Is truffle brûlé a case of perturbational niche construction?
<p class="Textbody"><em><span lang="EN-GB">Aim of study</span></em><em><span lang="EN-GB">: </span></em><span lang="EN-GB">in the context of niche construction theory, the investigation was aimed at a...
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Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria
2014-08-01
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doaj-f37c5a9310a04da991c302cef0e6406c2020-11-24T20:53:42ZengInstituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y AlimentariaForest Systems2171-98452014-08-0123234935610.5424/fs/2014232-049252052Is truffle brûlé a case of perturbational niche construction?Gilberto Bragato0Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura. Gorizia<p class="Textbody"><em><span lang="EN-GB">Aim of study</span></em><em><span lang="EN-GB">: </span></em><span lang="EN-GB">in the context of niche construction theory, the investigation was aimed at assessing if truffle <em>brûlé</em> is a case of niche construction by testing if the disappearance of grasses in the <em>brûlé</em> induces a non-arbitrary perturbation in the soil physical environment and, in that case, which are the physical processes involved.</span></p><p class="Textbody"><em><span lang="EN-GB">Area of study</span></em><span lang="EN-GB">: a natural truffle bed located in the Italian Apennines inside an experimental truffle-producing area of the University of Perugia</span><span lang="EN-GB">.</span></p><p class="Textbody"><em><span lang="EN-GB">Material and methods</span></em><span lang="EN-GB">: Thr</span><span lang="EN-GB">ee aggregate size classes in the soil of a <em>brûlé </em>and of the neighbouring grass-covered area were determined with the wet-sieving technique in accordance with international standards. In the first part of the investigation, the area was sampled according to a systematic sampling design and the spatial patterns of aggregate size classes in the <em>brûlé</em> and in the neighbouring grass-covered area were compared by means of geostatistics. In the second part, </span><span lang="EN-GB">the suppression of grasses in the <em>brûlé</em> was mimicked in the laboratory by removing roots from a sample collected in the grass-covered area and the effect of freeze-thaw cycles was tested by comparing a control treatment to other </span><span lang="EN-GB">four treatments consisting in sub-samples equilibrated at a water tension of -2.5, -5, -10 and -20 kPa. Samples were </span><span lang="EN-GB">submitted to a number of freeze-thaw cycles equal to those recorded in the area, analysed for aggregate size distribution and compared with univariate ANOVA.</span></p><p class="Standard"><em><span lang="EN-GB">Main results</span></em><span lang="EN-GB">: The aggregate size classes larger than 0.25mm displayed a spatial pattern comparable to that of the <em>brûlé</em>, with sharp changes along the boundaries of the <em>brûlé</em> itself. The laboratory experiment showed that such changes are attributable to freeze-thaw cycles that in one winter season may produce a significant decrease in aggregate size compared to the grass-covered area. Both results indicate that the disappearance of grasses in the <em>brûlé</em> fulfils the requirement of perturbational niche construction.</span></p><p class="Textbody"><em><span lang="EN-GB">Research highlights</span></em><span lang="EN-GB">: the observed change of soil aggregation in the <em>brûlé</em> can be useful in delineating soils suitable for truffle farming and in creating suitable soil physical conditions for truffle production by exploiting freeze-thaw cycles after irrigation in winter.</span></p><p class="Standard"><strong><em><span lang="EN-GB">Keywords</span></em></strong><span lang="EN-GB">: aggregates; <em>brûlé</em>; niche construction; <em>Tuber</em>, soil structure.</span></p>http://revistas.inia.es/index.php/fs/article/view/4925 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Gilberto Bragato |
spellingShingle |
Gilberto Bragato Is truffle brûlé a case of perturbational niche construction? Forest Systems |
author_facet |
Gilberto Bragato |
author_sort |
Gilberto Bragato |
title |
Is truffle brûlé a case of perturbational niche construction? |
title_short |
Is truffle brûlé a case of perturbational niche construction? |
title_full |
Is truffle brûlé a case of perturbational niche construction? |
title_fullStr |
Is truffle brûlé a case of perturbational niche construction? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Is truffle brûlé a case of perturbational niche construction? |
title_sort |
is truffle brûlé a case of perturbational niche construction? |
publisher |
Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria |
series |
Forest Systems |
issn |
2171-9845 |
publishDate |
2014-08-01 |
description |
<p class="Textbody"><em><span lang="EN-GB">Aim of study</span></em><em><span lang="EN-GB">: </span></em><span lang="EN-GB">in the context of niche construction theory, the investigation was aimed at assessing if truffle <em>brûlé</em> is a case of niche construction by testing if the disappearance of grasses in the <em>brûlé</em> induces a non-arbitrary perturbation in the soil physical environment and, in that case, which are the physical processes involved.</span></p><p class="Textbody"><em><span lang="EN-GB">Area of study</span></em><span lang="EN-GB">: a natural truffle bed located in the Italian Apennines inside an experimental truffle-producing area of the University of Perugia</span><span lang="EN-GB">.</span></p><p class="Textbody"><em><span lang="EN-GB">Material and methods</span></em><span lang="EN-GB">: Thr</span><span lang="EN-GB">ee aggregate size classes in the soil of a <em>brûlé </em>and of the neighbouring grass-covered area were determined with the wet-sieving technique in accordance with international standards. In the first part of the investigation, the area was sampled according to a systematic sampling design and the spatial patterns of aggregate size classes in the <em>brûlé</em> and in the neighbouring grass-covered area were compared by means of geostatistics. In the second part, </span><span lang="EN-GB">the suppression of grasses in the <em>brûlé</em> was mimicked in the laboratory by removing roots from a sample collected in the grass-covered area and the effect of freeze-thaw cycles was tested by comparing a control treatment to other </span><span lang="EN-GB">four treatments consisting in sub-samples equilibrated at a water tension of -2.5, -5, -10 and -20 kPa. Samples were </span><span lang="EN-GB">submitted to a number of freeze-thaw cycles equal to those recorded in the area, analysed for aggregate size distribution and compared with univariate ANOVA.</span></p><p class="Standard"><em><span lang="EN-GB">Main results</span></em><span lang="EN-GB">: The aggregate size classes larger than 0.25mm displayed a spatial pattern comparable to that of the <em>brûlé</em>, with sharp changes along the boundaries of the <em>brûlé</em> itself. The laboratory experiment showed that such changes are attributable to freeze-thaw cycles that in one winter season may produce a significant decrease in aggregate size compared to the grass-covered area. Both results indicate that the disappearance of grasses in the <em>brûlé</em> fulfils the requirement of perturbational niche construction.</span></p><p class="Textbody"><em><span lang="EN-GB">Research highlights</span></em><span lang="EN-GB">: the observed change of soil aggregation in the <em>brûlé</em> can be useful in delineating soils suitable for truffle farming and in creating suitable soil physical conditions for truffle production by exploiting freeze-thaw cycles after irrigation in winter.</span></p><p class="Standard"><strong><em><span lang="EN-GB">Keywords</span></em></strong><span lang="EN-GB">: aggregates; <em>brûlé</em>; niche construction; <em>Tuber</em>, soil structure.</span></p> |
url |
http://revistas.inia.es/index.php/fs/article/view/4925 |
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AT gilbertobragato istrufflebruleacaseofperturbationalnicheconstruction |
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