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  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Earthworms as Ecosystem Engineers: A Review
    (New York: NOVA Science Publishers, 2017) ; ; ;
    Turberg, Pascal
    ;
    Schlaepfer, Rodolphe
    ;
    Guenat, Claire
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Carbon storage and soil organic matter stabilisation in near-natural, restored and embanked Swiss floodplains
    (2014-2-4) ; ;
    Thébault, Aurélie
    ;
    Schlaepfer, R
    ;
    Guenat, Claire
    Over recent decades, the number of floodplain restoration projects has increasedworldwide. In Switzerland, several projects have been implemented tomaintain or recreate ecological functions of floodplains. Despite this, little is known about the potential of floodplain soils to release and/or accumulate carbon. In alluvial soils, carbon storage is strongly influenced by fluvial dynamics, and therefore a better understanding of carbon fluxes and stocks in such settings is clearly needed.To evaluate the impact of river restoration on carbon storage in alluvial soils, we aimed to quantify and explain carbon storage and soil organic matter (SOM) stabilisation in the uppermost soil humic layer. Three floodplains were investigated showing each of themdifferent levels of human disturbance: a near-natural section along the Rhine River, and both restored and embanked sections along the Thur River and Emme River. Carbon storagewas determined by total organic carbon (TOC) stocks. SOM stabilisation was evaluated by considering the TOC content in different granulometric fractions (1000–2000 μm, 500–1000 μm, and 250–500 μm) and the macroaggregate formation, i.e. the abundance of water-stable aggregates (WSA) and the mean weight diameter of macro-aggregates (MWD). Our results showthat the carbon storage and SOMstabilisation parameterswere all related to soil properties such as clay, silt and total iron contents of the upper humic layer. Within each floodplain, carbon storage and SOM stabilisation parameters differed according to soil profile groups, thus reflecting a soil gradient evolution from bare alluvium soils tomore stabilised soils and a hydric functioning (soils with hydromorphic features). In addition, river restoration showed various impacts on carbon storage and SOMstabilisation parameters depending on the floodplains, with a significant difference between embanked and restored sections for the Emme floodplain and no difference for the Thur floodplain.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Earthworm communities in alluvial forests: Influence of altitude, vegetation stages and soil parameters
    In many terrestrial ecosystems, soil parameters usually regulate the distribution of earthworm communities. In alluvial ecosystems, few studies have investigated the impact of periodic floods and alluvium deposition on soil fauna. In this context, we assumed that earthworm communities may vary depending on altitude (alpine, subalpine, mountain and hill levels), forest successional stage (post-pioneer to mature forests) and some soil parameters. Our results demonstrated that the composition of earthworm communities differed depending on altitudinal gradients. No earthworm was found at the alpine level while maximum density and biomass were observed at the hill level mainly due to the contribution of anecic species. A total of 27 species and subspecies were found over the three sampling sites, and Lumbricus moliboeus was discovered for the first time in carbonated soils. Soil texture had a major effect on epigeics that were often associated with coarse sandy texture in contrast to anecics which preferred deep soils and mature forest stages, which in combination provided the highest carbon content and the finest soil texture. In our study, carbonated fluviosols (Fluvisols according to the World Reference Base) were recorded; fluviosols typiques with well-structured A layers were generally found in mature or intermediate forest stages while most of fluviosols juveniles with heterogeneous texture were observed principally in post-pioneer forests. We conclude that in alluvial ecosystems, earthworm communities were highly dependent first on soil parameters, then altitude and to a lesser extent forest successional stages. Changes in earthworm communities tend to reflect a gradient of alluvial dynamics thus reinforcing the potential role of earthworms as bioindicators in natural and/or semi natural alluvial ecosystems.