Applying the biotic soil legacy approach to understand positive-negative biota interactions for direct forest restoration from plant-soil communities feedbacks - BioFor

• Grant number: 18/19000-4
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Regular Research Grants
• Duration: May 01, 2019 - March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering - Nature Conservation
• Convênio/Acordo: Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
• Principal Investigator: Tsai Siu Mui
• Grantee: Tsai Siu Mui
• Principal researcher abroad: Wilhelmus van der Putten
• Institution abroad: Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Netherlands
• Host Institution: Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Quirijn de Jong van Lier

Abstract

Plants and soils are in constant interaction, and net effects of all physical, chemical and biological processes that contribute to these interactions are resulting in a so-called 'plant-soil feedback' that is known to be critical for the restoration of original plant communities and ecosystem properties. The previous land use on sites where the Atlantic Forest is to be restored has altered the historical contingency of soil properties, which will influence forest restoration by legacy effects. The existence of plant-soil feedbacks has been demonstrated in forests varying from tropical to temperate systems, however, little, if anything, is known about plant-soil feedback in the Atlantic Forest. Our aim is to investigate how plant-soil feedbacks operate in primary and secondary Atlantic Forest, and how feedbacks in currently de-forested areas may influence opportunities for successful restoration of original tree species diversity and forest ecosystem functioning. First, we will collect a large-scale observational data set on belowground species richness and abundance of microbes (bacteria, fungi, protists) and small invertebrates (nematodes), to characterize soil networks. We will link these data to information on plant/tree composition and soil abiotic properties in original and restored forests, as well as deforested land to be used for forest restoration. Then, we will empirically examine plant-soil feedbacks of these soils in order to determine their suitability for forest regeneration. For this purpose, field plots that can generate spatially explicit information on a range of variables through time will be established along 100 transects across the different landscapes. By combining ecosystem models and network data from field plots, we will evaluate which soil conditions provide best possibilities for forest restoration. By generating spatial and temporal information on a range of variables through time and scale, including positive and negative interactions from the aboveground and belowground communities, we will determine if these effects are more positive in soils from original or successfully restored vegetation than in soil from degraded or unsuccessfully restored systems, which may then be related to the collected soil biodiversity information. Data on disturbed areas with less or more suitable opportunities for plant-soil feedback interactions to forest plant/tree species will allow us to advice how to improve and speed up an Atlantic Forest restoration. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BIELUCZYK, WANDERLEI; MERLOTI, LUIS FERNANDO; CHERUBIN, MAURICIO ROBERTO; MENDES, LUCAS WILLIAM; BENDASSOLLI, JOSE ALBERTINO; RODRIGUES, RICARDO RIBEIRO; DE CAMARGO, PLINIO BARBOSA; VAN DER PUTTEN, WIM H.; TSAI, SIU MUI. Forest restoration rehabilitates soil multifunctionality in riparian zones of sugarcane production landscapes. Science of The Total Environment, v. 888, p. 15-pg., 2023-05-24. (18/19000-4, 20/15230-5)

BIELUCZYK, WANDERLEI; ASSELTA, FERNANDA OMETTO; NAVROSKI, DEISI; GONTIJO, JULIA BRANDAO; VENTURINI, ANDRESSA MONTEIRO; MENDES, LUCAS WILLIAM; SIMON, CARLA PENHA; DE CAMARGO, PLINIO BARBOSA; TADINI, AMANDA MARIA; -NETO, LADISLAU MARTIN; et al. Linking above and belowground carbon sequestration, soil organic matter properties, and soil health in Brazilian Atlantic Forest restoration. Journal of Environmental Management, v. 344, p. 15-pg., 2023-07-15. (19/25931-3, 20/15230-5, 18/14974-0, 18/19000-4, 19/16822-6)

MERLOTI, LUIS FERNANDO; BOSSOLANI, JOAO WILLIAM; MENDES, LUCAS WILLIAM; ROCHA, GABRIEL SILVESTRE; RODRIGUES, MAYARA; ASSELTA, FERNANDA OMETTO; CRUSCIOL, CARLOS ALEXANDRE COSTA; TSAI, SIU MUI. Investigating the effects of Brachiaria (Syn. Urochloa) varieties on soil properties and microbiome. PLANT AND SOIL, v. N/A, p. 18-pg., 2023-08-23. (18/19000-4, 21/11386-3, 19/19145-5)