Mixed-Species Plantation Effects on Soil Biological and Chemical Quality and Tree Growth of a Former Agricultural Land

Tree planting on abandoned agricultural land could both restore the soil quality and increase the productivity of economically valuable woody species. Here, we assess the impact of mixed-species tree plantations on soil quality at a site in Central Italy where tree intercropping systems were established 20 years ago on a former agricultural land. These intercropping systems include two species of economic interest, Populus alba and Juglans regia, and one of three different nurse trees, i.e., Alnus cordata, Elaeagnus umbellata, both of which are N-fixing species, and Corylus avellana. We measured tree growth and compared how soil organic matter, soil extracellular enzymes, and nematodes of different feeding groups varied among the intercropping systems and relative to a conventional agricultural field. Our results indicate that tree plantation led to an increase in soil carbon and nitrogen, and enhanced enzyme activities, compared with the agricultural land. The proportion of nematode feeding groups was heterogeneous, but predators were absent from the agricultural soil. Multivariate analysis of soil properties, enzymatic activity, nematodes, and tree growth point to the importance of the presence N-fixing species, as the presence of A. cordata was linked to higher soil quality, and E. umbellata to growth of the associated valuable woody species. Our findings indicate that intercropping tree species provide a tool for both restoring fertility and improving soil quality

Organic matter composition and the protist and nematode communities around anecic earthworm burrows

By living in permanent burrows and incorporating organic detritus from the soil surface, anecic earthworms contribute to soil heterogeneity, but their impact is still under-studied in natural field conditions. We investigated the effects of the anecic earthworm Lumbricus centralis on fresh carbon (C) incorporation, soil organic matter composition, protists, and nematodes of a Cambisol under grassland. We used plant material labelled with stable isotope tracers to detect fresh C input around earthworm-occupied burrows or around burrows from which the earthworm had been removed. After 50 days, we sampled soil (0–10 cm depth) in concentric layers around the burrows, distinguishing between drilosphere (0–8 mm) and bulk soil (50–75 mm). L. centralis effectively incorporated fresh C into the drilosphere, and this shifted soil organic matter amount and chemistry: total soil sugar content was increased compared to unoccupied drilosphere and bulk soil, and the contribution of plant-derived sugars to soil organic matter was enhanced. Earthworms also shifted the spatial distribution of soil C towards the drilosphere. The total abundance of protists and nematodes was only slightly higher in earthworm-occupied drilosphere, but strong positive effects were found for some protist clades (e.g. Stenamoeba spp.). Additional data for the co-occurring anecic earthworm species Aporrectodea longa showed that it incorporated fresh C less than L. centralis, suggesting that the two species may have different effects on soil C distribution and organic matter quality

Comparison of two widely used sampling methods in assessing earthworm community responses to agricultural intensification

To assess whether different sampling protocols provide similar results on earthworm community responses to land use, comparisons across different environments are required. Using an ongoing experiment in France, we assessed whether two protocols, widely used in international projects and global databases, provide similar estimates of earthworm abundance, and detect the same community responses to agricultural intensification. Method A consisted of hand-sorting composite samples of three soil monoliths 35 × 35 × 20 cm each, and applying formalin in the resulting holes. Method B consisted of applying formalin over a 1 m2 contiguous area and subsequently hand-sorting a 25 × 25 × 25 cm soil monolith within it. Higher abundance was obtained from Method A than from Method B, but the two methods led to the same ecological conclusions. Firstly, they both showed that earthworm biomass and density decreased with agricultural intensification. Secondly, they showed similar land use effects on earthworm ecological group proportions, age structure, and body size distribution, pointing to a relative loss of large-bodied earthworms with agricultural intensification. These findings suggest that data from the two methods are both suitable to investigate the community response of earthworms, whereas assessments of earthworm abundance per se are more sensitive to the sampling protocol. Merits and drawbacks of the methods in terms of time and labour needed and of statistical variation are discussed.</p

Anecic earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris) alleviate negative effects of extreme rainfall events on soil and plants in field mesocosms

Background and aims - Intense rains are becoming more frequent. By causing waterlogging, they may increase soil erosion and soil surface compaction, hamper seedling establishment, and reduce plant growth. Since anecic earthworms make vertical burrows that improve water infiltration, we hypothesised that they can counteract such disturbance. Methods - In a field experiment, intact soil mesocosms with ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), with or without introduced adult Lumbricus terrestris, underwent either a precipitation regime with two intense rain events (36 mm, at beginning and end of spring), or a control regime with the same cumulative rainfall but no intense events. Short-term response of soil moisture and lagged response of plant growth were measured, and soil macroporosity was quantified. Results - Intense rains reduced ryegrass shoot biomass (by 16–21 % on average) only in the absence of earthworms. Waterlogging duration aboveground was not affected, whereas soil moisture contents after intense rainfall tended to drop faster with earthworms present. Continuous vertical macropores were found only in the mesocosms to which earthworms had been added. The number of such macropores was 2.4 times higher under the intense precipitation regime, despite similar earthworm survival. Conclusions - We found that anecic earthworms can offset negative effects of intense rainfall on plant growth aboveground. Underlying mechanisms, such as macropore formation and enhanced nutrient cycling, are discussed. We also observed that altered precipitation patterns can modify earthworm burrowing behaviour, as earthworms had produced more burrows under the intense regim

Knox et al. data

Full dataset for Knox et al. (2017) Ecology Letter

Soil nematode assemblage responds weakly to grazer exclusion on a nutrient-rich seabird island

The effects of aboveground herbivores on plant-soil interactions are highly context dependent and a key underlying factor controlling this is thought to be nutrient availability. Here, we tested whether the effects of vertebrate grazing on the soil food web varied with nutrient availability and hypothesised that soil food web structure would be driven more by the exclusion of vertebrate grazers than by nutrient enrichment. An 8-year long grazer exclusion experiment was performed in grasslands on a small Scottish island near soil nutrient-enriching seabird colonies at the coast and in less fertile conditions inland. We investigated the trophic structure of the soil nematode assemblage as a proxy for soil food web structure. Across all eight study sites the bacterial energy channel was predominant over the fungal channel. Grazer exclusion strongly enhanced plant biomass accumulation and although this tended to be associated with a somewhat lower abundance of bacterial-feeders, this effect was non-significant and surprisingly weak given the observed changes aboveground. Indeed, plant species identity, diversity and dominance were, just as any other vegetation descriptor, weak predictors of nematode trophic structure. Instead, site specific conditions were important, despite the small island area and apparently homogenous sampling conditions