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Carried out within the LIFE17ENV/IT/000347SUBSED project, this research aimed at investigating the effect of a treated sediment (TS) as substrate component on the quality and marketability of three widespread containerized ornamental species: cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) cv. Novìta, calla lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica) and protea (Protea cynaroides) cv. Little Prince. The TS was mixed with soilless substrates as sphagnum peat, coir, and bark in different proportion (0%, 25% and 50%). In cherry laurel, the TS used in 25 50% proportions reduced plant height, slightly altering its attractive vibrant foliage. A positive effect of the TS was evidenced on calla lily, where both tested sedimentbased mixtures allowed a copious blooming and flower quality raised as the sediment content increased (TS 50% > TS 25% > TS 0%). Postharvest longevity and colour of flowers were not affected by substrate composition. The effect of sedimentbased substrates on protea growth and blooming showed an opposite trend (TS 0% > TS 25% > TS 50%), with plants grown on 50% v/v TS exhibiting a considerable reduction in plant growth and production of flower clusters, with brighter tones turning towards purple. Based on sale values, the TS proved to be a sustainable alternative for the production of potted ornamentals if properly mixed with other organic matrixes, such as peat and coir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of landscapes with similar hydrological behaviour is useful for runoff predictions in small ungauged catchments. An established method for landscape classification is based on the concept of dominant runoff process (DRP). The various DRP mapping approaches differ with respect to the time and data required for mapping. Manual approaches based on expert knowledge are reliable but time-consuming, whereas automatic GIS-based approaches are easier to implement but rely on simplifications which restrict their application range. To what extent these simplifications are applicable in other catchments is unclear. More information is also needed on how the different complexity of automatic DRP mapping approaches affects hydrological simulations. In this paper, three automatic approaches were used to map two catchments on the Swiss Plateau. The resulting maps were compared to reference maps obtained with manual mapping. Measures of agreement and association, a class comparison and a deviation map were derived. The automatically derived DRP-maps were used in synthetic runoff simulations with an adapted version of the hydrological model PREVAH, and simulation results compared with those from simulations using the reference maps. The DRP-maps derived with the automatic approach with highest complexity and data requirement were the most similar to the reference maps, while those derived with simplified approaches without original soil information differed significantly in terms of both extent and distribution of the DRPs. The runoff simulations derived from the simpler DRP-maps were more uncertain due to inaccuracies in the input data and their coarse resolution, but problems were also linked with the use of topography as a proxy for the storage capacity of soils. The perception of the intensity of the DRP classes also seems to vary among the different authors, and a standardised definition of DRPs is still lacking. We therefore recommend not only using expert knowledge for model building and constraining but also trying to obtain spatially distributed landscape classifications that are as realistic as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]