analysis of the nest sites of the Woodpigeon in urban habitats showed that from 19 plant species or taxa, this species mainly selected the linden (Tilia cordata) (53.5%). Concerning the nest characteristics among urban habitats we did not find essential differences.

DETERMINATION OF LAND COVER AS LANDSLIDE FACTOR BASED ON MULTITEMPORAL RASTER DATA IN MALANG REGENCY

Malang Regency is one of the regency administration areas in East Java Province. The complexphysical condition of Malang Regency, especially its land reliefs accompanied by high rainfall, causes MalangRegency obtain floods and landslides frequently. Based on the BPBD data in 2017, it is stated that around 80%of Malang Regency is disaster-prone area of floods and landslides, especially in the southern part of MalangRegency. This is caused by several natural factors, one of which is slope, and human factors called changes inland cover. This study aims to examine the land cover factors that influence the extent of landslides that occurin the Southern Malang Regency. The independent variable used is builtup area, dense tree vegetation,vegetation of rare trees, shrubs, grass, open space, slope, and distance. Based on the results of multiple linearregression analysis, it can be concluded that the builtup area cover with coefficient value 0.062 and open spacewith coefficient value 0.020 are variables that are directly proportional to the area of the landslide that has ahigher percentage of the area of land cover being built and open, the area of landslides will increase, while thevariable cover of vegetated land has properties inversely proportional to the extent of landslides which meansthat it can reduce the extent of landslides if the percentage of vegetated land cover increases.

English

Elevation has great impact on species’ diversity; it creates ecologically diverse vegetation. Studying species’ richness patterns at different scales is very important both for ecological explanations and effective conservation design. In this study, grass vegetation data were collected using systematic sampling methods. 18 transects and 54 quadrants were laid, with 6 transects and 18 quadrants from each selected study kebele having 1 × 1 m2 for grass. In each quadrant, the level of impact for each threatening factor was evaluated and a total of 26 grass species were recorded. The data were analyzed using SPSS and the average species’ composition was assessed in relation to topographic variables. There was upper elevation observed in both richness and diversity of plant species compared to the others with significant P<0.05. Grazing intensity also has significant impact on both species’ diversity, density and area coverage. This shows that the area heavily grazed had less diversity richness and coverage compared to the less grazed (p<0.001) area. From the data we can summarize that anthropogenic, topographic and climate factors were the leading causes of the overall shift of plant community structure in the study area. Key words: Elevation, grazing intensity, grass composition, Kebele.

Greenness, mortality and mental health prescription rates in urban Scotland - a population level, observational study

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown an association between vegetation around dwellings and mortality, with mental health as a possible mediator. OBJECTIVES: Examine whether there is an association between greenness and mortality or greenness and the proportion of the population being prescribed drugs for anxiety, depression or psychosis in urban areas of Scotland. METHODS: Two greenness maps were prepared based on Landsat 8 Normalised Difference Vegetation Index data from 2013 to 2016, one for summer and one for winter. Greenness was sampled from these maps around each of 91,357 urban postcodes. The greenness data was averaged by 4,883 urban Data Zones covering 71% of the Scottish population and compared with mortality and prescription rate data from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. RESULTS: The areas least green in the summer were found to have higher mortality rates but no association was found between mortality and winter-greenness. The largest relative differences of mortality were around 9%. High levels of summer-greenness were associated with an increase in mental health prescription rates but areas with the highest differences between summer and winter-greenness had lower prescription rates than other areas. The largest relative difference in prescription rate was 17%. All models controlled for overall deprivation. It is hypothesised that the year round greenness of mown grass is associated with increased mental health prescriptions and obscures the benefits of other kinds of vegetation on both mortality and mental health. DISCUSSION: There is an association between greenness and mortality and greenness and mental health. The association is both statistically significant and large enough to be of importance for policy making. Higher levels of non mown grass vegetation may be preferable for human wellbeing but more detailed understanding of the diversity of plant life in urban areas and how people related to it is required to make more specific recommendations.

