Yang Xi, Liu Ren-Tao, Shao Ming-An, Wei Xiao-Rong, Li Tong-Chuan, Chen Ming-Yu, Li Zhi-Yong, Dai Yun-Chao, Gan Miao
State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yangling, China.
College of Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.
Front Microbiol. 2022 Oct 21;13:989351. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.989351. eCollection 2022.
Fires lead to dramatic shifts in ecosystems and have a large impact on the biota. Soil organisms, especially soil fauna, are often used as indicators of environmental change. At present, minimal attention has been paid to using soil fauna as an indicator of environmental change after a fire. Here, a field survey of burnt herbaceous vegetation in semi-arid areas was conducted to determine the response of soil arthropods to fire and their short-term recovery after fire. Overall, the abundance and biomass of soil arthropods was more sensitive to fire than the number of groups. The number of soil arthropod groups, especially the dominant groups (mites and springtails), was not significantly affected by wildfires. At the unburned site, soil arthropod abundance showed significant seasonal shifts that may be related to the vegetation properties, temperature, and precipitation caused by seasonal changes. In contrast, soil arthropods at the burnt sites showed a delayed recovery and had only reached 56%-82%, 17%-54%, and 91%-190% of the biomass in the unburnt forest at the 3, 6, and 9 months after the burning event. Our findings of soil arthropod abundance changes in the present study suggest that fire-induced changes in soil and vegetation properties (e.g., AN, LT, and VC) were crucial factors for the changes in soil arthropod abundance in this semi-arid grassland. We conclude that fire disturbance reduces the seasonal sensitivity of soil arthropods by altering their habitat. This study furthers our understanding of wildfire impact recovery by documenting the short-term temporal dynamics of soil arthropods.
火灾导致生态系统发生巨大变化，并对生物群产生重大影响。土壤生物，尤其是土壤动物区系，常被用作环境变化的指标。目前，人们对将土壤动物区系用作火灾后环境变化指标的关注极少。在此，我们对半干旱地区燃烧过的草本植被进行了实地调查，以确定土壤节肢动物对火灾的响应及其火灾后的短期恢复情况。总体而言，土壤节肢动物的丰度和生物量比类群数量对火灾更为敏感。土壤节肢动物类群的数量，尤其是优势类群（螨类和跳虫），并未受到野火的显著影响。在未燃烧的地点，土壤节肢动物的丰度呈现出显著的季节性变化，这可能与季节变化引起的植被特性、温度和降水有关。相比之下，燃烧地点的土壤节肢动物恢复延迟，在燃烧事件后的3个月、6个月和9个月时，其生物量仅达到未燃烧森林的56%-82%、17%-54%和91%-190%。我们在本研究中关于土壤节肢动物丰度变化的发现表明，火灾引起的土壤和植被特性变化（如全氮、土层厚度和植被覆盖度）是该半干旱草原土壤节肢动物丰度变化的关键因素。我们得出结论，火灾干扰通过改变土壤节肢动物的栖息地降低了它们的季节敏感性。这项研究通过记录土壤节肢动物的短期时间动态，进一步加深了我们对野火影响恢复的理解。
