Lecture

Soil Protection and Impact Assessment

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In course

ENG-474: Environmental impact assesment

Présentation des bases des études d'impact, du contexte et des outils d'évaluation de chacun des sujets et des chapitres. Illustration par de nombreux cas réels, et par un travail de groupe. Discussion des limites des EIE et des nouveaux outils tels que le ...

Description

This lecture covers the basics of impact assessment and minimization, focusing on soil protection in the context of a high-pressure gas pipeline construction project. It discusses the environmental impact studies, the characteristics of soils, and the legal bases related to soil protection. The lecture also addresses the invasive neophytes, their impact on biodiversity, and the measures to control their spread. Key topics include soil characterization, soil compaction risks, and the methods to minimize environmental impacts during construction phases.

Instructor

Félix Schmidt

Teaching & PhD Courses Environmental impact assesment ENG-474 Presentation of the bases of the environmental impact assesment (EIA), context. Assesment methodology and tools for each of the topics and chapters. Illustration with many real cases, and group work. Discussion of the limitations of EIA and new tools such as strategic environmental studies.

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Biology

Ecology: Ecosystems

Related concepts (32)

Invasive species

An invasive or alien species is an introduced species to an environment that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native species that become harmful to their native environment after human alterations to its food web - for example, the purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) which has decimated kelp forests along the northern California coast due to overharvesting of its natural predator, the California sea otter (Enhydra lutris).

Soil science

Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the Earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation to the use and management of soils. Sometimes terms which refer to branches of soil science, such as pedology (formation, chemistry, morphology, and classification of soil) and edaphology (how soils interact with living things, especially plants), are used as if synonymous with soil science.

Soil conservation

Soil conservation is the prevention of loss of the topmost layer of the soil from erosion or prevention of reduced fertility caused by over usage, acidification, salinization or other chemical soil contamination. Slash-and-burn and other unsustainable methods of subsistence farming are practiced in some lesser developed areas. A consequence of deforestation is typically large-scale erosion, loss of soil nutrients and sometimes total desertification.

Biodiversity loss

Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, depending on whether the environmental degradation that leads to the loss is reversible through ecological restoration/ecological resilience or effectively permanent (e.g. through land loss).

Neophyte (botany)

In botany, a neophyte (from Greek νέος (néos) "new" and φυτόν (phutón) "plant") is a plant species which is not native to a geographical region and was introduced in recent history. Non-native plants that are long-established in an area are called archaeophytes. In Britain, neophytes are defined more specifically as plant species that were introduced after 1492, when Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World and the Columbian Exchange began. The terminology of the invasion biology is very uneven.

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