Browsing by Author "Voitena, Renata"
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- The potential of soil conditioners on the recovery of burnt soils in the Montesinho Natural ParkPublication . Voitena, Renata; Fonseca, Felícia; Baptista, Paula; Montanher, Paula FernandesFire is a prevalent element in the Mediterranean ecosystem. The recovery of burned soils is a complex and lengthy process that can span several years, with gradual visible improvements occurring over time. Soil conditioners have emerged as a means to mitigate the negative impacts of fires on soil properties. This study investigated the fungal community in burned soil, unburned soil, and soil treated with different conditioners— polyacrylamide, composted olive pomace with almond husk, and technosol—in Montesinho Natural Park. Fungal communities were characterized by a culture- dependent approach, and the isolates were identified by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer region of rDNA. Overall, 31 operational taxonomic units, belonging to seventeen genera, and two phyla were identified. The genera Aspergillus and Penicillium were the most abundant across treatments, except in superficial technosol. There were no significant differences in fungal richness between the different treatments. However, non-burnt soils exhibited significantly higher fungal diversity indices than burnt soils, whether untreated or treated with polyacrylamide or olive pomace compost, suggesting that fire negatively impacts fungal diversity and these treatments are ineffective in enhancing it. Technosols are likely the most effective in restoring fungal abundance and diversity in the soil after fire. Olive pomace compost was effective in increasing fungal abundance. Nevertheless, all the soil conditioners tested seem to be able to restore fungal communities post-fire. Indeed, burnt soils treated with any of these soil conditioners had a fungal community composition similar to unburnt soils. The saprotrophic - pathotrophic - symbiotrophic trophic mode was the most prevalent across all treatments. Further studies are needed to assess the feasibility of applying the soil conditioners used in this study.