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Organisms as Bioindicators of Soil Quality in Human Affected Environments
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Organisms as Bioindicators of Soil Quality in Human Affected Environments

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2021) | Viewed by 12803

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Anna De Marco

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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy
Interests: soil carbon sequestration; litter decomposition; soil organic matter turnover; soil metabolism; soil microbial community; soil and litter fungal community; soil pollution; forest and arable soil; tecnosols
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Giulia Maisto

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Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
Interests: biomonitoring; soil ecology; soil and air pollution; ecosystem services
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Dr. Lucia Santorufo

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Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
Interests: soil biodiversity; forest fires; soil fauna; microarthropods; nutrient cycle
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Dr. Valeria Memoli

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Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples 80126, Italy
Interests: biodiversity; ecology and evolution; ecosystem ecology; biodiversity monitoring; wildlife ecology; evolution; biodiversity assessment; plant ecology; landscape ecology; plant biodiversity
Dr. Speranza Claudia Panico

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Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
Interests: soil quality; fire; soil pollution; forest soil; urbanization; soil contamination; soil degradation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Soil provides the main foundation for human activity and housing. In recent decades, there was a significant increase in soil degradation processes driven or exacerbated by human activity. One-third of the soil of the world is moderately or severely degraded, and the 16% of the total lands in Europe are affected by some kind of degradation processes. Climate change, pollution, agriculture, and fire are the main factors that contribute to accelerating soil degradation processes. As there is evidence that these processes will further increase if no action is taken, efforts need to assess the anthropic pressures on soil properties.

Soil micro- and meso-fauna are definitively the actors of the processes occurring in soils. Thanks to their quick response to environmental changes, soil organisms are widely used as bioindicators of soil quality from small to large scale. To date, there are still some open challenges to better understanding the relationships between soil organism distributions or functions and the soil abiotic properties. This knowledge could provide useful tools for management practices aiming to preserve soil quality. Therefore, all research involving the implementation of the current knowledge on these subjects is welcome in this Special Issue.

Dr. Anna De Marco
Prof. Giulia Maisto
Dr. Lucia Santorufo
Dr. Valeria Memoli
Dr. Speranza Claudia Panico
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • structural and functional diversity
  • processes
  • contamination
  • quality index
  • microarthropods
  • bacterial and fungal biomass
  • soil DNA
  • gas exchange

