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Soil arthropods in extreme environments: biodiversity and community structure in the Ansanto Valley (Mefite, Southern Italy)
No full textSoil arthropods play key roles in ecosystem functioning and can be used to detect the impact of environment alterations. The Mefite Geological Site (Campania, Southern Italy) hosts a sulphurous lake, a rare geological phenomenon of gaseous exhalations in a non-volcanic land that affects the vegetation cover in the vast 3km radius. The aim of this study was to characterise the response of soil arthropod community to this extreme condition, underlining its bioindicator role as well as the taxa that can cope with this environment. Arthropods were extracted from soil cores sampled (by Kempson extractor) at 3 distances from the lake: A) 30m, B) 80m and C) 120m away and identified at order level (with a focus on Collembola families, and Protura genera). Community structure (with PERMANOVA based on Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) and taxa associations (with Indicator Species Analysis), Shannon and Simpson biodiversity, and QBS-ar (based on the number of groups morphologically well adapted to soil; PARISI, 2005)(with Mann-Whitney test) were evaluated to understand the extent of the impact of the sulphurous emissions on soil arthropods. Arthropod community composition at order level, as well as QBS-ar index, differ both in A and B compared to C, and the poorest soil biodiversity was found in A. No orders were particularly associated with A, while Acarina and Coleoptera were linked to B and C, and Tetramerocerata was associated to C. Collembola did not show a significant difference in family composition between the different distances from the lake, however Hypogastruridae resulted clearly associated with A. On the other hand, Protura confirmed to be a highly sensitive group, being absent in A and with Acerentulus genera only present in C. Arthropod community composition at order level resulted a sensitive soil bioindicator in sulphurous environments, reflecting soil biological quality (e.g. Tetramerocerata confirmed to prefer more structured soils); however, Collembola showed responses at family level, with Hypogastruridae being tolerant to higher sulphurous environments and Onychiuridae often dominant in the less ones. Proturan’s high sensitivity to disturb is well known, but their presence in Campania is scarcely recorded (first records belong to GALLI, 2021; GALLI and SARÀ, 2022), reporting Acerentulus as the dominant genera, here only present at the major distance from the lake. Firsts records of Acerentomon and Proturentomon in Campania were reported in this study
Influence of extensive mountain grassland management in a climate change scenario
No full textAssessing plant-soil ecosystem reactions to climate variability is mandatory for developing more sustainable management approaches aiming to enable both climate change adaptation and mitigation, especially in mountain areas. The main goal of the present work is to assess the impacts of both climate change and land use on the plant-soil system in extensive grasslands in terms of biodiversity and soil-related functions (e.g., carbon sequestration). To simulate climate change, ten sites (5 meadow and 5 pastures) were identified along an elevational gradient in Trentino Alto Adige, North of Italy, and, in each site, both topsoil (0-15 cm) and plant samples were collected. Soil samples were characterized for physical (e.g., texture, density) and chemical (e.g., pH, EC, organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorous, major and trace elements, mineralogy) parameters, as well as for biological activities (by enzymatic assays, including FDAH, urease, phosphomonoesterase). Moreover, the functional traits of the 10 most abundant plant species (i.e., 70% of total cover) were measured, including different functional traits, which together describe plant physiology and leaf structure (e.g., specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content). Preliminary results show higher concentration of organic carbon, total nitrogen and enzymatic activities in pasture compared to meadow, thus suggesting a much higher influence of soil management than climate, while plant physiology and leaf structure showed intra- and inter-specific differences with respect to both soil management and climate/altitude. Thus, the present study underlines how the resilience of extensive mountain grasslands needs to be investigated considering the soil-plant system as a whole. This study was carried out within the PNRR research activities of the consortium iNEST (Interconnected North-Est Innovation Ecosystem) funded by the European Union Next-GenerationEU (Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR) – Missione 4 Componente 2, Investimento 1.5 – D.D. 1058 23/06/2022, ECS_00000043). This abstract reflects only the Authors’ views and opinions, neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be considered responsible for them
New data on Protura (Arthropoda: Hexapoda) from Campania (Southern Italy)
No full textData on 28 proturans collected in the Southern Shore of Mefite Lake (Ansanto Valley, Avellino Province) are shown. Only three species were already known in the Campania Region: Acerentulus confinis, Gracilentulus gracilis and Eosentomon transitorium. In the material examined here three species more have been recorded: Acerentulus traegardhi, Acerentomon microrhinus and Eosentomon armatum. In addition, one unidentified specimen belonging to genus Proturentomon was found
Influence of land use on soil ecosystems services of mountain grasslands
