Abandonment and management in Spanish dehesa systems: Effects on soil features and plant species richness and composition

Tárrega, Reyes; Calvo, Leonor; Taboada, Ángela; García-Tejero, Sergio; Marcos, Elena

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2008.10.004

Cited by 59 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The latter studies reported that only between 15% and 20% of the species were able to recover after a period of one year following environmental disturbance. Other studies carried out under Mediterranean conditions involving shrub clearance in dehesa ecosystems in the Iberian Peninsula concluded that significant losses occurred in terms of species richness during the first years after clearance [9]. In addition, studies performed in very diverse shrub communities have reported that a minimum period of 3-5 years on average is required for real and complete regeneration of most shrub species after harvesting [25], and that in terms of productivity, a period of approximately 10 years is necessary to recover most of the shrub biomass extracted [19].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Is Mechanized Harvesting of Shrubs Grown for Energy Purposes Environmentally Sustainable?

González-González¹,

Sixto²,

González³

et al. 2018

Forests

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Mechanized harvesting of shrub formations as part of sustainable forest management not only helps reduce the risk of forest fires in Mediterranean environments but also provides economic benefit from the extracted biomass, contributing to the development of the bioeconomy. However, these mechanized operations require an environmental impact assessment to identify the short-term impacts, both positive and negative. This is especially important in the Mediterranean basin given the specific climatic conditions which exist. In this study, the environmental impact of mechanized shrub harvesting is analyzed in relation to (i) changes in biodiversity and in the presence and growth of species; (ii) physical and chemical properties of the soil; and (iii) changes in forest fire risk. For this purpose, a pre-harvest inventory was conducted and post-harvest monitoring schedules of 1-and 2-year durations were established in three characteristic Mediterranean shrubland formations located in the northern-central area of the Iberian Peninsula. Our results reveal that the recovery rates in biodiversity indices after harvesting were very high, with values ranging from 30 to 70% depending on the site. Two years after harvesting, the species coverage was similar to the pre-harvest scenario in some locations, although not with regards to height, the ericaceous species being those with the greatest sprouting capacity. Significant changes in the physical and chemical properties of soils were also observed. In this regard, negative impacts such as soil compaction or slight acidification were identified at some sites. However, positive effects were also found such as an increment in carbon and nitrogen content after harvesting, along with increased litter quantity a year from the clearing operation due to biomass residue left on the ground after harvesting. Furthermore, mechanical harvesting effectively modified fire behavior in all the shrub formations 2 years after clearing, with a notable reduction in fire risk at all the studied sites.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Is Mechanized Harvesting of Shrubs Grown for Energy Purposes Environmentally Sustainable?

González-González¹,

Sixto²,

González³

et al. 2018

Forests

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“…All the species present in each quadrate were recorded, quantifying their abundance as a cover percentage (visually estimated always by the same researchers, so that the bias, if it exists, is similar in all the stands). Cover values higher than 100% were due to species superposition (Tárrega et al 2009). …”

Section: Above-ground Vegetation (Abv) Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, the composition of the soil seed bank is particularly important for the vegetation communities appearing under different management regimes (Fourie 2008;Hu et al 2013). While plant community characteristics were observed to change under different management and disturbance histories (Dupouey et al 2002;Takafumi and Hiura 2009;Tárrega et al 2009;Beguin et al 2011), it is likely that soil seed banks changed as well. The dynamics of soil seed banks can thus potentially play an important role in improving ecosystem management (Luzuriaga et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term abandonment of human disturbances in Zagros Oak forest ecosystems: Effects on secondary succession of soil seed bank and aboveground vegetation

Heydari

Pothier²,

Faramarzi

et al. 2014

Biodiversitas

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Heydari M, Pothier D, Faramarzi M, Merzaei J. 2014. Short-term abandonment of human disturbances in Zagros Oak forest ecosystems: Effects on secondary succession of soil seed . Zagros Oak forests in the west of Iran have been degraded by anthropogenic activities during many years and to fight against this degradation, several management strategies have been implemented. The principal objectives this study were to identify the characteristics of the soil seed bank and the aboveground vegetation that were affected by degradation and short-term abandonment of human disturbances and evaluate the potential of the soil seed bank to restore the degraded types after short-term conservation management. For that, we compared three types of Zagros forest ecosystem with different management regimes: (i) Long term disturbed type as LDT (also used and disturbed at the present), (ii) Short-term abandonment of human disturbances as SAD (5 years without human disturbances) and an undisturbed control or C (iii). We selected three replicates or stands per type. In the aboveground vegetation (ABV), 115, 72 and 51 species were recorded in C, SAD and LDT types, respectively, whereas in the soil seed bank (SSB) flora, 33, 19 and 12 plant taxa were observed in C, SAD and LDT types, respectively. The percentage of annuals increased in ABV and decreased in SSB with increasing site degradation with human activities such as animal husbandry in the forest edges. The percentage of perennial and biennial herbs decreased in ABV and increased in SSB with increasing site degradation. The Shannon index of the SSB decreased with increasing site degradation. The average seed density in the SAD type was significantly larger than that of the LDT type. DCA analysis showed that the seed bank flora of SAD and LDT types were relatively similar and differed from that of the C type. This indicates that a full recovery of degraded type in the oak forest ecosystem in the Zagros region cannot be based only on the soil seed bank present at the beginning of the protection period while a more complete recovery may require a longer period of protection.

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“…In light of the recent Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), the montado farms with higher livestock rates or a high level of Iberian pig production are the most profitable (Gaspar et al 2007) and thus the montado is becoming a mainly silvopastoral system (Surová and Pinto-Correia 2008). The chronic lack of natural tree regeneration results in habitat loss and fragmentation, negatively affecting the ability of the montado to support rich biodiversity (Tucker and Evans 1997;Plieninger 2006;Ramírez and Díaz 2008;Tárrega et al 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Montado management effects on the abundance and conservation of reptiles in Alentejo, Southern Portugal

2010

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This study was carried out in the IberianMediterranean region of Alentejo (Southern Portugal) to discover which 'montado' management practices significantly affected reptile variables (abundance, richness). Field surveys on 30 sampling plots allowed us to identify 370 individuals distributed among 12 terrestrial reptile species (six lizards, one amphisbaenid and five colubrid snakes). The lizard Psammodromus algirus was the dominant species (n = 297 individuals). The highest species richness was comprised of five species, whilst two or three species were recorded in two-thirds of the sampling plots. Principal component analysis over management variables accounted for 71.8% of the total variance and subsequently helped to reveal four agrosilvopastoral types. Among them, the highest reptile abundance largely overlapped the cork oak montado, while higher cattle stocking rates were estimated (trampling index) to occur in the holm oak areas, affecting significantly the reptiles. Regression models also showed that both reptile abundance and richness were significantly related to montado areas, where the shrub layer is well preserved and cattle are either absent or present at low stocking rates. Adequate management of montado, preserving the shrub patchwork, is crucial for the conservation of reptiles. Livestock stocking rates should also be maintained at a sustainable level of 0.2-0.4 cattle/ha.

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Abandonment and management in Spanish dehesa systems: Effects on soil features and plant species richness and composition

Cited by 59 publications

References 40 publications

Is Mechanized Harvesting of Shrubs Grown for Energy Purposes Environmentally Sustainable?

Is Mechanized Harvesting of Shrubs Grown for Energy Purposes Environmentally Sustainable?

Short-term abandonment of human disturbances in Zagros Oak forest ecosystems: Effects on secondary succession of soil seed bank and aboveground vegetation

Montado management effects on the abundance and conservation of reptiles in Alentejo, Southern Portugal

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