Abstract
Agricultural land abandonment is an emerging problem in European Union (EU), and about 11% of agricultural EU land is at high risk of abandonment in the coming 10 years. Land abandonment may have both positive and negative effects in ecosystems. Due to the potential for land abandonment to increase soil fertility, the study of vegetation succession effects on soil quality is of great importance. In this study, we investigated an abandoned vineyard where, after a period of 30 years, rows and alleys were characterized by two different forms of vegetation succession: natural recolonization by trees along the rows and by herbaceous vegetation in the alleys. No-tilled alleys covered by herbaceous vegetation of a neighboring conventionally cultivated vineyard were used as a comparison. Soil samples were chemically characterized (pH, extractable element, and available and total metals), and analyzed for the determination of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools; hydrolytic and phenol oxidizing (PO) enzyme activities involved in C, N, and phosphorus (P) cycles; and the enzyme ratios. Results highlighted that natural recolonization by trees increased the organic C and N soil pools by 58% and 34%, respectively, compared to the natural recolonization by herbaceous vegetation. Moreover, natural recolonization by trees reduced β-glucosidase by 79%, urease by 100%, alkaline phosphastase by 98%, acid phosphatase specific hydrolytic activities by 50%, and catechol oxidase and laccase specific oxidative activities by 127% and 119%, respectively, compared to the renaturalization by herbaceous vegetation. In addition, the natural recolonization by trees reduced the C (βglu):C (PO) enzymes ratio by 16% compared to that of the conventional vineyard. Comparing the natural recolonization by herbaceous vegetation with that of the conventional vineyard revealed little significant difference (15% of the measured and calculated parameters); in particular, PO activities significantly decreased in the renaturalized vineyard with herbaceous vegetation by 49% (catechol oxidase) and 52% (laccase), and the C (βglu):C (PO) enzyme ratio showed a reduction (−11%) in the vineyard naturally recolonized by herbaceous vegetation compared to the conventional vineyard. This highlights that the type of vegetation succession that takes place after land abandonment may have a significant impact in terms of soil fertility and C accrual potential. These results help to focus attention on the practices used in agro-forestry that should be adopted in abandoned agro-ecosystems to increase their biodiversity, soil C stock, and soil quality, because these indicators are affected by the type of vegetative coverage.
Highlights
Introduction conditions of the Creative CommonsLand use changes often occur in agricultural ecosystems
The natural recolonization of an abandoned vineyard compared to a conventionally managed vineyard significantly impacted the soil quality, increasing the soil organic carbon (SOC) (+64% with trees and +23% with herbaceous vegetation) and nutrient contents, soil microbial biomass, and activity
The two agricultural systems were found to be driven by different soil microbial acquisition activities: the abandoned vineyard showed higher soil hydrolytic enzymatic activities and lower oxidative enzymatic activities
Summary
Land use changes often occur in agricultural ecosystems. About 11% of agricultural EU land is under high risk of abandonment in the coming. Land abandonment by farmers can occur because of low productivity or unfavorable soil or climate conditions, rural depopulation, and declines in agriculture income [3]. During the course of land abandonment, many changes in vegetation, physical environmental conditions, and chemical soil properties take place [4]. Colonization by natural vegetation begins, and soil properties gradually change [4,6,7]. Land abandonment significantly impacts soil properties due to soil tillage suspension, vegetation colonization and succession, changes in soil physical environmental conditions, and soil quality parameters [4]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
