Influence of site conditions and land management on Quercus suber L. population dynamics in the southern Iberian Peninsula

iForest: Biogeosciences and Forestry

article

Vicente Jurado Doña¹  Javier López-Jurado²  Antonio González Román³  Raúl Sánchez-Salguero⁴  Luis Matías²  Fernando Díaz Del Olmo¹ 

[1] Departamento de Geografía Física y Análisis Geográfico Regional, Universidad de Sevilla;Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Sevilla;Fundación Jaime González Gordon;Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide

关键词: Cork Oak;    Climate Change;    Forest Management;    Mediterranean;    Land Uses;    Tree Mortality;   

DOI  :  10.3832/ifor3753-015

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Societa Italiana di Selvicoltura ed Ecologia Forestale (S I S E F)

【 摘 要 】

During recent decades, tree mortality and dieback have been reported in forest ecosystems across global biomes. Although numerous forest species, including those of the genus Quercus, have been affected by hotter and drier conditions in the Mediterranean Basin during the last decades, there is scarce information regarding the interactive role of past management and climate across large areas of south-western Europe. Here, we examined the influence of several climatic factors (mean annual temperature, annual precipitation) over the last 3 decades, latitude, land management and site conditions on the cork oak (Quercus suber L.) population dynamics given their high ecological and economic relevance. We sampled 20 plots across contrasting environmental conditions in SW Iberian Peninsula with different land property (public vs. private) to characterize cork oak tree size, stand density, mortality ratio and regeneration. We observed widespread effects of latitude (8.9% at northern vs. 15.6% at southern plots) and land property (6.9% in private properties vs. 13.9% in public ones) on tree mortality. Tree density and basal area differed with latitude, with higher values (307.2 trees ha-1 and 38.4 m2 ha-1, respectively) at northern populations. In addition, the more intense cork-focused productive management resulted in higher tree sizes in private (mean DBH = 47.3 cm) than in public (mean DBH = 37.8 cm) plots. Tree regeneration was higher in northern forests (94.9 ± 25.2 vs. 26.0 ± 6.1 saplings ha-1 for the southern location), being this difference more pronounced in public plots. These findings highlight the importance of sustainable forest management in public and private forests for further reduction of mortality processes, as well as for enhancing the regeneration aimed to the conservation of cork oak under forecasted drier conditions of these economically invaluable Mediterranean forests.

【 授权许可】

Unknown