No full textGrassland ecosystems cover approximately 30% of the world land surface and provide many crucial ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration. Pasture and meadow, which are the dominant forms of utilization of grasslands worldwide, may affect in a differ way soil functions, including its resilience to climate change. The main goal of the present work is to assess the impact of land use on soil-related functions in extensive mountain grasslands. To do that, ten sites (5 meadow and 5 pastures) were identified in Trentino Alto Adige, North of Italy, and, in each site, topsoil (0-15 cm) samples were collected. Soil samples were characterized for physical (e.g., texture, density) and chemical (e.g., pH, EC, organic carbon -OC-, total nitrogen -TN-, available phosphorous, major and trace elements, mineralogy) parameters, as well as for enzymatic assays, including fluorescein diacetate hydrolase (FDAH), urease, phosphomonoesterase (PME). Moreover, soil organic matter (SOM) fractionation was carried out to evaluate the influence of soil management on OC stability, as assessed by thermal analysis, and distribution between pools. All sites are characterized by a pH around 7 and by a coarse loamy texture, ranging from loamy sand to silt loam. Preliminary results showed that OC and TN contents in pasture were twice compared to those of meadow; this trend was observed both in bulk soil and in particulate (POM) and mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) fractions. Enzymatic activities showed different patterns: the urease activity was greater in pastures than in meadows, whereas FDAH, which is a proxy of microbial activity, and PME showed higher values in meadows. This suggests that changes induced by grazing ultimately impact total microbial
biomass and, in turn, the SOM pools. Therefore, given the importance of mountain agroecosystems, this study highlighted that the evaluation of management impact on soil ecosystem services plays a key role in grassland conservation and ecosystem health
Soil arthropods in bioindication and ecotoxicological approach: The case of the extreme environment Mefite (Ansanto Valley, Southern Italy)
No full textSoil arthropods are pivotal in maintaining soil health and serve as sensitive indicators of soil alterations. The soil arthropod community in the Mefite Geological Site (Italy), characterized by a sulphurous lake and intense degassing, was the focus of this study. In details, the objectives were: i) to characterize soil arthropod community at different distances from the Mefite lake; ii) to identify resilient taxa acting as bioindicators to assess soil ecotoxicity. Soil cores were collected at A) 30m, B) 80m, C) 120m away from the lake; soil organic matter (SOM), and pH, ecotoxicity tests (Lepidium sativum: germination index, elongation inhibition; Folsomia candida: survival, reproduction), and identification of soil arthropods (orders, Collembola families, Protura species) have been carried out. Statistical analyses assessed the impact of sulphurous emissions on soil chemistry, ecotoxicity, and arthropod parameters (community structure, taxa associations, biodiversity indices like Shannon and Simpson, and soil biological quality index – QBS-ar). The results showed: no SOM differences; pH: A < B < C; the highest ecotoxic effects were observed in A for both target species; arthropod community composition and QBS-ar varied notably in A compared to C, with the lowest soil biodiversity found in A. Hypogastruridae (Collembola) showed a clear association with A, while Protura were notably absent in A. This study also provided the first records of 4 Protura species in Campania, updating existing knowledge. Overall, arthropod community biodiversity and composition proved to be effective soil bioindicators in highly acidic conditions, reflecting soil ecotoxicity. In particular, the QBS-ar index demonstrated sensitivity in sulphurous environments
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
White poplar (Populus alba L.) leaf waste recovery and intercropping outcome on its polyphenols
No full textThe growing need for biomass recovery suggests forest waste leaf material for technological applications in a circular economy scenario. In this context, white poplar (Populus alba L.) foliar material was recovered in a forest site planted on a former agricultural land was identified in Tuscany (Italy), and intercropping eventually occurred was also valuated. In fact, the mixed plantation was characterized by tree different associations consisting of broad-leaf trees, including Populus alba L. intercropped with another valuable species (walnut, Juglans regia L.), and different nurse species (Italian alder, Alnus cordata (Loisel.); hazelnut, Corylus avellana L., Autumn olive, Elaeagnus umbellata (Thunb.)). Thus, Populus albaleaves were investigated for their lignin and phenol content, and for their anti-radical activity by (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) DPPH and [2, 2-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)] ABTS assays. Furthermore, Populus alba extracts were profiled by liquid chromatography hyphenated to high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS), in order to deepen into the intercropping influence on specialized metabolites’ content. In particular, it was observed that when Populus alba grows in presence of the nurse species Elaeagnus umbellata, a decrease in the aforementioned parameters was observed, as well as a negative impact on the polyphenol profile. Thus, our findings are in line with the observation that white poplar leaf residue has a high potential for achieving bioactive polyphenol compounds, and that an intercropped nurse species such as Alnus cordata could favourably augment flavonoids and chlorogenic acids to be used as multifunctional ingredients
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