International audienceSoils provide many ecosystem services that are ultimately dependent on the local diversity and belowground abundance of organisms. Soil biodiversity is affected negatively by many threats and there is a perceived policy requirement for the effective biological monitoring of soils at the European level. The aim of this study was to evaluate and recommend policy relevant, cost-effective soil biological indicators for biodiversity and ecosystem function across Europe. A total of 18 potential indicators were selected using a logical-sieve based approach. This paper considers the use of indicators from the ‘top down’ (i.e. concerned with the process of indicator selection), rather than from the ‘bottom up’ detail of how individual indicators perform at specific sites and with specific treatments. The indicators assessed a range of microbial, faunal and functional attributes, newer nucleic acids based techniques, morphological approaches and process based measurements. They were tested at 6 European experimental sites already in operation and chosen according to land-use, climatic zone and differences in land management intensity. These were 4 arable sites, one each in Atlantic, Continental, Mediterranean and Pannonian climate zones, and 2 grassland sites, one each in Atlantic and Continental zones. At each site we sampled three replicated plots of contrasting management intensity and, while the treatments varied from site to site, their disturbance effects were quantified in terms of land use intensity. The field sampling and laboratory analysis were standardised through a combination of ISO protocols, or standard operating procedures if the former were not available. Sites were sampled twice, in autumn 2012 and spring or autumn 2013, with relative costs of the different indicators being determined each time. A breakdown of the cost effectiveness of the indicators showed the expected trade-off between effort required in the field and effort required in the laboratory. All the indicators were able to differentiate between the sites but, as no single indicator was sensitive to all the differences in land use intensity, we suggest that an indicator programme should be based upon a suite of different indicators. For monitoring under the European climatic zones and land uses of this study, indicators for ecosystem functions related to the services of water regulation, C-sequestration and nutrient provision would include a minimum suite of: earthworms; functional genes; and bait lamina. For effective monitoring of biodiversity all taxonomic groups would need to be addressed

Aims: This study attempts to establish a relationship between the Cr(VI) resistance of the culturable microbial community and the Cr(VI) resistance and Cr(VI)‐reducing ability of representative stra...

Pine wilt disease (PWD) is a devastating forest disease present worldwide. In this study we analyzed the effects of the invasion of the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the major pathogen causing PWD, on the endophytic microbiome of adult P. pinaster trees. Wood samples from trees with different degrees of PWD disease were collected at two sites (A and M) in Portugal. Endophytic bacteria were characterized based on directly extracted DNA by fingerprinting and barcoding using the 16S rRNA gene as marker. Furthermore, cultivation-based approaches were used to obtain isolates of the major taxa to study their ecophysiology. The endophytic microbiome from P. pinaster trees differed significantly between the two sampling sites. Main bacterial OTUs belonged to the Proteobacteria (39% (site M) - 97% (site A)), and Firmicutes (0.70% (site A) - 44% (site M)). However, consequences of the invasion with the pathogen were comparable. Interestingly diversity of wood endophytic bacteria increased with the severity of the diseases, with highest diversity levels observed in in the most affected trees. Our results suggest that in the first stages of the disease, the defence mechanisms of plants are repressed by the pathogen, resulting in a colonization of the wood interior by soil microorganisms.