Bioindication of the Status of Dark Gray Soil in Pine Forests of Krasnoyarsk Forest-Steppe under Anthropogenic Impact

• Published in: Eurasian soil science Vol. 56; no. 9; pp. 1343 - 1358
• Main Authors: Grodnitskaya, I. D., Senashova, V. A., Antonov, G. I., Polyakova, G. G., Pashkeeva, O. E., Pashenova, N. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01-09-2023; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agricultural chemicals; Anthropogenic factors; Ash; Biofertilizers; Bioindicators; Biological activity; Biomass; Coniferous forests; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Environmental aspects; Enzymatic activity; Enzyme activity; Enzymes; Fertilizers; Fires; Forbs; Forests; Fungi; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Germination; Growing season; Human influences; Indicator species; Indicators (Biology); Invertase; Microorganisms; Moisture effects; Organic Matter and Microbial Activity of Soil; Reforestation; Respiration; Sawdust; Seeding; Shoots; Skidding; Soil; Soil moisture; Soils; Steppes; Substrates; Urea; Urease; dark gray soil (Luvic Greyzemic Phaeozem); respiratory and enzymatic activity; biofertilizer (SSSM + U); wildfire; bioindication of soil conditions; felling; microorganisms-carbotrophs
• ISSN: 1064-2293; 1556-195X
• DOI: 10.1134/S1064229323601233

The biological activity of dark gray soil was studied in a 100-year-old forbs–green-moss Pogorel’skii pine forest in Krasnoyarsk forest-steppe. Selective felling were performed in the pine forest in 2017, and there was a strong fire in May 2022. Biofertilizer based on sawdust-soil substrate with the addition of urea and mycoproduct (SSSM + U) was applied to the cut and burned areas to improve reforestation and increase the biological productivity of the soil. Self-seeding of pine was annually counted on experimental sites (forest strip after felling, skidding trail, and background). The total number and ratio of ecological-trophic groups of microorganisms, enzyme activity, the content of microbial biomass, and the intensity of basal respiration and of specific respiration of microbial biomass were used for bioindication of the soil status. Application of a biofertilizer to the cut areas favored soil alkalization by 0.2–0.4 pH units, preservation of moisture, and a rise in the content of nitrogen (by 5–14%) and microbial biomass (1.2–1.6 times) as compared to the control. The impact of biofertilizers on the germination and growth of pine self-seeding was seen on the second year after the application: the number of self-seeding on the experimental sites was 4–6 times greater than on the control ones. The input of burnt plant residues, coals, and ash into the soil in the first week after the fire resulted in an increase in some microbiological parameters, in the activity of urease and invertase, and in the activation of carbotrophic microorganisms. However, microbiological activity decreased by the end of the growing season, which indicated a post-pyrogenic suppression of microbial cenoses. The application of biofertilizer to the surface of the burnt plots leveled the pyrogenic effect and stimulated the formation of pine shoots, the number of which was significantly higher than on the control plots. It was found that universal bioindicators, which adequately reflect the soil status after any anthropogenic impacts, included the microbial biomass, specific microbial respiration, enzymatic activity, and the total number of microorganisms. An increase in the portion of
Serratia plymuthica
and
Bacillus mycoides
bacteria and of
Trichoderma
,
Penicillium
, and
Mortierela
fungi was a specific bioindicator of the soil status after the fire.