Person: Múgica Azpilicueta, Leire
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Múgica Azpilicueta
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Leire
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Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación
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0000-0001-5416-3890
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810999
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Publication Open Access Soil bacterial functional diversity mirrors the loss of plant diversity by the expansion of a native tall-grass in high mountain grasslands(Springer, 2019) Canals Tresserras, Rosa María; Múgica Azpilicueta, Leire; Durán Lázaro, María; San Emeterio Garciandía, Leticia; Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura; Institute on Innovation and Sustainable Development in Food Chain - ISFOOD; Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate PublikoaBackground and Aims: In highland ecosystems, global change processes are intense and foster vegetation shifts that may have an impact on soil functioning. Soil bacterial communities may be particularly sensitive to these changing scenarios. The aim of this research is to determine whether the loss of floristic diversity caused by the unusual dominance of a native component -the perennial grass Brachypodium rupestre (L.) Beauv., which is expanding aggressively in natural grasslands of the Western Pyrenees-, parallels a decrease of the soil bacterial functional diversity and their potential for nutrient transformations. Methods: We conducted the study in eight grasslands exposed to different degrees of B. rupestre spreading. Soil community physiological profiles of the heterotrophic bacteria, enzymatic activities related to C, P and N cycles, C and N microbial biomasses, N components and soil physical and chemical properties were determined. Results: Soils below low-diversity grasslands had lower bacterial functional richness and diversity but greater urease activity, pH and nitrate than soils in diverse grasslands. Ammonium pools, C and N microbial biomasses and enzymatic activities related to C and P did not differ between grasslands. Conclusions: The expansion of B. rupestre and the decrease of plant diversity coincided with a significant decline of bacterial functional diversity and an alteration of the N cycle. Not only plant composition but the prevailing disturbance regime may account for the results. Results also suggest that B. rupestre may rely on its capability to use N efficiently rather than on a soil bacteria-mediated N availability.Publication Open Access Formando futuras investigadoras: introduciendo la ciencia ecológica y ambiental al mundo escolar(Asociación Española de Ecología Terrestre (AEET), 2019) Canals Tresserras, Rosa María; Durán Lázaro, María; Múgica Azpilicueta, Leire; San Emeterio Garciandía, Leticia; Institute on Innovation and Sustainable Development in Food Chain - ISFOOD; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako GobernuaA pesar de su relevancia social creciente, la ciencia ecológica y ambiental está pasando por momentos muy bajos en los programas educativos de secundaria y bachillerato en nuestro país. En muchos centros escolares, la oferta de esta materia es inexistente en bachillerato y los métodos didácticos utilizados fomentan poco la motivación y el aprendizaje del alumnado. En consecuencia, el escaso valor que está recibiendo esta ciencia en la educación reglada acaba afectando a las opciones elegidas por los estudiantes para sus estudios de grado superior y universitarios. Este artículo describe una experiencia educativa llevada a cabo por el grupo de investigación en Ecología y Medio Ambiente de la Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA) y financiada por el Departamento de Educación del Gobierno de Navarra con el fin de introducir el trabajo de una científica ambiental a 12 niñas de 4 centros escolares. Se buscaba despertar su interés por este campo científico, vehiculizar a través de ellas esta ciencia a sus compañeros de colegio, y finalmente profundizar con los docentes implicados en esta problemática educativa.Publication Open Access Relating the spatial distribution of a tall-grass to fertility islands in a temperate mountain grassland(Elsevier, 2021) San Emeterio Garciandía, Leticia; Durán Lázaro, María; Múgica Azpilicueta, Leire; Jiménez, Juan José; Canals Tresserras, Rosa María; Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura; Institute on Innovation and