Autor: |
Michele Dalle Fratte, Antonio Montagnoli, Simone Anelli, Stefano Armiraglio, Peter Beatrice, Alex Ceriani, Elia Lipreri, Alessio Miali, Paolo Nastasio, Bruno Enrico Leone Cerabolini |
Jazyk: |
angličtina |
Rok vydání: |
2022 |
Předmět: |
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Zdroj: |
Frontiers in Plant Science, Vol 13 (2022) |
Druh dokumentu: |
article |
ISSN: |
1664-462X |
DOI: |
10.3389/fpls.2022.1062911 |
Popis: |
We aimed to understand the effect of mulching (i.e., cutting and leaving the crushed biomass to decompose in situ) on above- and below-ground plant functional traits and whether this practice may be a potential tool for enhancing the phytoremediation of lowland hay meadows. To this aim, we evaluated at the community level seven years of mulching application in a PCBs and HMs soil-polluted Site of National Interest (SIN Brescia-Caffaro) through the analysis of the floristic composition and the above- and below-ground plant traits. We found that the abandonment of agricultural activities led to a marked increase in the soil organic carbon and pH, and the over-imposed mulching additionally induced a slight increase in soil nutrients. Mulching favored the establishment of a productive plant community characterized by a more conservative-resource strategy, a higher biomass development, and lower plasticity through an adaptative convergence between above- and below-ground organs. In particular, the analysis of the root depth distribution highlighted the key role of roots living in the upper soil layer (10 cm). Mulching did not show a significant effect on plant species known to be effective in terms of PCB phytoremediation. However, the mulching application appears to be a promising tool for enhancing the root web that functions as the backbone for the proliferation of microbes devoted to organic contaminants’ degradation and selects a two-fold number of plant species known to be metal-tolerant. However, besides these potential positive effects of the mulching application, favoring species with a higher biomass development, in the long term, may lead to a biodiversity reduction and thus to potential consequences also on the diversity of native species important for the phytoremediation. |
Databáze: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |
Externí odkaz: |
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