Evangelos MATZIRIS¹, Stefanos STEFANOU², Agapi Z. PAPAZAFEIRIOU³, Dimosthenis SEILOPOULOS⁴ & Athanasios PAPAIOANNOU^4
1Department of Management of Urban Environment, Municipality of Thessaloniki, Greece, v.matziris@thessaloniki.gr
²Laboratory of Soil Science, Department of Agricultural Technology, Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Sindos – Thessaloniki, Greece, stefst2@cp.teithe.gr
³azafipap@gmail.com
⁴Laboratory of Forest Soil, Department of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Finikas – Thessaloniki, Greece, diseilop@for.auth.gr, apapaioa@for.auth.gr

IMPACTS OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF URBAN GREEN AREAS: A CASE STUDY IN THESSALONIKI CITY, GREECE

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Selected soil physical properties, mainly texture, structure and soil compaction through bulk density and penetration resistance, along with other soil characteristics, were studied in three forested urban parks in the Municipality of Thessaloniki city in order to examine the human impacts on them and the possible management practices. Eight soil profiles and samples from seventeen sites showed that soils are Technic Anthrosols, there is lack of natural soil horizons, unnatural stratification, limited soil fauna’s activity, loamy texture greatly varied along soil profiles and between them, immature structure, platy type of structure at sites with intense use by visitors or maintenance machinery, weak or moderate grade of structure where sand is dominant and low organic matter content. Soil compaction plays a significant negative role on the growth of urban green as maximum bulk density (BD) values were measured at topsoils and mean penetration resistance (PR) values greater than 3 MPa were recorded close to playgrounds or areas with intense use and trampling, even at 5 cm depths in some cases. Also, high PR values were recorded in all soil profiles below 35 cm depth because of heavy machinery use during earlier earthworks. Suggested management practices include field observations, soil analysis, selection of the proper filling material and minimum use of heavy machinery during reconstruction of parks, as well as improvement of existing soil conditions combined with an increase of organic matter content in order to have functional and ecologically sustainable parks.