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The evaluation of the Microarthropods Community in mesocosms soils was carried out applying QBS-ar index (Parisi et al, 2015) and other biodiversity indices (D’Avino et al, 2023). Initially, the original soil community in the citrus orchard was compared with that of different mesocosms to define the baseline and the relationships between the different parameters and indices calculated.
The results showed that the edaphic community in mesocosm soil was less diversified compared to the citrus orchard original soil, but enough diversified to estimate the impact of the different treatments. Moreover the soil showed similar properties in each mesocosm, with high quality and an adequate soluble nutrients content. These results were prized as “best poster” at the International Union of Soil Science centenary meeting (Abstract book, p 898). Subsequently, the soil was sampled after burying the films in some case added with bacterial consortium. Interestingly, the results showed differences among the eight treatments.
Next steps
At the end of a multiple crop rotation in mesocosms (for a 6 months period) we’ll carry a new sampling of soil to assess the change and dynamics in Microarthropods Communities.
Research Team: Lorenzo D’Avino, Miguel Angel Gambelli, Claudia Becagli (CREA Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment), Maria Teresa Rodinò, Marco Pittarello, Maria Rosaria Panuccio e Antonio Gelsomino (Department of Agricultural Sciences, Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria)
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