ANALYSIS OF REGULATIONS REGARDING THE SETTLEMENT OF ISSUES ON THE REMOVAL AND RECOVERY OF PLANTATIONS IN THE RIGHT-OF-WAY OF PUBLIC ROADS

Greening of roads contributes to the protection of roads and their elements from influence of adverse weather and climatic factors; it includes the measures for improvement and landscaping of roads, ensures the protection of roadside areas from transport pollution, provides visual orientation of drivers. The solution of these issues will ensure creation and maintenance of safe and comfortable conditions for travelers. Green plantings in the right-of-way road area include woody, bushy, flower and grass vegetation of natural and artificial origin. For proper operation of public roads and satisfaction of other needs of the industry, there may be the need in removing the greenery. The reason for the removal of greenery in the right-of-way road area may be due to the following factors: construction of the architectural object, widening of the motor road, repair works in the security zone of overhead power lines, water supply, drainage, heating, telecommunications facilities, cutting of hazardous, dry and fautal trees, as well as self-grown and brushwood trees with a root neck diameter not exceeding 5 cm, elimination of the consequences of natural disasters and emergencies. The removal of plantations in the right-of-way area is executed in order to ensure traffic safety conditions and to improve the quality of plantations composition and their protective properties. Nowadays, in Ukraine there is no clear procedure for issuing permits for removing of such plantations. In order to resolve this issue, there is a need in determining the list of regulations in the area of forest resources of Ukraine and, if needed, the list of regulatory acts that have to be improved; to prepare a draft of the regulatory legal act that would establish the procedure of plantations cutting, the methodology of their condition determination, recovery costs determination, the features of cutting. Keywords: plantations, cutting, right-of-way, woodcutting permit, order.

Terrestrial carbon stocks following 15 years of integrated watershed management intervention in semi-arid Ethiopia

Our study investigated the total terrestrial stock of organic carbon and its controlling factors in prevalent land‐use systems in semi-arid Ethiopia (610 mm of annual rainfall), as part of the impact assessment of the national Integrated Watershed Management (IWM) program. Above- and below-ground biomass and soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks of major land-use systems (i.e., exclosure, cropland, rangeland, and bare land) were quantified after field sampling along a topographic gradient. We found that aboveground carbon stocks peaked in the 15-year-old exclosures (9.08 ± 1.44 Mg ha−1) owing to intact woody and grass vegetation as well as substantial litter cover (>20% of the total biomass). Croplands cultivated with wheat and rangelands vegetated with perennial grasses showed average aboveground carbon stocks of 3.16 ± 0.24 and 1.45 ± 0.19 Mg ha−1, respectively. The belowground biomass carbon stock was particularly low in croplands (0.76 ± 0.09 Mg ha−1), exceeded by that in both exclosures and rangelands, where values averaged 3.67 ± 0.06 and 3.04 ± 0.42 Mg ha−1, respectively. The topsoil (0–30 cm) SOC stocks also varied with land-use systems but showed a different order, peaking in rangelands (53.9 ± 10.1 Mg ha−1) and exclosures (41.4 ± 8.1 Mg ha−1), followed by bare lands (29.0 ± 11.5 Mg ha−1) and croplands (26.4 ± 4.6 Mg ha−1). The sub-soils (30–100 cm) added 40% to this SOC storage. The greatest total SOC stock identified in exclosures that had been established primarily on degraded hillslopes may signify a successful restoration effort under the IWM program. However, croplands exhibited the lowest SOC stock, which implies the need for urgent interventions to improve the soil fertility.

