Hidden soils and their carbon stocks at high-elevation in the European Alps (North-West Italy)

Pintaldi, Emanuele; D’Amico, Michele; Colombo, Nicola; Colombero, Chiara; Sambuelli, Luigi; Regibus, Claudio De; Franco, Diego; Perotti, Luigi; Paro, Luca; Freppaz, Michèle

doi:10.1016/j.catena.2020.105044

Cited by 10 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 60 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Total Organic Carbon (TOC) content reached maximum values of ca. 20 g kg -1 in the A horizons of profiles P1 and P2 and over 10 g kg -1 in profile P3; the soil C stocks (up to ~ 5 kg m -2 ) were comparable to vegetated or even forest soils, despite the extremely sparse vegetation cover (Pintaldi et al, 2021). Geophysical investigations indicated that these hidden soils were widespread on the Plateau.…”

Section: Soil Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…The vegetation cover, which is almost absent or confined to small patches, reaching no more than 5% of the Plateau surface, is composed of alpine species such as Silene acaulis, Carex curvula, Salix herbacea in the vegetated patches, while Festuca halleri, Poa alpina, Ranunculus glacialis, Leucanthemopsis alpina, Cerastium uniflorum, Oxyria digyna and a few other scattered species grow also in the stone-covered area. No relevant permafrost bodies have been detected in the site, even though some permafrost patches cannot be excluded (Pintaldi et al, 2021).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The Plateau is covered by a thick layer of stones of variable size (from decimetric to metric), well organized in autochthonous blockfields, blockstreams/sorted stripes, gelifluction lobes, tilted stones, and weakly developed sorted circles (Pintaldi et al, 2021). No glacial striations or roches moutonnées have been detected on the few highly fractured rock outcrops.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on these considerations, the object of this work is the reconstruction of the history of a highelevation Alpine plateau (Stolenberg Plateau), covered by periglacial features, located in the Northwestern Italian Alps at 3000 m a.s.l. More specifically, this work aims at investigating the age and origin of soils discovered within blockstreams and blockfields (Pintaldi et al, 2021), through the application of I) plant remains investigation (carpological approach), II) plant fragments and soil 14 C dating, and III) soil δ 13 C analysis. Moreover, based on the interpretation of the obtained results and literature data, the work aims at IV) reconstructing the possible paleoenvironmental evolution of this high-elevated periglacial landscape since the end of the LGM.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Hidden paleosols on a high-elevation Alpine plateau (NW Italy): Evidence for Lateglacial Nunatak?

Pintaldi

D’Amico

Colombo

et al. 2021

Global and Planetary Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Soil Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Hidden paleosols on a high-elevation Alpine plateau (NW Italy): Evidence for Lateglacial Nunatak?

Pintaldi

D’Amico

Colombo

et al. 2021

Global and Planetary Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Sites were used as a covariate. Algae species may use various sources of organic carbon available in soil ( Pintaldi et al, 2021 ), as part of their heterotrophic and/or mixotrophic life styles, and nitrogen, including soluble nitrate, nitrite and/or ammonium, as well as colloid-bound ammonium ( Lee et al, 2006 ). In addition, the bioavailability of inorganic nitrogen is influenced by soil pH ( Lee et al, 2006 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altitudinal Zonation of Green Algae Biodiversity in the French Alps

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mountain environments are marked by an altitudinal zonation of habitat types. They are home to a multitude of terrestrial green algae, who have to cope with abiotic conditions specific to high elevation, e.g., high UV irradiance, alternating desiccation, rain and snow precipitations, extreme diurnal variations in temperature and chronic scarceness of nutrients. Even though photosynthetic green algae are primary producers colonizing open areas and potential markers of climate change, their overall biodiversity in the Alps has been poorly studied so far, in particular in soil, where algae have been shown to be key components of microbial communities. Here, we investigated whether the spatial distribution of green algae followed the altitudinal zonation of the Alps, based on the assumption that algae settle in their preferred habitats under the pressure of parameters correlated with elevation. We did so by focusing on selected representative elevational gradients at distant locations in the French Alps, where soil samples were collected at different depths. Soil was considered as either a potential natural habitat or temporary reservoir of algae. We showed that algal DNA represented a relatively low proportion of the overall eukaryotic diversity as measured by a universal Eukaryote marker. We designed two novel green algae metabarcoding markers to amplify the Chlorophyta phylum and its Chlorophyceae class, respectively. Using our newly developed markers, we showed that elevation was a strong correlate of species and genus level distribution. Altitudinal zonation was thus determined for about fifty species, with proposed accessions in reference databases. In particular, Planophila laetevirens and Bracteococcus ruber related species as well as the snow alga Sanguina genus were only found in soil starting at 2,000 m above sea level. Analysis of environmental and bioclimatic factors highlighted the importance of pH and nitrogen/carbon ratios in the vertical distribution in soil. Capacity to grow heterotrophically may determine the Trebouxiophyceae over Chlorophyceae ratio. The intensity of freezing events (freezing degree days), proved also determinant in Chlorophyceae distribution. Guidelines are discussed for future, more robust and precise analyses of environmental algal DNA in mountain ecosystems and address green algae species distribution and dynamics in response to environmental changes.

show abstract