| Summary: |
Portugal and the Mediterranean region are facing a calamitous deforestation and soil degradation caused by recent fires that consumed thousands of hectares of forest and plantations leaving the soils vulnerable to erosion and nutrients leakage. This contributes to desertification and environmental imbalances with significant impact on agriculture, forestry management, and quality of water reservoirs, with the consequent societal challenges. Biological soil crusts (BSC) are complex and specialized communities of microorganisms that have several crucial environmental functions such as prevention of erosion, incorporation of organic carbon into soil, and the retention of water and nutrients, which support the emergence and growth of communities of higher complexity, namely edaphic fauna and vascular plants. In the establishment of the BSC, cyanobacteria and microalgae are the photoautotrophic pioneers, colonizing the uppermost soil layer stabilizing and improving its composition and structure¬. The promotion/reestablishment of BSC in degraded soils, namely by providing inoculants, has a great potential in soil amelioration and in improving the quality of surrounding deteriorated environments.
This project aims at developing a system for the fast and controlled rehabilitation of burned soils through the application of inocula constituted by primary producers' (cyanobacteria and microalgae) that will initiate/accelerate the formation of BSC, promoting the conditions for the establishment of other communities such as vascular plants. For this purpose: (i) Native cyanobacteria and microalgae will be isolated from soils samples/soil crusts from areas in the vicinity of the study burned region; (ii) These microorganisms will be tested in microcosm experiments in order to selected soil conditioners and plant growth enhancers; (iii) The ones with the desired characteristics will be cultivated in large scale facilities (in collaboration with an industrial partner A4F)  |
Summary
Portugal and the Mediterranean region are facing a calamitous deforestation and soil degradation caused by recent fires that consumed thousands of hectares of forest and plantations leaving the soils vulnerable to erosion and nutrients leakage. This contributes to desertification and environmental imbalances with significant impact on agriculture, forestry management, and quality of water reservoirs, with the consequent societal challenges. Biological soil crusts (BSC) are complex and specialized communities of microorganisms that have several crucial environmental functions such as prevention of erosion, incorporation of organic carbon into soil, and the retention of water and nutrients, which support the emergence and growth of communities of higher complexity, namely edaphic fauna and vascular plants. In the establishment of the BSC, cyanobacteria and microalgae are the photoautotrophic pioneers, colonizing the uppermost soil layer stabilizing and improving its composition and structure¬. The promotion/reestablishment of BSC in degraded soils, namely by providing inoculants, has a great potential in soil amelioration and in improving the quality of surrounding deteriorated environments.
This project aims at developing a system for the fast and controlled rehabilitation of burned soils through the application of inocula constituted by primary producers' (cyanobacteria and microalgae) that will initiate/accelerate the formation of BSC, promoting the conditions for the establishment of other communities such as vascular plants. For this purpose: (i) Native cyanobacteria and microalgae will be isolated from soils samples/soil crusts from areas in the vicinity of the study burned region; (ii) These microorganisms will be tested in microcosm experiments in order to selected soil conditioners and plant growth enhancers; (iii) The ones with the desired characteristics will be cultivated in large scale facilities (in collaboration with an industrial partner A4F) to obtain the biomass required for the field experiments; (iv) Different formulations (microorganisms consortia) and different dispersion methods will be tested in restricted burned areas (in collaboration with local entities - Câmara Municipal de Mortágua); (v) After the inoculation, the soil properties, microbial community, edaphic fauna and the vegetation recovery will be assessed from in situ data combined with Earth observation image processing (obtained by satellite or drone).
GreenRehab brings together a multidisciplinary team constituted by experts on molecular micro biology, soil science, plant physiology and ecology from different research Institutions (i3S/IBMC, GreenUPorto/FCUP, and CIBIO-InBIO) establishing the required synergies to reach the ultimate goals, the development of a low-cost, eco-friendly and easy-to-implement system for the rehabilitation of burned soils and a protocol for the assessment of post-fire ecosystem recovery. This will also constitute the first systematic survey of cyanobacteria and microalgae present in the Portuguese soils and for sure will uncover novel biodiversity and it's potential. Moreover, this approach will contribute to implement a joint collaboration between academia, industries and local entities of vital importance for the Portuguese forest sector. This approach can in the future be applied to other areas within Portugal and/or to other European regions. |