Following the appointment of the new Cabinet, the Forest Sector now reports to the ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts, while the Wildlife and Parks Sectors report to the ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte aux changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs. Adjustments will be made to the website over time.

Back to publications

Towards the development of multifunctional molecular indicators combining soil biogeochemical and microbiological variables to predict the ecological integrity of silvicultural practices

Summary

Published in Microbial biotechnology 9(3): 316-329. https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.12348

The impact of mechanical site preparation (MSP) on soil biogeochemical structure in young larch plantations was investigated. Soil samples were collected in replicated plots comprising simple trenching, double trenching, mounding and inverting site preparation. Unlogged natural mixed forest areas were used as a reference. Analysis of soil nutrients, abundance of bacteria and gas exchanges unveiled no significant difference among the plots. However, inverting site preparation resulted in higher variations of gas exchanges when compared with trenching, mounding and unlogged natural forest. A combination of the biological and physicochemical variables was used to define a multifunctional classification of the soil samples into four distinct groups categorized as a function of their deviation from baseline ecological conditions. According to this classification model, simple trenching was the approach that represented the lowest ecological risk potential at the microsite level. No relationship was observed between MSP method and soil bacterial community structure as assessed by high-throughput sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA gene; however, indicator genotypes were identified for each multifunctional soil class. This is the first identification of multifunctional molecular indicators for baseline and disturbed ecological conditions in soil, demonstrating the potential of applied microbial ecology to guide silvicultural practices and ecological risk assessment.

Sector(s): 

Forests

Categorie(s): 

Scientific Article

Theme(s): 

Forestry Research, Forests, Silviculture

Author(s)

PECK, Vincent, Liliana QUIZA, Jean-Philippe BUFFET, Mondher KHDHIRI, Audrey-Anne DURAND, Alain PAQUETTE, Nelson THIFFAULT, Christian MESSIER, Nadyre BEAULIEU, Claude GUERTIN and Philippe CONSTANT

Year of publication :

2016

Format :

PDF available upon request

Keywords :

indicateurs, sol, microbiologie, aménagement forestier durable, plantation, espèce exotique, préparation de terrain, mélèze hybride, sylviculture et rendement des plantations, article scientifique de recherche forestière, silviculture and yield of plantations, indicators, soil, microbiology, sustainable forest management, exotic species, site preparation, hybrid larch

Partagez