Structuring edaphic biological activity in relation to soil multifunctionality in agroforestry systems in Mediterranean and semi-arid tropical environments - SABEMAF

Objectives

(i) At the spatial level, the assembly of communities and soil interaction networks in two agroforestry sites (Mediterranean and tropical) under the plant communities that make up these sites (crops, trees, herbaceous strips) will be studied. (ii) The temporal dynamics of the identified assemblages will be compared according to daily and seasonal components. The second axis of the project will focus on the synchronicity between the phenology of the different soil organisms and the management of the agrosystem. The aim is to identify, at key phases of the crop cycle and agro-ecosystem management (interventions on the crop and between crops), the activity levels of the different soil organisms according to their functional group (chemical engineers, ecosystem engineers, biological regulators). The third phase of the project focused on the link between the levels of biological organization and the multifunctionality of agroforestry soils. The aim in this part is to identify structural parameters that correlate with indicators of soil functioning (infiltration, respiration, production, etc.). The study will be carried out on two agroforestry sites: one agroforestry site in a Mediterranean environment (located in Mauguio near Montpellier in France) and one tropical agroforestry site in a dry zone (located in Niakhar in Senegal). The monitoring of edaphic biological activity will be carried out by in-situ imaging, using buried scanners positioned in different areas and at different depths of the agroforestry sites.