Fast soil recovery after a fire: case study in Maritime Alps (Piedmont, Italy) using microarthropods and QBS-ar index
Soil is a very fragile ecosystem, often subject to many threats. Wildfires can affect edaphic communities depending on the intensity and seasonality of the fire. Different groups of soil fauna tend to respond differently to this type of disturbance, but the lack of data prevents to fully analyze the...
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| Format: | Article |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1303867/full |
| _version_ | 1797360007673544704 |
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| author | Tommaso Fusco Lorenzo Fortini Francesca Casale Carlo Jacomini Andrea Di Giulio Andrea Di Giulio |
| author_facet | Tommaso Fusco Lorenzo Fortini Francesca Casale Carlo Jacomini Andrea Di Giulio Andrea Di Giulio |
| author_sort | Tommaso Fusco |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Soil is a very fragile ecosystem, often subject to many threats. Wildfires can affect edaphic communities depending on the intensity and seasonality of the fire. Different groups of soil fauna tend to respond differently to this type of disturbance, but the lack of data prevents to fully analyze the impact of fire. Soil microarthropods show a particular sensitivity to disturbances of different nature, making them excellent biological indicators. That is why in recent years many biotic indices to assess soil quality, like QBS-ar (Soil Biological Quality based on arthropods), have been developed. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether there might be a significant difference between areas affected or not by fire in the locality of Andonno (Piedmont, Italy) in terms of QBS-ar values, 18 years after this disturbance, and whether the reforestation intervention is having a positive effect on soil quality. Two sampling sites were selected within the sampling area and in each, six soil samples were taken. Microarthropods were extracted with a Berlese-Tüllgren extractor and soil biological quality was calculated using the QBS-ar index. No significant difference in QBS-ar values were found between the fire burned and unburned areas (p=0.37). The number of biological and euedaphic forms in the two sites was similar. It appears that microarthropod communities manage to recover in a short time, indicating that in the study area soil fauna has shown a fast recovery after extreme events like wildfires. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:32:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f13199ec282c4b3fbd4ad9041edbc69d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-701X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:32:09Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-f13199ec282c4b3fbd4ad9041edbc69d2024-01-10T04:35:52ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution2296-701X2024-01-011110.3389/fevo.2023.13038671303867Fast soil recovery after a fire: case study in Maritime Alps (Piedmont, Italy) using microarthropods and QBS-ar indexTommaso Fusco0Lorenzo Fortini1Francesca Casale2Carlo Jacomini3Andrea Di Giulio4Andrea Di Giulio5Department of Science, University Roma Tre, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Science, University Roma Tre, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Science, University Roma Tre, Rome, ItalyNational Centre for the Italian Laboratories Network (CN_LAB), Biology Area, Soil and Land Ecology Laboratory, Italian Environmental Protection and Research Institute (ISPRA), Rome, ItalyDepartment of Science, University Roma Tre, Rome, ItalyNational Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), Palermo, ItalySoil is a very fragile ecosystem, often subject to many threats. Wildfires can affect edaphic communities depending on the intensity and seasonality of the fire. Different groups of soil fauna tend to respond differently to this type of disturbance, but the lack of data prevents to fully analyze the impact of fire. Soil microarthropods show a particular sensitivity to disturbances of different nature, making them excellent biological indicators. That is why in recent years many biotic indices to assess soil quality, like QBS-ar (Soil Biological Quality based on arthropods), have been developed. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether there might be a significant difference between areas affected or not by fire in the locality of Andonno (Piedmont, Italy) in terms of QBS-ar values, 18 years after this disturbance, and whether the reforestation intervention is having a positive effect on soil quality. Two sampling sites were selected within the sampling area and in each, six soil samples were taken. Microarthropods were extracted with a Berlese-Tüllgren extractor and soil biological quality was calculated using the QBS-ar index. No significant difference in QBS-ar values were found between the fire burned and unburned areas (p=0.37). The number of biological and euedaphic forms in the two sites was similar. It appears that microarthropod communities manage to recover in a short time, indicating that in the study area soil fauna has shown a fast recovery after extreme events like wildfires.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1303867/fulledaphic faunamesofaunasoil monitoringsoil qualitybiological indexforest management |
| spellingShingle | Tommaso Fusco Lorenzo Fortini Francesca Casale Carlo Jacomini Andrea Di Giulio Andrea Di Giulio Fast soil recovery after a fire: case study in Maritime Alps (Piedmont, Italy) using microarthropods and QBS-ar index Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution edaphic fauna mesofauna soil monitoring soil quality biological index forest management |
| title | Fast soil recovery after a fire: case study in Maritime Alps (Piedmont, Italy) using microarthropods and QBS-ar index |
| title_full | Fast soil recovery after a fire: case study in Maritime Alps (Piedmont, Italy) using microarthropods and QBS-ar index |
| title_fullStr | Fast soil recovery after a fire: case study in Maritime Alps (Piedmont, Italy) using microarthropods and QBS-ar index |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fast soil recovery after a fire: case study in Maritime Alps (Piedmont, Italy) using microarthropods and QBS-ar index |
| title_short | Fast soil recovery after a fire: case study in Maritime Alps (Piedmont, Italy) using microarthropods and QBS-ar index |
| title_sort | fast soil recovery after a fire case study in maritime alps piedmont italy using microarthropods and qbs ar index |
| topic | edaphic fauna mesofauna soil monitoring soil quality biological index forest management |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1303867/full |
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