Is heath cutting more suitable than other methods for soil biodiversity in an internationally protected wetland?
Julia Clause  1@  , Yann Sellier  2@  , Kévin Lelarge  3  
1 : Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions - UMR CNRS 7267
Université de Poitiers
2 : Réserve naturelle nationale du Pinail  (RNN Pinail)
RNN Pinail
Moulin de Chitré 86210 Vouneuil-sur-Vienne -  France
3 : Réserve naturelle nationale du Pinail
RNN Pinail

The Pinail Nature Reserve (Vienne department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France) was created in 1980 and is protected by the RAMSAR convention since 2021. The reserve comprises a variety of moorland habitats and over 6,000 ponds due to a past activity of millstone extraction. The site holds a significant ecological interest through the oligotrophic and wet character of the environment, but also through its high floral and faunal biodiversity. To better understand the effects of different management methods on soil invertebrates, an inventory of surface soil arthropods (ethical + destructive traps) and earthworms was carried out on site. This had never been done there before, and it holds conservatory and functional stakes. The site management may indirectly increase water loss from the site by altering earthworm communities and soil properties. The four management methods applied within the reserve are i) non-intervention, ii) heath cutting, iii) burning and iv) sheep grazing. Preliminary analyses showed that earthworm richness was higher under heath cutting than grazing, and that abundance was rather influenced by the vegetation. Data will also be analyzed with regards to soil chemical and physical properties. The different management methods did not influence the epigeous soil fauna, but models must still be improved to take both ethical and destructive traps into account. With no surprise, ethical traps captured much fewer individuals and species than destructive ones and are not suited for a fine study, despite its protected location. Our results will set an additional stone for managers to adapt their practices in such an anthropized and heterogenous ecosystem under climatic pressure.


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