Evaluation of bacterial glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether and &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;2&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt;H–&amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;18&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt;O biomarker proxies along a central European topsoil transect

Abstract. Molecular fossils, like bacterial branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs), and the stable isotopic composition of biomarkers, such as δ2H of leaf wax-derived n-alkanes (δ2Hn-alkane) or δ18O of hemicellulose-derived sugars (δ18Osugar), are increasingly used for the reconstruction of past climate and environmental conditions. Plant-derived δ2Hn-alkane and δ18Osugar values record the isotopic composition of plant source water (δ2Hsource-water and δ18Osource-water), which usually reflects mean annual precipitation (δ2Hprecipiation and δ18Oprecipiation), modulated by evapotranspirative leaf water enrichment and biosynthetic fractionation (εbio). Accuracy and precision of respective proxies should be ideally evaluated at a regional scale. For this study, we analysed topsoils below coniferous and deciduous forests as well as grassland soils along a central European transect in order to investigate the variability and robustness of various proxies and to identify effects related to vegetation. Soil pH values derived from brGDGTs correlate reasonably well with measured soil pH values but are systematically overestimated (ΔpH = 0.6±0.6). The branched vs. isoprenoid tetraether index (BIT) can give some indication whether the pH reconstruction is reliable. Temperatures derived from brGDGTs overestimate mean annual air temperatures slightly (ΔTMA=0.5 ∘C ± 2.4). Apparent isotopic fractionation (εn-alkane/precipitation and εsugar∕precipitation) is lower for grassland sites than for forest sites due to signal damping; i.e. grass biomarkers do not record the full evapotranspirative leaf water enrichment. Coupling δ2Hn-alkane with δ18Osugar allows us to reconstruct the stable isotopic composition of the source water more accurately than without the coupled approach (Δδ2H = ∼-21 ‰ ± 22 ‰ and Δδ18O = ∼-2.9 ‰ ± 2.8 ‰). Similarly, relative humidity during daytime and the vegetation period (RHMDV) can be reconstructed using the coupled isotope approach (ΔRHMDV=∼-17±12). Especially for coniferous sites, reconstructed RHMDV values as well as source water isotope composition underestimate the measured values. This can likely be explained by understorey grass vegetation at the coniferous sites contributing significantly to the n-alkane pool but only marginally to the sugar pool in the topsoils. Vegetation-dependent variable signal damping and εbio (regarding 2H between n-alkanes and leaf water) along our European transect are difficult to quantify but likely contribute to the observed underestimation in the source water isotope composition and RH reconstructions. Microclimate variability could cause the rather large uncertainties. Vegetation-related effects do, by contrast, not affect the brGDGT-derived reconstructions. Overall, GDGTs and the coupled δ2Hn-alkane–δ18Osugar approach have great potential for more quantitative paleoclimate reconstructions.

Identification of macrofauna on various volcanic ash thickness and different vegetation in andisol affected by Sinabung eruption

Mount Sinabung eruption caused the soil covered by volcanic ash with various thickness. Changes in soil conditions will affect population and diversities in the soil. The research aims to identify soil macro-fauna on andisol in Karo County with various thickness of volcanic ash of Mount Sinabung with different vegetation after 5 years of eruption. The Plots were placed onto eight locations, I = processed land (0 cm) grass vegetation, II = uncovered by ash land (0 cm) coffee vegetation, III = covered by thin layer of ash land (≤2 cm) grass vegetation, IV = covered by thin layer of ash land (≤2 cm) coffee vegetation, V = covered by medium layer of ash land (2-5 cm) grass vegetation, VI = covered by medium layer of ash land (2-5 cm) coffee vegetation, VII = exposed by thick ash land (≥5 cm) grass vegetation, VIII = exposed by thick ash land (≥5 cm) coffee vegetation. Sampling was done by method Pitfall Trap, Square Monolith, and Hand Sorting. The result shows that the change of soil will affect soil macro-fauna - based on macro-fauna identification results, found 3 phylum(s), 7 class(es), 12 ordo(s), 18 family(ies), and 20 species.

Various impacts of Sinabung eruption volcanic ash thickness with different vegetation on the microorganism population in andisols

The aim of this research is to observe the impact of various thicknesses of volcanic ash and different vegetation on microorganism populations in Andisol affected by the eruption of Mt. Sinabung in NamanTeran Sub-district, Karo district, which was affected by the eruption of Mt. Sinabung after 5 years of eruption which is distinguished by several ash thicknesses, namely: A0: 0cm (already processed), A1: <2 cm (thin), A2:> 2-5 cm (moderate), A3:> 5 cm (thick) with annual plant vegetation and grass vegetation. Soil sampling was using the survey method. Calculation of total soil microorganisms was done by the Total Plate Count method. The results indicated that the higher the pH, C-organic, humidity and temperature, the more microorganism population, also different thickness of ash and vegetation affected the number of microorganism population.

