Recover of Soil Microbial Community Functions in Beech and Turkey Oak Forests After Coppicing Interventions.

Forest management influences the occurrence of tree species, the organic matter input to the soil decomposer system, and hence, it can alter soil microbial community and key ecosystem functions it performs. In this study, we compared the potential effect of different forest management, coppice and high forest, on soil microbial functional diversity, enzyme activities and chemical-physical soil properties in two forests, turkey oak and beech, during summer and autumn. We hypothesized that coppicing influences soil microbial functional diversity with an overall decrease.

Accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the devitalized aquatic moss Fontinalis antipyretica: From laboratory to field conditions.

This work aims to test the feasibility of a Fontinalis antipyretica devitalized moss clone to uptake and accumulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from surface waters. To assess the capability of the devitalized clone to accumulate PAHs, in the laboratory, moss was placed in water and spiked with increasing concentrations of 16 PAHs, and under field conditions, the moss was transplanted to 22 sites of Galicia (Spain) rivers. In general, PAH concentrations in water samples were lower than the maximum allowable concentrations from Directive 2013/39/EU, so the sampling sites did not show water PAH contamination.

Acute effects of PAH contamination on microbial community of different forest soils.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are hazardous organic compounds with mutagenic, genotoxic and carcinogenic properties. Although PAHs in soil can cause toxicity to microorganisms, the microbial community is able to degrade these compounds. For this reason, it is important to study acute and short-term effects of PAH contamination on soil microbial community, also to shed light on its possible exploitation in soil restoration.

Role of different microorganisms in remediating PAH-contaminated soils treated with compost or fungi.

Microbial degradation is the main responsible for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) removal from contaminated soils, and the understanding of this process is pivotal to define effective bioremediation approaches. To evaluate the contribution of several microbial groups in soil anthracene and benzo[a]pyrene degradation, the analysis of phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiles and machine learning techniques were employed. To this end, PLFAs and PAH concentrations were analysed, along 274 days of incubation in mesocosms, in soils artificially contaminated with anthracene and benzo[a]pyrene, subjected to different treatments: untreated soil and soils treated with biowaste compost or fungal consortium.