Analysis of Ciliate Community Diversity in Decaying Pinus nigra Logs

Forests

Alessandra Lagomarsino¹  Isabella De Meo¹  Roberta Pastorelli¹  Maria Alexandra Cucu¹  Alessandro Paletto² 

[1] Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria, I-50125 Firenze, Italy;Research Centre for Forestry and Wood, Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria, I-38123 Trento, Italy;

关键词: deadwood;    decay classes;    black pine forests;    ciliate diversity;    ciliate abundance;   

DOI  :  10.3390/f13050642

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Ciliates are an important component of the detritus and energy flow in forest ecosystems. The present study aims to provide an early insight into the abundance and composition of the ciliate community inhabiting deadwood in relation to the different decay classes. We took advantage of a mesocosm experiment of black pine deadwood already underway to evaluate changes in chemical properties, microbial communities, and potential CO₂ emissions over time. The abundance and the number of ciliate taxa increased as wood decay progressed. Greater diversity was observed in the early stages of decomposition, while similarity in community composition increased along the decomposition gradient with several taxa commonly found in the more decomposed classes 3–5. The identified species were related to soil-inhabiting ciliates and mainly belonged to Colpodea and Spirotrichea classes. Ciliate abundance correlated positively with bacterial abundance, total nitrogen (N), and CO₂ potential production, while it correlated negatively with the C/N ratio. Through grazing activity, ciliates contribute to regulate the degrading activity of microbial communities inhabiting deadwood and CO₂ emission, enhancing soil fertility. Looking ahead, specific ciliate taxa may be used as indicators of the stage of decomposition and their biodiversity may provide knowledge into deadwood decay activity.

【 授权许可】

Unknown