Biology subjects

Fioratti, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Fioratti, M..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Combined negative effects of simultaneous perturbations on grassland functionality

1. Grassland ecosystems are pivotal for global biodiversity, carbon (C) storage and food security. This biome, however, together with the ecosystem services it provides, is threatened by global change perturbations. These perturbations rarely occur in isolation and most often affect environments simultaneously, which is a pressing issue in ecology. Nevertheless, most of the research conducted so far has focussed on single simultaneous perturbations or pairs thereof. The few examples considering the effect of more than two simultaneous perturbations focussed only on plants or soil separately, which ignores the potential buffering or feedback effects on ecosystem functioning induced by plant-soils interactions. 2. To tackle this knowledge gap, we used an experimental setup involving mesocosms (soil and plants intact) collected in an extensively managed permanent grassland. Mesocosms were arranged in a greenhouse experiment where we applied individual and combined global change perturbations (up to ten in total) including application of fertilisers, pesticides and antibiotics, simulated trampling and grazing, heat stress and drought. Measured ecosystem functions and properties included a large set of biological, physical and chemical soil and plant associated variables. 3. Results showed that multiple perturbations in most cases had negative effects irrespective of the direction found for individual perturbations. However, in contrast to previous bare soil experiments, we only found scarce evidence for substantial synergistic effects of simultaneous perturbations in our experiment conducted with mesocosms that contained vegetation. This suggests a mitigating impact of plants on soil responses to global change. Moreover, we found a strong dominative effect of drought on ecosystem functioning, driving most of the effects observed. 4. Synthesis: Our results highlight the importance of evaluating global change impacts under more realistic settings, i.e., applying multiple perturbations simultaneously and including plant-soil interactions. Mitigation of global change in terrestrial ecosystems will only be possible once we holistically understand how ecosystems respond to altered conditions.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2026

Exploring nematode diversity in soils: comparison of extraction methods and sequencing protocols

Soil nematodes play key roles in regulating organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling and trophic interactions in the soil ecosystem, and are very useful bioindicators of soil condition and soil health. But to characterise them, we need reliable measurements of nematode biodiversity in soils. DNA-based techniques such as metabarcoding have recently explored their biodiversity, with successful results. However, there are many methodological steps that can modify the outcome considerably and require informed decisions. In this study, we tested the effect on nematode alpha and beta diversity metrics of three methodological steps, namely i) type of extraction of genetic material from the matrix, either from soil directly with different starting amount of material or extracting nematodes first via the Baermann or Oostenbrink methods, ii) the choice of taxonomically-relevant DNA segment for amplification, with a nematode specific primer (NemF/18Sr2b) and a universal eukaryotic primer (3NDf/1132rmod), both within 18S rDNA, and iii) the selection of appropriate reference library for taxonomic assignment (comparing three nematode specialised databases and three broad taxonomic databases). Observed differences in alpha diversity were more pronounced when comparing the nematode extraction vs soil extractions. In particular, direct soil extractions co-extracted many non-nematode taxa, especially if amplified with a universal primer, which can significantly reduce the number of nematode reads obtained and therefore the accuracy of nematode community indexes and other nematode-based metrics. The choice of the reference database strongly affected the taxonomic identification, which calls for extreme caution when making this selection. Notably, specialised databases tended to over assign reads to nematodes that were detected as non-nematodes by broad taxonomic databases. However, beta diversity metrics were consistent across methods, highlighting these metrics as robust against methodological choices. Our study clearly demonstrates that the choices of methods for nematode biodiversity studies using molecular tools can have a big impact on the results, and decisions should be made consciously and carefully.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Reconciling land sharing and sparing: a conceptual model for land use

Since the introduction of the terms in the early 2000s, the land sharing versus land sparing dichotomy has sparked considerable discussion stemming from the relationship between food production and ecological function. The theory underpinning these approaches straddles disciplinary and ideological boundaries and is frequently outlined within a general economy versus ecology background. Both strategies have come up with competing models on the relationship linking agricultural production and ecological function. The present work introduces a conceptual synthesis to unify alternative models under a single coherent framework. A generalized model linking agricultural production with ecological function that can harmonize these conflicting views is presented. In addition, a conceptual shift of paradigm is suggested to approach the issue, moving from yield targets to preservation thresholds. This article provides the theoretical means to identify the environmental and policy conditions under which land sharing strategies, based on low inputs and low impact per unit of cultivated land, can compete with land sparing approaches for the combined goals of biodiversity preservation and food safety.

ecology↗