In the framework of five-year project PianosaLAB2 - Soil ecosystem hub, the Pianosa Island Research Base of the National Research Council of Italy, which is part of eLTER Italy ed eLTER Europe, hosted a mission of the Institute for Bioeconomy(IBE) of CNR, from May 9th to 17th 2023. The mission was attended by:
  • Romina Lorenzetti
  • Gherardo Biancofiore
  • Francesco Sabatini
  • Luciano Massetti
The mission was carried out in conjunction with:
  • - the research group of the University of Insubria, Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, that carried out a sampling campaign of the functional traits of roots and leaves for Pistacia lentiscus in the different condition of vegetation cover, in response to the environmental and edaphic conditions;
  • - the research group of the Institute of Speleology Emil Racoviţă (ERIS) in Bucharest (Romania) with partners from the Group for Underwater and Speleological Exploration (GESS) in Bucharest, that investigated (as part of the CAVERNBIODIV project) the diversity of invertebrates and microorganisms of underground (caves/caverns) and surface habitats in relation to the chemical-physical properties of the substrate, climatic variables and human impact.
The mission of the IBE group was as follows:
1. MONITORING ORGANIC CARBON AND SOIL BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY
2. DARKNESS
3. WEATHER STATION

1. MONITORING OF SOIL ORGANIC CARBON AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY IN CORRELATION WITH THE EVOLUTION DYNAMICS OF NATURAL SITES AND RECOLONISATION OF EX-AGRICULTURAL SITES
The activity involved soil sampling at 47 stations, previously used for the long-term soil organic matter monitoring started in 2000, to estimate organic carbon content using empirical predictive models based on spectral properties (VisNIR). Samples were collected by drilling with a soil probe to a depth of 0-20 cm for the determination of physico-chemical parameters and accompanied by a description of the lithology, morphology and vegetation cover of each station.
Seven stations of the mentioned above were identified on the basis of their representativeness of the state of recolonisation of agricultural soils by spontaneous vegetation, 4 of which were already sampled in the September-October 2022 campaign, in order to monitor the evolution of the biological activity of the soils of the sites in question. The identified environments correspond to: an olive grove in use, ex-grassland colonised by olive trees and Mediterranean shrub species, 2 ex-grassland sites colonised by olive trees and shrub of Mediterranean Macchia, 2 sites colonised by shrubs of Mediterranean Macchia. The selection of sites was also based on the future availability of data from the sampling of Pistacia lentiscus roots and leaves by colleagues at the University of Insubria.
In the seven stations the following were carried out:
  • undisturbed sampling in 3 replicates for soil biological quality analysis by QBS-ar;
  • sampling in sterility and in 3 replicates of the first 10 cm for the analysis of biological activity (BIOLOG);
  • sampling in 3 replicates for the determination of bulk density by using a cylindrical auger with known volume;
  • punctual monitoring of soil respiration using the EGM-1 chamber and surface temperature system.
NB. Pianosa was recently included by IBE within the SOILBON monitoring network (Soil Biodiversity Observation Network, https://www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/soilbon), which aims to collect and share biological and ecosystemic soil observations in order to ensure the conservation and sustainable management of soil biodiversity.

Site description, soil sampling, soil respiration measures

2. LIGHT POLLUTION AND NIGHT SKY QUALITY
The measurement campaign involved monitoring the quality of the night sky at 5 sites on the island of Pianosa:
  • one next to the weather station in the urbanized zuna of the island
  • one in the center of the island at the so-called Tower of Babel or Zigurrat
  • three respectively along the South, West and North coasts.
On average, the quality of the night sky was high. At the weather station, the light pollution was higher than at the darker site, inside the island. CURIOS FACT: the quality of the night sky is so high that the sensor was able to detect the increase in brightness (about 75% more) caused by the passage of a cruise ship off the coast of the island, which is comparable to that of all the lighting in Pianosa.

Sky quality meters

3. WEATHER STATION
The CNR-IBE / LaMMA meteorological station operational in Pianosa since 1st March 2006, has been further improved with the installation of a new tipping buckets rain gauge EML mod. SBS500 (http://www.emltd.net/sbs.html), made of aluminum, with a wider collecting area (from 200 to 500 cm2) than the previous sensor, which deserves credit for an honorable career! For the new rain gauge, we wish to thank our colleague Andrea Antonini of the LaMMA Consortium for his willingness to integrate it into the basic configuration of the station.
The sensor has been immediately exploited, given the frequent rainfall events in the week 9-16 May 2023:
(http://www.lamma.rete.toscana.it/meteo/osservazioni-e-dati/dati-stazioni)

Alessandro Materassi of the CNR-IBE, has modified and updated the data acquisition/transmission management program. We can now connect remotely to the station from our laboratories in case of malfunctions or system failure.
Last but not least, we thank for the kind availability and help of Vlad Voiculescu for the maintenance and replacement of some mechanical parts: tie rods, solar panel and station supports, rain gauge fixing: these are the interventions which contribute to keeping the entire system efficient measure.

IBE meteorological station & darkness observations

CNR base and the research group