Soil mycobiota under managed and unmanaged forests of Nothofagus pumilio in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

ELÍADES, LORENA A.; CABELLO, M.; VERÓNICA PANCOTTO; ALICIA MORETTO; FERRERI, NATALIA; MARIO CARLOS NAZARENO SAPARRAT; BARRERA, M.

NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF FORESTRY SCIENCE

Scion

Año: 2019

0048-0134

Background: Management practices can modify the productivity of forests and the associated microbial diversity of soil.The soil mycobiota is considered a key factor in the ecological functions of forests. Forests of Nothofagus pumilio (Poepp.& Endl.) Krasser (Nothofagaceae) are the main source of timber and one of the most important economic resourcesin the province of Tierra del Fuego (Argentina). However, there is no information on the impact of forest managementinterventions for the soil mycobiota, which can be reliable biological indicators of disturbance.Methods: Fungi were isolated from samples of soil collected under several Nothofagus pumilio forests subjected to differenttypes of management and periods of time since the intervention. Types of management were represented by harvestedforest with a shelter wood cutting, stockpile area and control forest without intervention and the periods of time sinceintervention were 1, 5?10 and 50 years. Species richness, evenness and Shannon?s diversity index of the mycobiota in eachcondition of management were calculated. Additionally, the effect of seasonality was analysed.Results: The soil mycobiota was represented by 70 taxa. Richness and/or Shannon?s diversity index of the mycobiotabetween undisturbed forest and stockpile area were higher in May (autumn) than in September or November. There wereno differences in mycobiota diversity between dates in the harvested forest.Conclusions: Our results indicate that the forest intervention per se did not negatively affect the soil culturable mycobiotacomposition of N. pumilio forests in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina).