Abstract

DENEGRI, Andrea; FERNANDEZ BELMONTE, María Cecilia  and  CAMPITELLI, Paola. Cyanobacteria as burned soil restorer: a case study in semi-arid areas of central-western Argentina. Multequina [online]. 2021, vol.30, n.2, pp.99-114. ISSN 1852-7329.

The first colonizers of degraded environments, such as those in burned soils, are biological crusts (BCs). The objective of this work was to evaluate the impact of fires on cyanobacteria species present in the BCs on Córdoba and San Luis mountains, Argentina, and their restorative potential. BCs samples were collected from burned and unburned locations. They were analysed fresh and under culture conditions by means of microscopic observations taking photomicrographs and identifying them taxonomically. The species were classified into fixers (F), non-fixers (NF) and these, in turn, into heterocyst fixers (HF) and non-heterocyst fixers (NHF). Fires cause short-term percentage declines in some species of BCs cyanobacteria. The Nostoc and Scytonema genera were the most resistant to the effects of fire; Nodularia presented intermediate conditions and Cylindrospermum was the most susceptible; all of them are fixers (F). For NF, Oscillatoria was the most susceptible and Phormidium was the least affected by the effects of temperatures. It is concluded that forest fires have different effects depending on the cyanobacteria species, and these are, in turn, directly related to the intensity of the fire event occurred.

Keywords : Edaphic cyanobacteria; Soils; Forest fire.

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