Soil Biological Fertility and Bacterial Community Response to Land Use Intensity: A Case Study in the Mediterranean Area

The current study was performed to investigate the effects of three different long-term land use intensities on adjacent soil plots, namely a winter wheat field, a grass-covered vineyard, and a cherry farm, on soil biochemical, microbial, and molecular parameters. The results showed the maximum cont...

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Main Authors: Mohammad Yaghoubi Khanghahi, Pasqua Murgese, Sabrina Strafella, Carmine Crecchio
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-11-01
Series:Diversity
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/11/11/211
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author Mohammad Yaghoubi Khanghahi
Pasqua Murgese
Sabrina Strafella
Carmine Crecchio
author_facet Mohammad Yaghoubi Khanghahi
Pasqua Murgese
Sabrina Strafella
Carmine Crecchio
author_sort Mohammad Yaghoubi Khanghahi
collection DOAJ
description The current study was performed to investigate the effects of three different long-term land use intensities on adjacent soil plots, namely a winter wheat field, a grass-covered vineyard, and a cherry farm, on soil biochemical, microbial, and molecular parameters. The results showed the maximum content of soil organic matter (SOM) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) observed in the grass-covered vineyard. Basal respiration (BSR) and the cumulated respiration (CSR) after 25 days of incubation were significantly higher in the grass-covered vineyard and cherry farm, respectively (BSR 11.84 mg CO<sub>2</sub>&#8722;C kg<sup>&#8722;1</sup> soil d<sup>&#8722;1</sup>, CSR 226.90 mg CO<sub>2</sub>&#8722;C kg<sup>&#8722;1</sup> soil). Grass-covered vineyard showed the highest soil biological fertility index (BFI) score (20) and ranked in the class IV (good) of soil biological fertility. Cereal field and cherry farm had lower BFI scores and the corresponding BFI class was III (medium). In addition, the maximum ribosomal RNA copy number and the highest abundance of oligotrophic bacterial groups (25.52% Actinobacteria, 3.45% Firmicutes, and 1.38% Acidobacteria) were observed in the grass-covered vineyard. In conclusion, the grass-covered vineyard is a more conservative system and could have a large potential to improve total carbon storage in soil, mainly because of the cover crop residue management and the low soil perturbation through the no-tillage system.
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spelling doaj.art-da09331b98044b13bdf7c62d960b605c2022-12-22T04:04:05ZengMDPI AGDiversity1424-28182019-11-01111121110.3390/d11110211d11110211Soil Biological Fertility and Bacterial Community Response to Land Use Intensity: A Case Study in the Mediterranean AreaMohammad Yaghoubi Khanghahi0Pasqua Murgese1Sabrina Strafella2Carmine Crecchio3Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola 165/a, 70125 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola 165/a, 70125 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola 165/a, 70125 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola 165/a, 70125 Bari, ItalyThe current study was performed to investigate the effects of three different long-term land use intensities on adjacent soil plots, namely a winter wheat field, a grass-covered vineyard, and a cherry farm, on soil biochemical, microbial, and molecular parameters. The results showed the maximum content of soil organic matter (SOM) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) observed in the grass-covered vineyard. Basal respiration (BSR) and the cumulated respiration (CSR) after 25 days of incubation were significantly higher in the grass-covered vineyard and cherry farm, respectively (BSR 11.84 mg CO<sub>2</sub>&#8722;C kg<sup>&#8722;1</sup> soil d<sup>&#8722;1</sup>, CSR 226.90 mg CO<sub>2</sub>&#8722;C kg<sup>&#8722;1</sup> soil). Grass-covered vineyard showed the highest soil biological fertility index (BFI) score (20) and ranked in the class IV (good) of soil biological fertility. Cereal field and cherry farm had lower BFI scores and the corresponding BFI class was III (medium). In addition, the maximum ribosomal RNA copy number and the highest abundance of oligotrophic bacterial groups (25.52% Actinobacteria, 3.45% Firmicutes, and 1.38% Acidobacteria) were observed in the grass-covered vineyard. In conclusion, the grass-covered vineyard is a more conservative system and could have a large potential to improve total carbon storage in soil, mainly because of the cover crop residue management and the low soil perturbation through the no-tillage system.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/11/11/211bacterial community structurebiological fertility indexland usemicrobial biomassmicrobial respirationribosomal rna copy numbers
spellingShingle Mohammad Yaghoubi Khanghahi
Pasqua Murgese
Sabrina Strafella
Carmine Crecchio
Soil Biological Fertility and Bacterial Community Response to Land Use Intensity: A Case Study in the Mediterranean Area
Diversity
bacterial community structure
biological fertility index
land use
microbial biomass
microbial respiration
ribosomal rna copy numbers
title Soil Biological Fertility and Bacterial Community Response to Land Use Intensity: A Case Study in the Mediterranean Area
title_full Soil Biological Fertility and Bacterial Community Response to Land Use Intensity: A Case Study in the Mediterranean Area
title_fullStr Soil Biological Fertility and Bacterial Community Response to Land Use Intensity: A Case Study in the Mediterranean Area
title_full_unstemmed Soil Biological Fertility and Bacterial Community Response to Land Use Intensity: A Case Study in the Mediterranean Area
title_short Soil Biological Fertility and Bacterial Community Response to Land Use Intensity: A Case Study in the Mediterranean Area
title_sort soil biological fertility and bacterial community response to land use intensity a case study in the mediterranean area
topic bacterial community structure
biological fertility index
land use
microbial biomass
microbial respiration
ribosomal rna copy numbers
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/11/11/211
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