Effect of wildfires on the genetic microbial diversity in Canary Island forest soils

Abstract

3 páginas, 1 figura, 7 referencias.Wildfires produce several ecological and environmental impacts on the physical and chemical soil characteristics, as well as on the properties and dynamics of soil microbial populations. Microorganisms are good indicators of ecosystem function and sustainability and therefore the studies about the impact of fire on microbial communities is relevant to understand the role of fire in ecosystem functioning. Although several authors have provided data about total microbial biomass and activity in soils affected by fires, there is little information about the composition and evolution of soil microbial populations after the passage of fire. In this work the effect of wildfires on the genetic diversity of microbial populations in soils from the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) is studied. The final objective was to get information about the recovery of soil functionality after wildfires.This work has been supported by CICYT projects CGL 2006-12730-C03-02 and CTQ2009-10447/PPQ.Peer reviewe