Soil functional indicators in a mountain forest-rangeland mosaic of northern Iran

Soil plays an essential role in providing ecosystem services, especially in mountain ecosystems which are often considered as fragile and sensitive systems and commonly consist of a mosaic of forest and rangeland plant communities. The relationship between above-ground plant cover and the properties...

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Autores principales:	Yahya Kooch, Neda Ghorbanzadeh, Stephan Wirth, Agata Novara, Atefeh Shah Piri
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Elsevier 2021
Materias:	Above-ground plant cover Tree density Litter properties Fertility Biological activities Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/d5351fd57cbb422aa02a96b80e3f04c9
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:d5351fd57cbb422aa02a96b80e3f04c92021-12-01T04:50:56ZSoil functional indicators in a mountain forest-rangeland mosaic of northern Iran1470-160X10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107672https://doaj.org/article/d5351fd57cbb422aa02a96b80e3f04c92021-07-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X2100337Xhttps://doaj.org/toc/1470-160XSoil plays an essential role in providing ecosystem services, especially in mountain ecosystems which are often considered as fragile and sensitive systems and commonly consist of a mosaic of forest and rangeland plant communities. The relationship between above-ground plant cover and the properties of soil organic and mineral layers in mountain areas are rarely studied. This research aimed to assess the effect of different land covers (i.e. forest, forest-rangeland ecotone, and rangeland) on soil functional indicators, i.e. fertility and biological activities, in the Hyrcanian region of northern Iran. We hypothesized that (i) the presence of tree cover enhances soil fertility and biological activities and creates hot spots (islands) of soil functional indicators especially in the topsoil, (ii) litter quality and organic matter fractions are the drivers for activities of soil organisms, nutrient cycles and transformation processes in mountain ecosystems. Litter (O-horizon including L, F and H layers) and mineral soil samples (in two separate depths of 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm) were taken using iron frames (30 × 30 cm). In total, 45 litter and 90 soil samples were transferred to the laboratory. Soil characteristic especially in the 0–10 cm depth, litter carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and C/N ratio were significantly affected by different land covers showing the maximum of soil organic C and microbial activity under forest. Our findings showed that the studied land covers, as well as litter and soil properties can be separated by PCA output. The first and second axes, accounted more than 50% of the explained variance in each of the studied soil depths. Soils with a better quality of litter (i.e. lower C/N ratio), higher values for organic matter fractions, soil fertility indicators and soil biological activities can be attributed to the forest. In contrast, positions of low soil fertility indicator values and biota abundance were imposed by forest-rangeland ecotone and rangeland. Although each land cover plays a prominent ecological role and takes its place in the evolutionary process, forests are essential because of their capacity to store and transform carbon and nutrients and to create hotspots identified by functional soil indicators. Based on our findings, soil functions decreased ranked in the order forest > forest-rangeland ecotone > rangeland, which can be assigned to the lower density of trees, and the amount of litter mass and litter quality. It can be concluded that tree covers have a prominent role in increasing soil functions, which should be given special consideration in the restoration of degraded mountain ecosystems.Yahya KoochNeda GhorbanzadehStephan WirthAgata NovaraAtefeh Shah PiriElsevierarticleAbove-ground plant coverTree densityLitter propertiesFertilityBiological activitiesEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcological Indicators, Vol 126, Iss , Pp 107672- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Above-ground plant cover Tree density Litter properties Fertility Biological activities Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	Above-ground plant cover Tree density Litter properties Fertility Biological activities Ecology QH540-549.5 Yahya Kooch Neda Ghorbanzadeh Stephan Wirth Agata Novara Atefeh Shah Piri Soil functional indicators in a mountain forest-rangeland mosaic of northern Iran
description	Soil plays an essential role in providing ecosystem services, especially in mountain ecosystems which are often considered as fragile and sensitive systems and commonly consist of a mosaic of forest and rangeland plant communities. The relationship between above-ground plant cover and the properties of soil organic and mineral layers in mountain areas are rarely studied. This research aimed to assess the effect of different land covers (i.e. forest, forest-rangeland ecotone, and rangeland) on soil functional indicators, i.e. fertility and biological activities, in the Hyrcanian region of northern Iran. We hypothesized that (i) the presence of tree cover enhances soil fertility and biological activities and creates hot spots (islands) of soil functional indicators especially in the topsoil, (ii) litter quality and organic matter fractions are the drivers for activities of soil organisms, nutrient cycles and transformation processes in mountain ecosystems. Litter (O-horizon including L, F and H layers) and mineral soil samples (in two separate depths of 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm) were taken using iron frames (30 × 30 cm). In total, 45 litter and 90 soil samples were transferred to the laboratory. Soil characteristic especially in the 0–10 cm depth, litter carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and C/N ratio were significantly affected by different land covers showing the maximum of soil organic C and microbial activity under forest. Our findings showed that the studied land covers, as well as litter and soil properties can be separated by PCA output. The first and second axes, accounted more than 50% of the explained variance in each of the studied soil depths. Soils with a better quality of litter (i.e. lower C/N ratio), higher values for organic matter fractions, soil fertility indicators and soil biological activities can be attributed to the forest. In contrast, positions of low soil fertility indicator values and biota abundance were imposed by forest-rangeland ecotone and rangeland. Although each land cover plays a prominent ecological role and takes its place in the evolutionary process, forests are essential because of their capacity to store and transform carbon and nutrients and to create hotspots identified by functional soil indicators. Based on our findings, soil functions decreased ranked in the order forest > forest-rangeland ecotone > rangeland, which can be assigned to the lower density of trees, and the amount of litter mass and litter quality. It can be concluded that tree covers have a prominent role in increasing soil functions, which should be given special consideration in the restoration of degraded mountain ecosystems.
format	article
author	Yahya Kooch Neda Ghorbanzadeh Stephan Wirth Agata Novara Atefeh Shah Piri
author_facet	Yahya Kooch Neda Ghorbanzadeh Stephan Wirth Agata Novara Atefeh Shah Piri
author_sort	Yahya Kooch
title	Soil functional indicators in a mountain forest-rangeland mosaic of northern Iran
title_short	Soil functional indicators in a mountain forest-rangeland mosaic of northern Iran
title_full	Soil functional indicators in a mountain forest-rangeland mosaic of northern Iran
title_fullStr	Soil functional indicators in a mountain forest-rangeland mosaic of northern Iran
title_full_unstemmed	Soil functional indicators in a mountain forest-rangeland mosaic of northern Iran
title_sort	soil functional indicators in a mountain forest-rangeland mosaic of northern iran
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/d5351fd57cbb422aa02a96b80e3f04c9
work_keys_str_mv	AT yahyakooch soilfunctionalindicatorsinamountainforestrangelandmosaicofnortherniran AT nedaghorbanzadeh soilfunctionalindicatorsinamountainforestrangelandmosaicofnortherniran AT stephanwirth soilfunctionalindicatorsinamountainforestrangelandmosaicofnortherniran AT agatanovara soilfunctionalindicatorsinamountainforestrangelandmosaicofnortherniran AT atefehshahpiri soilfunctionalindicatorsinamountainforestrangelandmosaicofnortherniran
_version_	1718405752648892416

Soil functional indicators in a mountain forest-rangeland mosaic of northern Iran

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