Glomalin, a thermostable hydrophobic glycoprotein produced
by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, plays an important
role in the stability of soil aggregates and in the sequestration
of C, N and heavy metals, being their concentrations
dependent from agronomic practices such as tillage and
application of pesticides and fertilizers. Despite the recognized
importance of glomalin in soil quality, studies on
olive groves are scarce. The study conducted on summer
2017 in three different rain fed orchards (cv. Cobran~osa) of
Northeast Portugal revealed that both total glomalin, measured
as Bradford-reactive soil protein (T-BRSP}, and the
easily extractable Bradford-reactive soil protein (EE-BRSP)
concentrations were lower under mechanical cultivation
than on a permanent sward grazed with a flock of sheep or
than on an annual legume cover crop. Moreover, higher TBRSP
and EE-BRSP levels were found on orchards without
phosphorus and boron supply, and also on the top soil layer
(0.1 0 cm) and on tree row, mainly in younger orchards.
Interestingly, one soil presented a twofold superior EE-BRSP:
T- BRSP ratio than the other two soils, representing an
increase of labile g lomalin, probably re lated with greater
applications of copper formulations to control olive fungal
diseases. This study demonstrated that less disruptive
agronomic practices influences positivety the levels of glomalin,
an appropriate indicator of healthy soil conditions,
which in turn may favour carbon sequestration.This work was funded by the INTERACT
project - •Integrative Research in Environment,
Agro-Chains and Technology': no. NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-
000017, in its lines of research entitled I SAC, eo-financed
by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
through NORTE 2020 (North Regional Operational Program
2014/2020).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
