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Chemical characterization of soil organic profiles for assessing the European morphogenetic reference base of humus forms in Mediterranean environments

  • Coastal Forest Ecosystem near Rome
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Abstract

In the Castelporziano Reserved Area (Tyrrhenian coast near Rome, Italy), the organic horizons of 14 forest sites were chemically characterized to assess the European reference base of humus classification in Mediterranean ecosystems and evaluate the impacts of typical ecological disturbances on humification processes. Soils were sampled in three diagnostic horizons OL (litter), OF (fulvic) and OH (humic), and the biological type of humus were investigated on a morpho-functional basis and assigned to the taxonomic levels Mull, Amphi and Moder. For each diagnostic horizon, the total organic carbon (TOC%), the C/N ratio, the extractable carbon (TEC%), the humic and fulvic acids carbon (CHA%, CFA%), the degree (DH%) and the index of humification were determined. All data were statistically analyzed (ANOVA, post hoc HSD Tukey’s). In the OF horizon of some OL/OF sites, the CHA values were found very high, indicating the presence of a not-detected OH horizon. Conversely, part of the sites sampled with a complete humus profile, did not show differences between OF and OH, which should thus be grouped into a single diagnostic horizon. The humification parameters showed a fairly good correlation with the humus forms, limited to the first taxonomic level and the OF horizon. Overall, several discrepancies were found between humus classification and the chemical fingerprint of the humic profiles. In this regard, the use of screening analytical methods, i.e., the chemical characterization of OM, may provide a powerful support in modeling the morpho-functional references of humus forms on the peculiar features of Mediterranean forest environments.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the General Secretariat of the Republic Presidency, the management of the Estate of Castelporziano, Ing. Aleandro Tinelli, the Technical-Scientific Committee of Castelporziano and especially Prof. Ervedo Giordano and the Multidisciplinary Center for the Study of Mediterranean Coastal Ecosystems for allowing the course of these studies and the publication of data. This work is part of the collaboration between the WG “Vegetation”, Department of Plant Biology of the University “La Sapienza” of Rome (Italy) and the “Centro di ricerca per lo studio delle Relazioni tra Pianta e Suolo” of “Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura” (WG “Soil”).

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  1. Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Centro per lo Studio delle Relazioni tra Pianta e Suolo (CRA-RPS), via della Navicella 2-4, 00184, Rome, Italy

    Valentina Baratella, Marco Renzaglia & Alessandra Trinchera

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  1. Valentina Baratella
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  2. Marco Renzaglia
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  3. Alessandra Trinchera
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Correspondence to Valentina Baratella.

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This peer-reviewed article is a result of the multidisciplinary project coordinated by the “Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze detta dei XL”, Rome, Italy, in the area of the Presidential Estate of Castelporziano near Rome.

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Baratella, V., Renzaglia, M. & Trinchera, A. Chemical characterization of soil organic profiles for assessing the European morphogenetic reference base of humus forms in Mediterranean environments. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 26 (Suppl 3), 461–472 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-014-0376-z

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