Sustainable Development in Food Chain - ISFOOD; Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate PublikoaPlant-soil feedback mechanisms influence the abundance and rarity of plant species and can favour invasive processes, including those of native species. To explore these mechanisms, we analysed correlations between spatial distributions of plant biomass and soil properties in two neighbouring grasslands at different phases of expansion of the native Eurasian tall-grass Brachypodium rupestre (Host) Roem & Schult (B. rupestre cover: >75 and 25–50%). For this, we applied spatially explicit sampling, geostatistical analysis and structural equation models (SEM) to probe causal relationships among measured variables involved in nutrient accumulation. We hypothesized that if litter accumulates as a result of reduced grazing, ‘fertility islands’ (spots of high SOM and nutrient contents) will form under B. rupestre clumps because the increase in resource inputs from litter will trigger SOM build-up and promote microbial growth. Our results show that ‘fertility islands’ of P and amino acids occurred under the patchy clumps of B. rupestre in the less invaded grassland. In addition, the SEMs indicated that nutrient accumulation was partially due to mineralization of the SOM and modulated by the soil microbial biomass. However, there was no correlation between spatial patterns of B. rupestre biomass, SOM and microbial biomass. Moreover, the SEMs explained small amounts of variance in them (SOM r2 = 0.22 and microbial biomass r2 = 0.08), suggesting that factors other than B. rupestre biomass were responsible for the high fertility below the patches. Our spatially explicit approach demonstrated that litter inputs in dense temperate grassland communities can generate ‘fertility islands’ that may favour the stability and expansion of a tall-grass invader and suggest that herbivory may enhance or inhibit this phenomenon.Publication Open Access Decoupling of traditional burnings and grazing regimes alters plant diversity and dominant species competition in high-mountain grasslands(Elsevier, 2021) Múgica Azpilicueta, Leire; Canals Tresserras, Rosa María; San Emeterio Garciandía, Leticia; Peralta de Andrés, Francisco Javier; Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura; Zientziak; Institute on Innovation and Sustainable Development in Food Chain - ISFOOD; Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación; Ciencias; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate PublikoaOver millennia, the combination of controlled burnings and extensive grazing has maintained mosaic landscapes and preserved mountain grasslands in southern Europe. In the last century, deep socio-economic changes have led to an abandonment of traditional uses, to a general decline of the domestic herbivory and to a misuse of burning practices. This study aims to quantify how the decoupling of burning and grazing regimes affects in the long-term the structure, diversity and dynamics of high-mountain, shrub-encroached grasslands. In spring 2012, four treatments (burned-grazed, burned-ungrazed, unburned-grazed and unburned-ungrazed) were set up at three sites in the Special Area of Conservation Roncesvalles-Selva de Irati, in southwest Pyrenees. During seven years, we monitored floristic composition and the height of the native tall-grass Brachypodium rupestre in four plots at each site. In the burned plots, we surveyed the resprout of the dominant shrub Ulex gallii and the dynamics of recovering of the herbaceous vegetation. Plant communities evolved differently in grazed and ungrazed plots. Extensive grazing, despite being lower than in previous decades, maintained plant diversity and limited shrub encroachment. The total absence of grazing fostered the encroachment of U. gallii at two sites and the expansion of B. rupestre at the other site. When B. rupestre cover was >60%, the encroachment of U. gallii was reduced. This research highlights the competition that occurs between shrubs and tall-grasses in the absence of grazing, and the modulating effect exerted by the burnings and the site-specific features. Understanding local plant dynamics is the first step to design the most appropriate practices that help to preserve diversity at the landscape and the community level in high-mountain grasslands of south Europe.Publication Open Access Pyric herbivory increases soil microbial diversity but has a site-dependent effect on soil mesofauna in the mid-term(Elsevier, 2023) San Emeterio