SOIL MICROBIOTA AND BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS IN CHESTNUT STANDS OF THE SIERRA DE FRANCIA (SPAIN), UNDER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS OF EXPLOITATION AND MANAGEMENT

Sensitive indicators of soil quality that reflect the effects of land management on soil are needed in order to promote long-term sustainability of terrestrial ecosystems. Our objective was to assess changes in soil quality due to the effects of plant cover (C. sativa vs. Q. pyrenaica) and different chestnut management (coppice for wood vs. orchard for fruit) on selected soil quality parameters. Significant differences between the chestnut sites occurred for some biochemical properties reflecting a higher soil bacterial activity in the chestnut coppice than in the orchard. In general, soil parameters in the oak (Q. pyrenaica) stand were similar to its adjacent chestnut orchard with the exception of available soil P content and acid-phosphatase activity (APA), that in turn were more closely related to the chestnut coppice. The higher acid-phosphatase activity in the chestnut coppice and oak stand could be explained by a combination of both soil bacterial activity and plant root production of this enzyme due to decreased soil P content in these two sites.