Comparison of soil microbial community between planted woodland and natural grass vegetation on the Loess Plateau

Soil microorganisms play an important role in regulating subsurface ecological processes. Planted woodland and natural grass vegetation are the main vegetation restoration strategies for preventing soil erosion on the Loess Plateau of China. However, the response of soil microbial community and diversity to planted woodland and natural grass vegetation is largely unknown in this region. Here, we investigated soil microbial community and diversity using high-throughput sequencing approaches in planted woodland and natural grass vegetation. We found a disproportionate influence of planted woodland and natural grass vegetation on soil microbial diversity, and there was an increase of soil fungal diversity and a decrease of soil bacterial diversity in planted woodland. Both soil pH and soil organic carbon (SOC) were highly related to soil microbial diversity in planted woodland and natural grass vegetation. Moreover, we found the complex interaction networks of soil fungal community in planted woodland. Meanwhile, there were the higher total path coefficients of soil fungal diversity and the lower total path coefficients of bacterial diversity in planted woodland according to SEM (structural equation modeling). Besides, planted woodland explained more variation to soil fungal diversity and natural grass vegetation explained more variation to soil bacterial diversity, indicating that soil fungal diversity was more easily affected by planted woodland, while soil bacterial diversity was more easily affected by natural grass vegetation. To enhance the balance of soil microbial diversity, we suggested that both planted woodland and natural grass vegetation are needed in this region, highlighting the necessity of understanding soil microbial ecology to manage vegetation restoration on the Loess Plateau of China.

Ecological and Floristic Features of Pioneer Grass Vegetation on Automorphic Sandy Soils as a Pine-Forest Recovery Phase in the Southern Part of the Nonchernozem Zone of Russia

This article addresses the phytocoenotic diversity of psammophytic grass communities in the southern part of the nonchernozem zone of Russia, where the restoration of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) is either ongoing or potentially possible. Community structure and composition formation trends developing under the influence of key environmental and coenotic factors have been identified. The studies were carried out in Bryansk, Kaluga, and Smolensk oblasts in 2010–2018; over 150 geobotanical releves of psammophytic grass communities have been produced. This vegetation belongs to the class Koelerio-Corynephoretea Klika 1931, which combines dry grasslands on sandy soils and rocky outcrops in the temperate and boreal zones of Europe, on islands of the North Atlantic, and in Greenland. Differences between environmental regimes of various habitats occupied by psammophytic communities have been identified. In most cases, the environmental amplitudes of syntaxonomic units vary significantly by the three key edaphic factors (moisture, soil reaction, and soil richness in mineral nitrogen) and form pretty compact environmental spaces: within each syntaxon, numerical values of the above factors, expressed in score points, normally vary within a narrow range. Regression analysis has established that the species richness of psammophytic communities depends statistically significantly only on the mineral nitrogen supply and soil moisture. Based on the statistical analysis results, the number of Pinus sylvestris plants of any age does not depend on the species richness in the community, total projective cover of the grass stand (excluding the Scots pine), separately calculated moss and lichen projective covers, and average numerical values of environmental factors identified by H. Ellenberg in the community. It is established that numbers of pine trees on study sites depend on only one factor: distance from the diaspora source determining the invasion possibility. The data on the phytocoenotic and floristic diversity of the psammophytic grass vegetation are to be incorporated into the unified database on the southern part of the nonchernozem zone of Russia to identify environmental and botanical–geographical features of this plant community type in the region.