Garciandía, Leticia; Baquero, Enrique; Antón Sobejano, Rodrigo; Jordana, Rafael; Múgica Azpilicueta, Leire; Sáez, José L.; Virto Quecedo, Íñigo; Canals Tresserras, Rosa María; Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación; Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura; Ciencias; Zientziak; Institute on Innovation and Sustainable Development in Food Chain - ISFOOD; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate PublikoaWoody plant encroachment threatens grassland biomes at a global scale. Pyric herbivory combines prescribed burnings and targeted grazing to restore open habitats and has proved to be successful in promoting landscape and plant community diversity. However, less is known on the effects of pyric herbivory practices on belowground biodiversity. We evaluated the midterm effect on mesofauna, bacteria and fungi of prescribed burns and targeted horse grazing regimes implemented to restore a grassland encroached by gorse (Ulex gallii Planch.). We hypothesized that 1) low-intensity shrub-to shrub burnings had no effect or had a transient effect of low magnitude on soil microbial diversity, and that 2) targeted horse grazing after burning increased soil mesofauna and microbial diversity in the midterm. We established an experiment in two shrub-encroached grasslands in western Pyrenees with three treatments (no burning and no grazing as control, burning but no grazing, and burning and grazing). We measured soil properties and soil diversity of fungi and bacteria (DNA-metabarcoding) just after fire, and vegetation structure, soil properties and soil diversity of fungi, bacteria and mesofauna after two periods of targeted grazing (a year and a half after the burning). The response to pyric herbivory differed among soil organisms. Fungi were more sensitive to burning than bacteria, but both recovered a year and a half after burning –fungi only recovered in the presence of grazing–. Grazing increased soil fungi and bacteria diversity indexes (~20 % and ~5 % increase, respectively) at the two sites. A year and a half after burning, burned and ungrazed areas had a 30 % more mesofauna diversity than control areas whereas grazing of the burned areas decreased mesofauna diversity by 30 % at one of the sites compared to the control. Since the responses to pyric herbivory vary among soil organisms, a wide range of management intensities across space and time are recommended for maximizing soil biodiversity.Publication Open Access Plant diversity patterns and soil nitrogen dynamics after controlled burnings applied to restore mountain grasslands and create resilient landscapes(2021) Múgica Azpilicueta, Leire; Canals Tresserras, Rosa María; San Emeterio Garciandía, Leticia; Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación; Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate PublikoaEsta tesis engloba tres trabajos científicos que se centran en los efectos del desacoplamiento de los regímenes de las perturbaciones fuego y pastoreo en los suelos y en la dinámica de la vegetación. En resumen, los resultados de esta memoria doctoral resaltan el riesgo asociado al desacoplamiento de las prácticas de fuego y pastoreo y sus consecuencias para el ciclo del N terrestre y el mantenimiento de la biodiversidad de las comunidades de pasto. La investigación recomienda promover el herbivorismo guiado después de las quemas con el propósito de ejercer un control suficiente sobre determinadas especies problemáticas, y así evitar el uso recurrente de las quemas controladas en los pastos de montaña, lo que puede conllevar efectos negativos en suelos, en vegetación y en el ciclo de nutrientes esenciales. Dado el actual escenario de cambio global, que implica el cambio climático y los cambios de uso de suelos, es necesario comprender los regímenes de gestión tradicionales que preservan la biodiversidad en los paisajes culturales de las zonas de montaña, y planificar así de forma más adecuad a las prácticas que permitan mantener los mecanismos y los procesos que constituyen la base de los paisajes resilientes.Publication Open Access Efecto del manejo de residuos de Lolium multiflorum dejados en campo sobre la fauna microbiana y la actividad enzimática del suelo(2011) Múgica Azpilicueta, Leire; Canals Tresserras, Rosa María; San Emeterio Garciandía, Leticia; Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos; Nekazaritza Ingeniarien Goi Mailako Eskola Teknikoa; Producción Agraria; Nekazaritza EkoizpenaEl raigrás italiano (Lolium multiflorum) es un cultivo que está