Interactions of past human disturbance and aridity trigger abrupt shifts in the functional state of Mediterranean holm oak woodlands

Bochet, E.; Molina, María J.; Monleón, Vicente J.; Espigares, Tíscar; Nicolau, J. M.; Heras, Mariano Moreno de las; Garcı́a-Fayos, P.

doi:10.1016/j.catena.2021.105514

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Our results found that road network density had a negative impact on the spatial distribution of forest land in the AENC, and the impact of population density gradually weakened. Yu et al (2017) and Bochet et al (2021) also found that population growth and economic development had significant impacts on the transition and spatial distribution of forest land with the qualitative analysis. Rapid economic development, improvement of urbanization level, changes of industrial structure and urban population growth usually resulted in the decrease of forest land (Wan et al, 2019;Feng et al, 2021;Hou et al, 2021).…”

Section: Effects Of Human Activities On Forest Land In the Aencmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The spatiotemporal variation of forest land is driven by natural environmental, socioeconomic and regional policy factors (Dwomoh et al, 2021;Hou et al, 2021;Luo et al, 2021). Following previous studies (Bochet et al, 2021;Li et al, 2021;Rohde et al, 2021), we selected explanatory variables from those three aspects, i.e., natural environment, socioeconomic and regional policy factors (Table 1). Natural environment factors play a key role in forest land changes, and six explanatory variables including average annual precipitation, annual average temperature, elevation, slope, aspect and terrain relief were selected to characterize the natural environment features in the AENC.…”

Section: Explanatory Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatiotemporal variation of forest land and its driving factors in the agropastoral ecotone of northern China

et al. 2022

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As an important natural resource, forest land plays a key role in the maintenance of ecological security. However, variations of forest land in the agropastoral ecotone of northern China (AENC) have attracted little attention. Taking the AENC as an example and based on remote-sensing images from 2000, 2010 to 2020, we explored the spatiotemporal variation of forest land and its driving factors using the land-use transfer matrix, spatial autocorrelation analysis and spatial error model. The results showed that from 2000 to 2020, the total area of forest land in the AENC increased from 75,547.52 to 77,359.96 km 2 and the changes were dominated by the transformations among forest land, grassland and cropland, which occurred mainly in areas with the elevation of 500-2000 m and slope of 15°-25°. There was obvious spatial agglomeration of forest land in the AENC from 2000 to 2020, with hot spots of forest land gathered in the southern marginal areas of the Yanshan Mountains and the low mountainous and hilly areas of the Loess Plateau. The sub-hot spots around hot spots moved southward, the sub-cold spots spread to the surrounding areas and the cold spots disappeared. The spatiotemporal variation of forest land resulted from the interactions of natural environment, socioeconomic and policy factors from 2000 to 2020. The variables of average annual precipitation, slope, terrain relief, ecological conversion program and afforestation policy for barren mountains affected the spatial pattern of forest land positively, while those of annual average temperature, slope and road network density influenced it negatively.

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Section: Effects Of Human Activities On Forest Land In the Aencmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Explanatory Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal variation of forest land and its driving factors in the agropastoral ecotone of northern China

et al. 2022

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“…Forests in many regions over the world are exposed to numerous destructive factors of anthropic origin (Heydari et al, 2012;Chaturvedi et al, 2017a;Menezes et al, 2021), putting at risk their biomass production (Chaturvedi et al, 2012;Milkias and Toru, 2018) and their main ecosystem functions Bochet et al, 2021;Chaturvedi et al, 2021). Since 2000, a dangerous phenomenon, called oak (Q. brantii) decline (Kamata et al, 2002;Lloret et al, 2004;Morillas et al, 2012;Attarod et al, 2017;Sánchez-Salguero et al, 2020) has occurred in many oak forests around the world (Mc Dowell et al, 2008), and especially in the Mediterranean region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dieback intensity but not functional and taxonomic diversity indices predict forest productivity in different management conditions: Evidence from a semi-arid oak forest ecosystem

et al. 2022

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The relationships between different aspects of diversity (taxonomic, structural and functional) and the aboveground biomass (AGB) as a major component of global carbon balance have been studied extensively but rarely under the simultaneous influence of forest dieback and management. In this study, we investigate the relationships between taxonomic, functional and structural diversity of woody species (trees and shrubs) and AGB along a gradient of dieback intensity (low, moderate, high and no dieback as control) under two contrasted management conditions (protection by central government vs. traditional management by natives) in a semi-arid oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.) forest ecosystem. AGB was estimated and taxonomic diversity, community weighted average (CWM) and functional divergence indices were produced. We found that the aerial biomass was significantly higher in the intensively used area (14.57 (±1.60) t/hm 2 ) than in the protected area (8.70 (±1.05) t/hm 2 ) due to persistence of some large trees but with decreasing values along the dieback intensity gradient in both areas. CWM of height (H), leaf nitrogen content (LNC) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) were also higher in the traditional managed area than in the protected area. In contrast, in the protected area, the woody species diversity was higher and the inter-specific competition was more intense, explaining a reduced H, biomass and LDMC. Contrary to the results of CWM, none of the functional diversity traits (FDvar) was affected by dieback intensity and only FDvar values of LNC, leaf phosphorus content (LPC) and LDMC were influenced by management. We also found significantly positive linear relationships of AGB with CWM and FDvar indices in the protected area, and with taxonomic and structural diversity indices in the traditional managed area. These results emphasize that along a dieback intensity gradient, the leaf functional traits are efficient predictors in estimating the AGB in protected forests, while taxonomic and structural indices provide better results in forests under a high human pressure. Finally, species identity of the dominant species (i.e., Brant's oak) proves to be the main driver of AGB, supporting the selection effect hypothesis.

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Structure, Functions, and Interactions of Dryland Ecosystems

Yu,

Liu,

Niu

et al. 2024

Dryland Social-Ecological Systems in Changing Environments

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Understanding the interactions between the structures and functions underlying regime shifts in dryland social-ecological systems (SESs) and how they respond to climate change is critical for predicting and managing the future of these ecosystems. Due to the high spatiotemporal variability and sensitivity of drylands ecosystem to natural and anthropogenic disturbances, it is challenging to predict the state shifts of dryland SESs. This theme delves into the mechanisms and geographical heterogeneity of resilience and the maintenance of the stability of dryland SESs that involve threshold behaviors. We emphasized the importance of considering both biotic and abiotic factors to identify the factors that drive the evolution of ecosystem structures and functions in drylands. The research frontier involves understanding how ecohydrological and socioeconomic processes drive the evolution of dryland SESs in a geographically diverse and scale-dependent context, developing comprehensive indicators, models, and multivariable approaches, and the development of effective management strategies that can maintain the sustainability of dryland SESs in the face of ongoing global environmental changes.

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Interactions of past human disturbance and aridity trigger abrupt shifts in the functional state of Mediterranean holm oak woodlands

Cited by 5 publications

References 45 publications

Spatiotemporal variation of forest land and its driving factors in the agropastoral ecotone of northern China

Spatiotemporal variation of forest land and its driving factors in the agropastoral ecotone of northern China

Dieback intensity but not functional and taxonomic diversity indices predict forest productivity in different management conditions: Evidence from a semi-arid oak forest ecosystem

Structure, Functions, and Interactions of Dryland Ecosystems

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