Effects of different vegetation types on burnt soil properties and microbial communities
Speranza C. Panico A , Maria T. Ceccherini B , Valeria Memoli A , Giulia Maisto A , Giacomo Pietramellara B , Rossella Barile C and Anna De Marco
D E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia, 80126 Naples, Italy.
B DAGRI – Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry University of Florence, P. le delle Cascine, 28-50144 Firenze, Italy.
C Vesuvius National Park, Via Palazzo del Principe c/o Castello Mediceo, Ottaviano, 80044 Naples, Italy.
D Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Via Montesano 49, 80131 Naples, Italy.
E Corresponding author. E-mail: ademarco@unina.it
International Journal of Wildland Fire 29(7) 628-636 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF19081
Submitted: 3 June 2019 Accepted: 28 January 2020 Published: 17 February 2020
Abstract
The intensive wildfires recurring in the Mediterranean area modify soil physico-chemical properties, in turn inducing changes in soil microbial abundance and activity. Soils were sampled from burnt and adjacent unburnt sites within Vesuvius National Park 1 year after a large wildfire occurred in summer 2017. The aims of the present study were to evaluate the effects of fires on soil characteristics and to investigate whether different plant types contribute to mitigating or enhancing these effects. The results showed lower organic matter and water content and a higher C/N ratio in burnt than in unburnt soils. In particular, this trend was the same for all the plant types investigated, with the exception of soils covered by black locust tree and holm oak, which showed a higher C/N ratio in unburnt than in burnt soils. In soils covered by holm oaks, a shift in the bacterial and fungal fractions occurred between burnt and unburnt soils, whereas the amount of ammonia oxidisers was notably higher in burnt than in unburnt soils covered by black locusts; the highest N concentration was also measured in burnt soils covered by black locusts. The burnt soils showed a lower metabolic quotient and a higher rate of organic carbon mineralisation compared with unburnt soils, and this trend was particularly evident in soils under herbaceous plants. The findings suggest that soils covered by herbaceous species are more sensitive to fire effects and less able to restore their functionality compared with soils covered by trees.
Additional keywords: black locust, fungal/bacterial/ammonia oxiders sequences, herbaceous species, holm oak, microbial activity, organic matter, wildfire.
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