muy extendido en todo el mundo debido a su alta productividad, alto valor forrajero y su buena calidad como alimento para el ganado. Se trata de la gramínea pratense más sembrada en la Península Ibérica. Algunos estudios indican que esta especie puede ocasionar alelopatías en cultivos posteriores o afectar a los microorganismos del suelo, influyendo así en la disponibilidad de nutrientes. Por lo tanto, el manejo que se realice del cultivo y de los residuos de cosecha puede influir en los rendimientos de cultivos posteriores. El objetivo de este trabajo es comprobar si existen diferencias en la actividad microbiana y enzimática del suelo en función de la manera de aplicación de los residuos vegetales de Lolium multiflorum en campo y del tiempo que éstos están en el suelo, para poder así determinar cuál es el mejor manejo que se puede realizar de los residuos de esta especie. Para ello se establecieron 30 microparcelas en una parcela de Arazuri en junio del 2010 que incluían cinco tratamientos y 6 repeticiones de cada uno: control (suelo desnudo), cultivo de Lolium multiflorum, residuos secos de raigrás enterrados, residuos frescos de raigrás enterrados y residuos frescos de raigrás en superficie. Se realizaron tres muestreos de suelo: el primero a la semana de establecer el ensayo, el segundo en septiembre de 2010 (a los tres meses) y el último en enero de 2011 (a los siete meses). En cada muestreo, se extrajo una muestra de suelo de cada microparcela para la determinación en laboratorio de distintas actividades enzimáticas microbianas. Las enzimas analizadas fueron: ureasa y amidasa (relacionadas con el ciclo del nitrógeno), fosfatasa alcalina (relacionada con el ciclo del fósforo) y β-glucosidasa (relacionada con el ciclo del carbono). Además, se tomaron submuestras para la determinación de la humedad edáfica, el carbono y el nitrógeno en la biomasa microbiana, las tasas de nitrificación potencial, y el contenido de nitrato y amonio en el suelo. Los resultados obtenidos en los ensayos realizados en laboratorio concluyeron que la actividad enzimática del suelo no se vio afectada significativamente por los diferentes tratamientos aplicados al suelo. Sin embargo, la actividad de las enzimas implicadas en el ciclo del nitrógeno (amidasa y ureasa) varió según el tiempo de estancia de los residuos de raigrás en el suelo. En cuanto a la biomasa microbiana presentó un incremento a corto plazo con el aporte de materia orgánica al suelo. Por lo tanto, en este trabajo no se ha observado un efecto inhibitorio del raigrás italiano sobre las enzimas y la fauna microbiana del suelo para los niveles de residuos aplicados.Publication Open Access Disruption of traditional grazing and fire regimes shape the fungal endophyte assemblages of the tall-grass Brachypodium rupestre(Frontiers Media, 2021) Durán Lázaro, María; San Emeterio Garciandía, Leticia; Múgica Azpilicueta, Leire; Zabalgogeazcoa, Iñigo; Vázquez de Aldana, Beatriz R.; Canals Tresserras, Rosa María; Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura; Institute on Innovation and Sustainable Development in Food Chain - ISFOOD; Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate PublikoaThe plant microbiome is likely to play a key role in the resilience of communities to the global climate change. This research analyses the culturable fungal mycobiota of Brachypodium rupestre across a sharp gradient of disturbance caused by an intense, anthropogenic fire regime. This factor has dramatic consequences for the community composition and diversity of high-altitude grasslands in the Pyrenees. Plants were sampled at six sites, and the fungal assemblages of shoots, rhizomes, and roots were characterized by culture-dependent techniques. Compared to other co-occurring grasses, B. rupestre hosted a poorer mycobiome which consisted of many rare species and a few core species that differed between aerial and belowground tissues. Recurrent burnings did not affect the diversity of the endophyte assemblages, but the percentages of infection of two core species -Omnidemptus graminis and Lachnum sp. -increased significantly. The patterns observed might be explained by (1) the capacity to survive in belowground tissues during winter and rapidly spread to the shoots when the grass starts its spring growth (O. graminis), and (2) the location in belowground tissues and its resistance to stress (Lachnum sp.). Future work should address whether the enhanced taxa have a role in the expansive success of B. rupestre in these anthropized environments.