IPER Innovative Plant-based Environmental Remediation The purpose of the IPER research project was to apply biotechnology to remove, degrade, or stabilize organic and inorganic contaminants through the use of plant species. To achieve this purpose, was made avaiable a polluted area within the La Spezia Maritime Military Arsenal, where the experimental project was carried out. Three species were identified in the trial: willow (Salix matsudana), hybrid poplar (Populus deltoides x nigra), and eucalyptus (Eucalyptus camaldulensis). Tree species considered in science to be highly suitable for the phytoextraction of heavy metals from the soil and in some cases for the degradation of organic substances such as...
VESPA VEgetal System for Pollution Avoidance Phytoremediation was used in the Vespa research project, which is the ability of plants to absorb degrade and accumulate within plant tissues pollutants in the soil.Due to this characteristic, organic pollutants are directly transformed by plants into nontoxic substances while inorganic pollutants are concentrated and accumulated within plant tissues. The treated soil is therefore, over time ( a rough estimate varies between 5 and 10 years), remediated by the action of the plants.
SMART Urban SMART Urban research project, of which Alberto Giuntoli was coordinator and project manager from 2012 to 2015, devised an innovative system for verification of the design of urban and peri-urban spaces. The software, thanks to specific calculation algorithms validated by the world scientific community and a database with variables that can be entered by the user or through a network of sensors or GIS, makes it possible to determine the variations in thermal comfort and the level of pollutants, induced by design choices. The system thus makes it possible to verify ex ante the real effectiveness of a "sustainable design,"...
Tracking pollutants from the Parma waste-to-energy plant The Parma waste-to-energy plant park was designed by studying both the landscape and ecological aspects, which could ensure the adaptation of the planned solutions to the specific pedological, microclimatic and morphological situation of the area, and all those aspects related to the ability of plants to remove pollutants, according to the mitigation objectives set.The biomass required for sampling was collected according to the procedure established in the protocol for monitoring approved by the Province of Parma. Four different samplings (three during the growing season and one in winter) taken from the tree specimens of the various species present in sampled...
FACE Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment project The research was based on free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiments conducted on wheat, grapevine, potato and other crops. The tests were conducted with abundant and limited irrigation and fertilizer nitrogen supplies while analyzing the response of plants, soil and microclimatic conditions to elevated CO2 and its interactions with water and nitrogen treatments. The data were then modeled to predict likely future crop productivity with the expected global change. FURTHER INFORMATION, PUBLICATIONS AND SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES Miglietta F, Giuntoli A, Hinkson C, The long term response to elevated CO2 of a Mediterranean grassland community growing near natural carbon dioxide vents in central...
Restoration of the Boboli Garden The purpose of the research for the Boboli Garden was to identify a methodological procedure, especially referring to the problems of vegetation, that would allow an initial approach to the problems of the restoration of the Boboli Garden. We found it necessary to make a thorough study of pruning, the practice that affected vegetation more violently than others, and we carried out a study in collaboration with the Soprintendenza. The research carried out allowed us to formulate, for the Boboli Garden, both proposals for conservative restoration and proposals for the restoration of some structures that have now disappeared. Given the...
