Search results for "Pine forest"
showing 5 items of 5 documents
Circummed pine forest database: An electronic archive for mediterranean and submediterranean pine forest vegetation data
2019
Large thematic databases of vegetation plots are increasingly needed for vegetation studies and biodiversity research. In this paper, we present the CircumMed Pine Forest Database (GIVD ID: EU-00-026), which in November 2018, comprised records from 6317 pine-dominated vegetation plots (relevés) and associated vegetation types from 20 countries of the Mediterranean Basin, Near East and Crimea. These vegetation plots were collected through a detailed literature search for plots not previously included in the European Vegetation Archive (EVA), in order to fill geographic gaps in data coverage. The database comprises Mediterranean (including Oromediterranean) pine-forest vegetation plots from b…
‘Back to the Future’—Oak wood-pasture for wildfire prevention in the Mediterranean
2021
In the summer of 2021, enormous wildfires in the Mediterranean eliminated huge areas of mainly coniferous forest, destroyed adjacent settlements and claimed the lives of many people. The fires indicate effects of climate change and expose consequences of rural demographic changes, deficits in regional and touristic development planning and shortcomings in forest policy. This forum article highlights the dimensions of the problem, calls for a paradigm shift and shows solutions. Land abandonment, woody plant encroachment and non-reflective afforestation are leading to increasing amounts of combustible biomass. To prevent disastrous fires in future, fundamental changes in tree species composit…
Application of minidisk infiltrometer to estimate water repellency in Mediterranean pine forest soils
2017
Assessment of soil water repellency (SWR) was conducted in the decomposed organic floor layer (duff) and in the mineral soil layer of two Mediterranean pine forests, one in Italy and the other in Spain, by the widely-used water drop penetration time (WDPT) test and alternative indices derived from infiltration experiments carried out by the minidisk infiltrometer (MDI). In particular, the repellency index (RI) was calculated as the adjusted ratio between ethanol and water soil sorptivities whereas the water repellency cessation time (WRCT) and the specifically proposed modified repellency index (RIm) were derived from the hydrophobic and wettable stages of a single water infiltration experi…
Carbohydrate dynamics in particle-size fractions of sandy spodosols following forest conversion to maize cropping
2006
International audience; In southwest France, much of the forested land on sandy spodosols has been converted to continuous maize cropping in the last few decades. To evaluate the impacts of this change on soil organic matter properties, we compared total organic C and neutral and amino sugars content in whole soil and particle size separates of two forested, and five related sites that had been either clear-cut for 12 and 18 mo, or cultivated to maize for 4-22yr. Soil carbohydrates accounted for 4-7% of the total organic C across all sites. Soil organic C contents of clear-cut and cultivated sites were only 57-79% of the average value measured in forested sites. Accordingly, carbohydrate co…
Long-Term Effects of Climate Warming on Forest Soil Collembola
2005
Long-term changes in the collembolan community structure were studied in a Scots pine forest in northern Latvia over a period of 11 successive years (1992–2002). Soil Collembola were yearly sampled from three pine forest stands of different age – young (30 to 40 years old), middle-aged (50 to 70 years old) and old (150 to 200 years old). During the study period a statistically significant increase in sums of positive temperatures (>+4°C) was recorded and a gradual decrease in species richness of Collembola was observed in all forest stands. The study showed that sums of positive air temperatures produce statistically significant effects on collembolan populations. Community responses were s…