Soil physical quality (SPQ) can be assessed by different experimental methodologies\ud
and criteria and the optimal/critical values or ranges for SPQ\ud
indicators are still approximate. Sampling soils with minimal anthropic pressures\ud
should allow improvements in SPQ assessment. Different experimental\ud
methodologies and criteria were applied to sample a Mediterranean oak forest\ud
(Quercus ilex L.) and pasture land, in Sicily, with a varying degree of\ud
anthropic disturbance. Soil water retention was determined in the laboratory\ud
and the field, using the BEST (Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer parameters)\ud
procedure of soil hydraulic characterization. Capacity-based indicators, the\ud
S index, and location and shape parameters of the pore volume distribution\ud
function were calculated for assessing SPQ. With the laboratory data,\ud
only the criterion using the capacity-based indicators suggested that SPQ\ud
increased as external pressures decreased. Therefore, this criterion appeared\ud
to be more reliable than the other tested criteria in the sampled environment.\ud
The field method was more prone to suggest good conditions and less able\ud
to signal differences between plots as compared with the laboratory method.\ud
A forest soil with a good SPQ has an ability to store and provide water to\ud
plant roots similar to, but it is more aerated than, a good agricultural soil.\ud
Developing BEST for SPQ assessment is advisable since parameters descriptive\ud
of the soil water transport properties can be collected with a single\ud
experiment. Simultaneous characterization of dendrometric and soil parameters\ud
at other sites is recommended to explore the relationships between SPQ\ud
indicators and characteristics of the forest cover
This paper analyzes and quantifies the land use/land cover changes of the main forest and semi-natural landscape types in Sicily between 1955 and 2012. We analyzed seven representative forest and shrubland landscapes in Sicily. These study areas were chosen for their importance in the Sicilian forest panorama. We carried out a diachronic survey on historical and current aerial photos; all the aerial images used to survey the land use/land cover changes were digitalized and georeferenced in the UTM WGS84 system. In order to classify land use, the Regional Forest Inventory 2010 legend was adopted for the more recent images, and the CORINE Land Cover III level used for the older, lower resolution images. This study quantifies forest landscape dynamics; our results show for almost all study areas an increase of forest cover and expansion, whereas a regressive dynamic is found in rural areas due to intensive agricultural and pasturage uses. Understanding the dynamics of forest landscapes could enhance the role of forestry policy as a tool for landscape management and regional planning.
In the last decade, there has been increased interest in measuring and modeling storage in the five forest carbon pools: the aboveground and belowground biomass (living biomass), the deadwood and litter (dead biomass), and the soil (soil organic matter). In this paper, we examined carbon storage in a holm oak coppice stand in the Madonie Mountains in Sicily (Italy), which is a typical case of managed coppice stands. Today, traditional coppice practices are only applied to a small number of forested areas in Sicily, such as the selected site, because of the decline in demand for wood and charcoal. The dendrometric parameters of the stands were recorded, and silvicultural indices were calculated immediately after cutting as well as during and at the end of the rotation period; they showed the trends typical of coppices. The carbon stocks in the five carbon pools were quantified to investigate the effects of coppicing on carbon storage in this Mediterranean area. Results showed that the lowest living biomass values were observed in the first years following coppicing, except for litter carbon. Belowground biomass and the soil carbon stock did not vary significantly with coppicing. During the rotation period, the aboveground biomass was completely restored, and the balance of the carbon stocks indicates that coppicing is a sustainable forest management choice from the point of view of the carbon balance, given that the logged trees are generally used for bioenergy production.Citation: Sferlazza S, Maetzke FG, Iovino M, Baiamonte G, Palmeri V, La Mela Veca DS (2018). Effects of traditional forest management on carbon storage in a Mediterranean holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) coppice.
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