Supplementary stand description
2.1.1 Beech forest
Two study areas were considered. The first is a mountain old growth beech forest (9 sampling plots), situated in Soriano nel Cimino, Viterbo, where wood exploitation stopped in 1950 (Piovesan et al, 2008). The second is at low elevation (2 sampling plots) close to Vico Lake (Viterbo).
2.1.2 Chestnut forest
The chestnut forest study area (6 sampling plots) includes recently coppiced and stored coppice plots both characterized by disturbance due to forest management. Two sampling plots are near the beech forest boundary while the others are located at a lower altitude.
2.1.3 Turkey oak forest
Four mixed submediterranean forests, dominated by Q. cerris and Q. pubescens, were selected. The Tolfa mountain stand (13 sampling plots), dominated by Q. cerris, is a mixed mesophile stored coppice forest with stand dieback due to Biscognauxia mediterranea attacks (date of last cutting: 1970). Recent selective thinning and a small clear-cut area are part of an experimental silvicultural plan, carried out in order to turn the stand into a high forest (Di Filippo et al. 2010). The Vetralla stand (2 sampling plots) is a high forest characterized by large trees. It has not been used for silvicultural practices for more than twenty years. The Canale Monterano stand (11 sampling plots) is a coppice with standards including recently cut plots. The Tarquinia stand (2 sampling plots) is a coppice with standards (forest last cut in 1988). The Canale Monterano and Tarquinia stands are grazed by cows and sheep.
2.1.4 Holm oak
The study stand, located on Argentario mountain, Orbetello, Grosseto (1 sampling plots), is a coppice with standards forest without relevant human impacts.
2.1.5 Umbrella pine forest
Three study stands are located along the Tyrrhenian coast. These pine woods were originated by reforestation activities. The Orbetello stand (3 sampling plots) is located in the Natural Reserve “Duna Feniglia” which lies between the sea and the Orbetello lagoon (Bellarosa et al. 1996). The sub-canopy layer presents a typical Mediterranean vegetation with holm oak and shrub of “macchia”. The stand is affected by the grazing and the trampling of ungulates, recreational use and sea water infiltration. The Tarquinia Lido (3 sampling plots) stands are patchy areas in the village and they include both areas off limits to tourist/car passage (2) and picnic areas (1). The San Giorgio locality was sampled in two sampling areas. One stand is very closed to the beach and highly impacted by recreational use; it is characterized by an absence of understory and a thin layer of litter made of pine-needles. The other stand, 600 m from the sea , is closed to tourist entrance and is characterized by a therophyte-grass understory.
Berlese-Tüllgren funnel
Each soil sample was placed on a 2 mm mesh sieve and put in a 25 cm diameter funnel. A 40 W lamp was placed over the soil to slowly warm and dry the sample. As microarthropods migrated to the bottom of the funnel, they fell into a container and were stored in 70% industrial ethylic alcohol and 5% glycerol.
Previous QBS-ar application
The main fields of the QBS-ar application have been: effects of tillage and fertilisation on the microarthropod communities (Tabaglio et al. 2008; Tabaglio et al. 2009), evaluation of different agronomic management (biodynamic and conventional agriculture) on the soil microarthropod communities and soil quality (Gardi et al. 2008), effect of different types of manure (Menta et al. 2010), evaluation of soil quality in different forest ecosystems (Conti et al. 2010), comparison of soil quality bioindicators in covered dump and natural soils (Menta et al. 2008) and grasslands as potential reserve of soil biodiversity (Menta et al. 2011).
Ecology of Protura, Symphyla and Pauropoda
Protura, Symphyla and Pauropoda are characterized by morphological soil life adaptations which enable them to escape from unfavourable environmental conditions (Menta 2008). For example, Pauropoda appears to be governed by narrow moisture and temperature preferences (17-23 °C), within which soil fungi also flourish, and since these fungi may provide a source of food for the Pauropoda, this factor, rather than any direct temperature effect may be limiting (Wallwork 1970). They cannot burrow, but can follow root canals and crevices to much deeper levels, down to the groundwater surface. Although Symphyla may be encountered in a variety of soils, ranging from cultivated plots to grassland and forest litter, they prefer moist, organic soils of the loam type with open texture (Wallwork 1970). Very often, they migrate to a depth of several centimetres in relation to changes in environmental condition. Protura occur in a variety of soils worldwide, often associated with plant roots and litter. They penetrate the soil to depths of 25 cm, which is fairly deep considering that they do not appear to be adapted for burrowing (Coleman et al. 2004). Their feedings habitats remain unknown although some observation suggested that they feed on mycorrhizae.
References
Bellarosa, R., Codipietro, P., Piovesan, G., Schirone, B. (1996). Degradation, rehabilitation and sustainable management of a dunal ecosystem in Central Italy. Land Degradation & Development, 7 (4), 297-311.
Coleman, D. C., Crossley, D. A., Hendrix, P. F. (2004). Fundamentals of soil ecology. Elsevier.
Conti, F. D., Menta, C., Leoni, A., Zapparoli, M. (2010). Centipedes and edaphic microarthropods as indicators of changing conditions in beech forest ecosystems. S.It.E. Atti XXXIV (Vol. 1), ISSN 1127-5006, p.133.
Di Filippo, A., Alessandrini, A., Biondi, F., Blasi, S., Portoghesi, L., Piovesan, G (2010). Climate change and oak decline: Dendroecology and stand productivity of a Turkey oak (Quercus cerris L.) old stored coppice in Central Italy. Annals of Forest Science, 67, 706.
Gardi, C., Menta, C., Leoni, A. (2008). Evaluation of environmental impact of agricultural management practices using soil microarthropods. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 17 (8b), 1165-1169.
Menta, C. (2008) . Guida alla conoscenza della Biologia e Ecologia del Suolo – Funzionalità, Degrado, indicatori. (p. 265) Bologna: Gruppo Perdisa Editore. ISBN 978-88-8372-454-1.
Menta, C., Leoni, A., Tarasconi, K., Affanni, P. (2010). Does compost use affect microarthropod soil communities? Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 19, 2303-2311.
Piovesan G., Biondi F., Di Filippo A., Alessandrini A., Maugeri M. (2008). Drought-driven growth reduction in old beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests of the central Apennines, Italy. Global Change Biology, 14, 1265-1281
Tabaglio, V., Gavazzi, C., Menta, C. (2008). The influence of no-till, conventional tillage and nitrogen fertilization on physico-chemical and biological indicators after three years of monoculture barley. Italian Journal of Agronomy, 3 (4), 233-240.
Tabaglio, V., Gavazzi, C., Menta, C. (2009). Physico-chemical indicators and microarthropod communities as influenced by no-till, conventional tillage and nitrogen fertilisation after four years of continuous maize. Soil & Tillage Research, 105 (1), 135-142.
Wallwork, J. A. (1970). Ecology of soil animals. London: McGraw-Hill.
Tab. S1 – Eco-morphological indices (EMIs) of edaphic microarthropod groups.
4