Soil fauna has a crucial importance for the functioning of ecosystems and their conservation. Soil biota has a role in soil formation and distribution of organic matter, and groups like microarthropods can be used as indicators to assess soil quality and are often employed in monitoring programs. In the present study, the QBS-ar index, an index based on the presence/absence of microarthropod groups, was used to assess the level of soil quality in nine different sampling sites in the “Parco Naturale delle Alpi Marittime” and in the “Parco Naturale del Marguareis” (Cuneo, Piedmont). Forest soils, with different degree of management, and open environments (e.g., grasslands and peatlands) were analyzed comparatively, to investigate whether microarthropod fauna might be influenced by management and habitat type.The results show QBS-ar values are significantly higher in woodland soils compared to grasslands and peatlands (p < 0.05). The latter shows no significant difference between each other, although grasslands show a large range of values (108–214). Forest management does not seem to influence QBS-ar values (183–239), showing stable microarthropod communities both in the managed and unmanaged areas. In addition to this, QBS-ar values do not differ significantly in the different forest coenoses, confirming that woodlands have similar index values (p = 0.7).This study confirms that QBS-ar values in natural areas can vary depending on the environment. It is therefore important to consider clustering habitat types before assessing quality classes for QBS-ar values. Finally, sustainable forest management in the study area does not seem to affect significantly soil microarthropod presence in woodland sites.

Oribatid mites were investigated in six sites in the Alpi Marittime Natural Park (Prov. Cuneo, Piedmont, northern Italy) which is part of the NATURA 2000 network. The selected locations cover 4 forested (fir, ash, 2 beech forests) and 2 grassland sites (mountain meadow, xeric grassland). Altogether 173 described oribatid species belonging to 51 families were encountered, complemented by one undetermined species (Scheloribates (Topobates) cf. carpathicus), added together 174 species. Among them 11 species are new records for Italy. A comparison with other Italian alpine provinces shows high similarity of the oribatid species composition from the investigated sites with the provinces of Bolzano, Trento, Sondrio. A total of 37 species from the Marittime Alps has also been recorded in the southern part of the nearby Swiss canton Ticino. The majority of the species in the investigated sites are known as silvicolous; xerophilous species were mainly found in the xeric grassland site at lower altitude. High species similarities are observed between the forested sites, which also show high species numbers (up to 96 spp. found in the fir forest), lowest similarities are found between the open grassland sites and the forested sites, as well as between the grassland sites themselves.

Within a Nationally funded National Interest Research Project (PRIN), named “Community Functional Structure effects on Mediterranean Ecosystem Functions. Assessing the relative role of woody community functional components and their interactions with ecological factors including disturbance” (PRIN CFS-MedEF), a set of indicators has been proposed and tested, to explore the functional pathways linking plant vascular biodiversity, climatic and disturbance factors (i.e., wildfire), and ecosystem functions involved in biogeochemical cycles such as net primary productivity and litter decomposition rate. Seldom were the extremely diverse and structurally complex Mediterranean forests studied. This complexity translates into a non-linear multivariate link between biodiversity, ecological factors and ecosystem functions. The methodological approach consists in testing in pairs of Mediterranean Quercus ilex and Q. suber forests in three regions (Latium, Calabria and Sardinia) the effects of climate, soil factors, and plant community functional structure on net primary productivity and litter decomposition rate. In detail, the functional community structure was calculated by Community Weighted Mean and Functional Diversity indexes. Standard protocols to collect and collate multidisciplinary data are being applied to assess the combined effect of all these variables, and to build the best explanatory model for predictors of the ecosystem functions considered. The novelty of the project consists in carrying out a detailed and simultaneous assessment of aboveground and belowground ecosystem functional dynamics, which was never performed in Italy. The results should contribute to the current scientific debate on the mechanisms through which Mediterranean forests respond to fire disturbance accounting also for environmental conditions providing useful insights for managing these ecosystems in view of the changes in climate and disturbance regime that will affect the Mediterranean regions globally.