Soil microbial functional communities in restored tropical forests

• Grant number: 17/26019-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: May 01, 2018
• End date: April 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Marcel Okamoto Tanaka
• Grantee: Luciana Ruggiero Bachega
• Supervisor: Lars Vesterdal
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
• Associated to the scholarship: 15/14785-5 - Litter-soil layer in reforested riparian forests, BP.DR

Abstract

Modifications in land cover by intensive agricultural development increase forest degradation, biodiversity loss, soil degradation and, as a consequence, changes in soil microbial community. However, these impacts have triggered forest restoration efforts worldwide to revert land degradation, focused on the sustainability. The Environment Secretariat of Sao Paulo State, Brazil, suggested vegetation cover as a key indicator for monitoring the success of ecological restoration projects. In this way, the vegetation structure as an indicator of restoration should be tested and correlated with the parameters of other ecosystem functions. The evaluation of soil microbial community provides information on soil ecological processes and thus can use as an indicator of the ecological restoration success. Furthermore, microbiological properties are sensitive and rapid indicators of disturbances and land use changes. This study aims to assess the microbial community structure and function to evaluate the influences of restoration processes and forest structure effects on microbial communities and soils in riparian tropical forests. We will use analysis of microbial biomass, activity, diversity, and important functional genes in a chronosequence of riparian forests under restoration in São Paulo State, SE Brazil. Additionally, we will compare microbial community structure and function between dry and wet season samples. Much progress has been made in temperate and boreal forests, but there is still a gap in knowledge regarding the functioning of tropical ecosystems. Understanding the influence on soils of forest structure development under succession can provide important information about the restoration effects on C and nutrient cycling and climate change mitigation in terms of C sequestration in soil. (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)

PENG, YAN; HOLMSTRUP, MARTIN; SCHMIDT, INGER KAPPEL; BACHEGA, LUCIANA RUGGIERO; SCHELFHOUT, STEPHANIE; ZHENG, HAIFENG; HEDENEC, PETR; YUE, KAI; VESTERDAL, LARS. Tree species identity is the predominant modulator of the effects of soil fauna on leaf litter decomposition. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, v. 520, p. 9-pg., 2022-07-04. (17/26019-0, 15/14785-5)

PENG, YAN; SCHMIDT, INGER KAPPEL; ZHENG, HAIFENG; HEDENEC, PETR; BACHEGA, LUCIANA RUGGIERO; YUE, KAI; WU, FUZHONG; VESTERDAL, LARS. Tree species effects on topsoil carbon stock and concentration are mediated by tree species type, mycorrhizal association, and N-fixing ability at the global scale. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, v. 478, DEC 15 2020. (17/26019-0, 15/14785-5)

PENG, YAN; HOLMSTRUP, MARTIN; SCHMIDT, INGER KAPPEL; DE SCHRIJVER, AN; SCHELFHOUT, STEPHANIE; HEDENEC, PETR; ZHENG, HAIFENG; BACHEGA, LUCIANA RUGGIERO; YUE, KAI; VESTERDAL, LARS. Litter quality, mycorrhizal association, and soil properties regulate effects of tree species on the soil fauna community. Geoderma, v. 407, FEB 1 2022. (17/26019-0, 15/14785-5)