ОПЫТ РЕКУЛЬТИВАЦИИ РАЗЛИЧНЫХ ВИДОВ НАРУШЕННЫХ ЗЕМЕЛЬ

The paper touches upon the analysis of disturbed lands various methods of reclamation on linear and site objects that make possible to minimise spending for recultivation work carrying out to achieve a desirable effect. It is noted the inexpediency of plank roads and wooden covering dismantling followed by the former road recultivation. It is suggested to use these roads as antifire ones; it will play a positive role in forest antifire protection. It is underlined the necessity of the highest possible potential possibilities utilisation of some disturbed lands for self-healing. The latter refers, in particular to seismic profiles, sites for wastes of saw-mills and woodworking as well as sand and clay extracting pits when their area is rat her small and when there exists no reliable source of their seed producing. Sometimes for the process of grass vegetation formation speeding and fertile soil layer formation, it is recommended grass sowing, leguminous plants in particular. The surface of the disturbed lands covering with a layer of sewage deposit is an effective method of recultivation as well. The latter is not only promoted fertile layer formation on the surfaces of dumps and some other types of disturbed lands but improves conditions of plants water nutrition playing the role of mulch. As the primary trend of reclamation in the Ural region, it is recommended to consider forestry main during the biological stage of ordinary pine forest plantations.

Ecological and floristic features of pioner grass vegetation on automorphic sandy soils as the recovery phase of pine forests in Southern Nechernozemye of Russia

Ecological and floristic features of pioner grass vegetation on automorphic sandy soils as the recovery phase of pine forests in Southern Nechernozemye of Russia

Modern aspects of disturbed land reclamation

The urgency of solving environmental problems of disturbed territories is obvious in connection with the accumulation of a huge amount of waste from mining and metallurgical industries, deposited in slime and tailings dumps, overburden dumps, slags and substandard raw materials. Environmental rehabilitation of such territories is determined by both the possible long-term existence of such objects and the prospect of their reuse. In this regard, the use of new geosynthetic materials, the most promising and effective method of restoring ecological characteristics of the areas of violations of land, based on the implementation of the principle of least possible scope of application of topsoil and vegetation established, carrying out sanitary-hygienic function, contributes to the improvement of the environment in the areas of enterprise functioning. The article presents the results of applied research on the reclamation of the horizon the shortage of topsoil, or when you use the fertile layer, exposed to long-term storage in dumps. And the planting of grass vegetation on the recultivated surface that corresponds to the regional nature of environmental optimization measures, taking into account zonal features, will ensure the creation of sod that stops the processes of deflation and water erosion.

Monitoring of vegetation cover of rewetted peatlands in Moscow Oblast

Abandoned drained peatlands pose the greatest danger in terms of peat fires. This is especially true of abandoned, unrestored peat milling fields, the maximum areas of which are located in Moscow Oblast. The most effective way to reduce the fire hazard and improve the ecological condition of such lands in the absence of economic reasons for their use is rewetting and peatland restoration. It is necessary to prioritize objects for rewetting and to monitor the effectiveness of measures taken. Such objects can be of considerable size, difficult to pass and not amenable to ground mapping. Fires and rewetting contribute to rapid changes in vegetation cover. Their monitoring requires remote sensing data and, above all, multispectral satellite data. The large number of objects, their spatial distribution and the need for multi-year observations require a combination of data from different satellites. We present the experience of monitoring more than 73 thousand hectares of peatlands in Moscow Oblast rewetted in 2010-2013 after the fires of 2010. Current results show a reduction in the areas of open peat and dry grass vegetation, insignificant changes in the areas occupied by coniferous trees and progressive expansion of the area occupied by deciduous trees and shrubs, as well as an increase of hydrophilic communities and open water after rewetting and subsequent maintenance of the area. The developed and tested methodology makes it possible to assess the effectiveness of peatland rewetting to reduce the risk of peat fires, as well as to identify areas requiring additional measures. The proposed algorithm ensures reliable allocation in semi-automatic mode of 6 classes of vegetation/land cover, different in fire hazard and basic environmental characteristics that determine the fluxes of greenhouse gases, biodiversity and other ecosystem functions.