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 849 KiB  
Article
Combined Effects of Wildfire and Vegetation Cover Type on Volcanic Soil (Functions and Properties) in a Mediterranean Region: Comparison of Two Soil Quality Indices
by Lucia Santorufo, Valeria Memoli, Speranza Claudia Panico, Giorgia Santini, Rossella Barile, Antonella Giarra, Gabriella Di Natale, Marco Trifuoggi, Anna De Marco and Giulia Maisto
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(11), 5926; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115926 - 31 May 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2858
Abstract
Mediterranean regions are the most impacted by fire in Europe. The effects of fire on soil greatly vary according to several factors such as vegetation cover type, but they are scarcely studied. Therefore, this research aimed at evaluating the combined impacts of fire [...] Read more.
Mediterranean regions are the most impacted by fire in Europe. The effects of fire on soil greatly vary according to several factors such as vegetation cover type, but they are scarcely studied. Therefore, this research aimed at evaluating the combined impacts of fire and vegetation on single soil characteristics and on the overall soil quality and functionality through two soil quality indices, simple additive (SQI) and a weighted function (SQIFUNCT). In order to reach the aims, burnt and unburnt soils were collected under different vegetation cover types (herbs and shrubs, black locust, pine and holm oak) within the Vesuvius National Park. The soils were analyzed for the main abiotic (water and organic matter content, total C, N, Ca, K, Cu and Pb concentrations, C/N ratio) and biotic (microbial and fungal biomasses, basal respiration, β-glucosidase activity) characteristics. On the basis of the investigated soil characteristics, several soil functions (water retention, nutrient supply, contamination content, microorganism habitat and activities), and the soil quality indices were calculated. The results showed that the impact of fire on soil quality and functionality was mediated by the vegetation cover type. In fact, fire occurrence led to a decrease in water and C/N ratio under herbs, a decrease in C concentration under holm oak and a decrease in Cu and Pb concentrations under pine. Although the soil characteristics showed significant changes according to vegetation cover types and fire occurrence, both the additive and weighted function soil quality indices did not significantly vary according to both fire occurrence and the vegetation cover type. Among the different vegetation cover types, pine was the most impacted one. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organisms as Bioindicators of Soil Quality in Human Affected Environments)
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16 pages, 3149 KiB  
Article
Microbial Features Indicating the Recovery of Soil Ecosystem Strongly Affected by Mining and Ore Processing
by Zuzana Feketeová, Andrej Hrabovský and Ivan Šimkovic
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(6), 3240; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063240 - 21 Mar 2021
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2846
Abstract
Tailings-derived soils formed from waste materials produced during mineral processing often exhibit extremes of pH, low content of organic matter and limited nutrient availability. The success of site revitalization depends mostly on the ability to maintain natural soil functions. We analyzed technogenic sediments [...] Read more.
Tailings-derived soils formed from waste materials produced during mineral processing often exhibit extremes of pH, low content of organic matter and limited nutrient availability. The success of site revitalization depends mostly on the ability to maintain natural soil functions. We analyzed technogenic sediments from four selected localities in Slovakia defined as environmental burdens: Slovinky (SLS, SLD), Markušovce (MAS, MAD), Lintich (LIS, LID), Horná Ves (HVS, HVD) in the presented research. None of these sites has long been used for its original purpose. In all localities, the concentrations of several risk elements (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) still significantly exceed the statutory limit values. Besides the content of risk elements, the amounts of organic carbon, total nitrogen, pH value and moisture level in technogenic substrates were determined. We evaluated selected microbiological parameters, including microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial respiration and cellulolytic activity to determine how soil organisms tolerate long-term pollution. In general, the values of microbiological parameters were not as low as one would expect. The results confirmed a negative correlation between MBC content and concentrations of several toxic metals (Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn). The values of assessed microbial indicators were in several cases comparable to those in natural soils. We noticed the lowest metabolic quotient values (qCO2) in the heavily polluted locality HVS. The microbial quotient (qMic) was low in every locality except HVS, where the substrate availability index (SAI) was highest. The soil microbial community properties have shown that, despite adverse conditions, these emerging soils allow the growth and development of microorganisms to such an extent that they can adequately use available (although limited) nutrients. The data obtained suggest that these severely impacted soil ecosystems can restore their original environmental functions in time. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organisms as Bioindicators of Soil Quality in Human Affected Environments)
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14 pages, 1580 KiB  
Article
Do Wildfires Cause Changes in Soil Quality in the Short Term?
by Valeria Memoli, Speranza Claudia Panico, Lucia Santorufo, Rossella Barile, Gabriella Di Natale, Aldo Di Nunzio, Maria Toscanesi, Marco Trifuoggi, Anna De Marco and Giulia Maisto
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(15), 5343; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155343 - 24 Jul 2020
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 3403
Abstract
Wildfires have high frequency and intensity in the Mediterranean ecosystems that deeply modify the soil abiotic (i.e., pH, contents of water, organic matter and elements) and biotic properties (i.e., biomass and activity). In 2017, an intense wildfire occurred inside the Vesuvius National Park [...] Read more.
Wildfires have high frequency and intensity in the Mediterranean ecosystems that deeply modify the soil abiotic (i.e., pH, contents of water, organic matter and elements) and biotic properties (i.e., biomass and activity). In 2017, an intense wildfire occurred inside the Vesuvius National Park (Southern Italy), destroying approximately 50% of the existing plant cover. So, the research aimed to evaluate the fire effects on soil quality through single soil abiotic and biotic indicators and through an integrated index (SQI). To achieve the aim, soil samples were collected inside the Vesuvius National Park at 12 sampling field points before fire (BF) and after fire (AF). The findings highlighted that in AF soil, the contents of water and total carbon, element availability, respiration and the dehydrogenase activity were lower than in BF soil; in contrast, pH and hydrolase activity were significantly higher in AF soil. The microbial biomass and activity were affected by Al, Cr and Cu availability in both BF and AF soils. Despite the variations in each investigated soil abiotic and biotic property that occurred in AF soil, the overall soil quality did not significantly differ as compared to that calculated for the BF soil. The findings provide a contribution to the baseline definition of the properties and quality of burnt soil and highlight the short-term effects of fire on volcanic soil in the Mediterranean area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organisms as Bioindicators of Soil Quality in Human Affected Environments)
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15 pages, 1804 KiB  
Article
Assessing Chromium Contamination in Red Soil: Monitoring the Migration of Fractions and the Change of Related Microorganisms
by Siyuan Zhang, Xiaodong Hao, Jiahui Tang, Jin Hu, Yan Deng, Menglong Xu, Ping Zhu, Jiemeng Tao, Yili Liang, Huaqun Yin, Luhua Jiang, Xueduan Liu and Hongwei Liu
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(8), 2835; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17082835 - 20 Apr 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2701
Abstract
The improper stacking of chromium (Cr) slag poses a great threat to the environment and human health. The toxicity of Cr in soil is not only related to its total amount, but also to its fractions. A simulated experiment was conducted in laboratory [...] Read more.
The improper stacking of chromium (Cr) slag poses a great threat to the environment and human health. The toxicity of Cr in soil is not only related to its total amount, but also to its fractions. A simulated experiment was conducted in laboratory to assess the environmental risk of Cr fractions migration and distribution in red soil. The results showed the content of acid-soluble and reducible Cr significantly decreased (P < 0.05) in top layer but increased in middle and substratum layers over time. This indicated that acid-soluble and reducible Cr migrated downward with time and the relative mobility of acid-soluble Cr (0.038 mg/kg·d·m) was higher than that of reducible Cr (0.028 mg/kg·d·m). Furthermore, correlation analysis between microbial community and chromium fraction showed the relative abundance of Lysobacter, Flavihumibacter, Flavisolbacter, and Altererythrobacter was significantly (P < 0.05) correlated with acid-soluble and reducible fractions. Thus, these microorganisms might be evaluators to assess the migration of acid-soluble and reducible fractions in red soil. In summary, this study provided a new comprehension on remediation of Cr-contaminated soil by monitoring the migration of acid-soluble and reducible fractions and the changes of related microbial groups. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organisms as Bioindicators of Soil Quality in Human Affected Environments)
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