Результаты исследований установки для ухода за почвой в интенсивном горном садоводстве

A new structural and technological scheme has been proposed and a prototype of a plant for soil care in intensive mountain gardening has been developed, which allows mowing and chopping grass vegetation in the aisles, feeding and evenly laying mulch on the loosened section of the near-trunk strip of fruit plantations, followed by mixing it with the soil. The use of the proposed technology and installation for its implementation allows: to accelerate the process of humification mixed with the soil of finely ground mulch material and the creation of favorable microbiological processes in the soil; improve the efficiency of absorption and accumulation of precipitation; covering the soil with mulch material suppresses the germination of weeds and protects the surface of the loosened soil from excessive evaporation of moisture.

Landscapes, paleosols and climate in the north of Mongolia during the Holocene

Integrated paleogeographic studies have been performed on the loess and soil sequence in the lower reaches of the Orkhon R., northern Mongolia. The samples were taken continuously through the sequence and studied using a broad assortment of field and laboratory analyses. There are five paleosols exposed in the section under study crowned with the present-day soil and separated from each other by loess horizons or proluvial-deluvial deposits. The dating by radiocarbon proved the soil development beginning from the early Holocene. The two lower soils (PS4 and PS5) formed at that interval are noted for the minimum salinity and a considerable content of carbonates. The soils dated to the middle Holocene (PS3 and PS2) contain the least proportion of organic matter and increased salinity, which may be attributed to a dryer climate (even at optimum intervals) than in the early and late Holocene. In common with the present-day soil, the PS1 buried soil is characterized by negligible (or absent) salinity, and a noticeable accumulation of organic matter and carbonates indicative of favorable warm and relatively wet conditions. All the pollen assemblages indicate the dominance of grass vegetation; it may be safely suggested that open meadow and steppe landscapes, occasionally replaced by semi-deserts, prevailed in the considered region during the Holocene.

Impact of dominants on species and cenotic diversity of grass vegetation

Impact of dominants on species and cenotic diversity of grass vegetation

Long term decrease of 137Cs bioavailability in French pastures: Results from 25 years of monitoring

Long term radioactivity monitoring programs contribute to the understanding of the behavior of radionuclides in the environment. This work aims to investigate the long term behavior of Cesium-137 in pasture ecosystem (root soil, grass and cow's milk) by using of more than twenty five years monitoring data collected at ten of French pasture sites contaminated by atmospheric fallouts from Chernobyl and nuclear atmospheric tests. We estimated with a simple exponential model the long term effective half-lives of radiocesium in root soil, grass vegetation and cow's milk along with their associated uncertainties. The average values of the effective half-lives over all the investigated sites were determined as 17, 11 and 9 years for soil, grass and milk respectively. Those values compare favorably to those estimated in previous studies in literature. These findings further enable us to quantify the decrease of 137Cs bioavailability which ranges from 0.008 to 0.044 year−1 with an average value of 0.026 year−1 (i.e. effective half lives ranging from 16 to 87 years with an average value of 26 years in soil).

Ecological restoration of heavy metal-contaminated soil using Na-bentonite and green compost coupled with the cultivation of the grass Festuca arundinacea

Chemophytostabilization is a valuable alternative to many traditional methods of reducing the concentration of heavy metals in soil affected by industrial activity. In this study two soil additives – Na-bentonite and green compost were used separately and as a mixture combined with Festuca arundinacea to reclaim soil highly contaminated with Cd, Zn and Pb. It was found that a decrease in heavy metal concentrations (57–87% for Cd, 48–91% for Zn and 30–82% for Pb) in the amended soils was connected with the application of soil additives rather than with plant vegetation. Both of the soil additives contributed to achieving a higher biomass of F. arundinacea (1.5- to 9.5-fold) than in the non-amended soil. The accumulation of Cd, Zn and Pb in the plant organs was generally higher in the roots than in the shoots. Both soil additives positively influenced the soil enzymes activity and microbial functional capacity. Moreover, they altered the structure of microbial communities in the chemophytostabilized soils. The calculated soil quality indices confirmed that the combined amendments with grass vegetation were most effective in the soil reclamation than other treatments. The obtained results clearly indicate that the chemophytostabilization creates new opportunities for using bentonite and green compost as well as tall fescue grass to limit the transfer of toxic metals from polluted soils to the trophic levels of ecosystems.