Yueh-Hsin Lo

Increased complementarity in water-limited environments in Scots pine and European beech mixtures under climate change

Ramon y Cajal contract, Grant/Award Number:RYC‐2011‐08082; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Grant/AwardNumber: AGL2012‐33465; mobility aid,Grant/Award Number: EEBB‐I‐15‐09220; Spanish Predoctoral Research Grant, Grant/Award Number: BES‐2013‐066705.

Tree‐to‐tree competition in mixed European beech–Scots pine forests has different impacts on growth and water‐use efficiency depending on site conditions

Mixed conifer–hardwood forests can be more productive than pure forests and they are increasingly considered as ecosystems that could provide adaptation strategies in the face of global change. However, the combined effects of tree-to-tree competition, rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations and climate on such mixtures remain poorly characterized and understood. To fill this research gap, we reconstructed 34-year series (1980–2013) of growth (basal area increment, BAI) and intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE) of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.)–European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) mixed stands at two climatically contrasting sites located in the southwestern Pyrenees. We also gathered data on tree-to-tree competition and climate variables in order to test the hypotheses that (1) radial growth will be greater when exposed to inter- than to intraspecific competition, that is, when species complementarity occurs and (2) enhanced iWUE could be linked to improved stem radial growth. Growth of both species was reduced when intraspecific competition increased. Species complementarity was linked to improved growth of Scots pine at the continental site, while competition overrode any complementarity advantage at the drought-prone Mediterranean site. Beech growth did not show any significant response to pine admixture likely due to shade tolerance and the highly competitive nature of this species. Increasing interspecific competition drove recent iWUE changes, which increased in Scots pine but decreased in European beech. The iWUE enhancement did not involve any growth improvement in Scots pine. However, the positive BAI-iWUE relationship found for beech suggests an enhanced beech growth in drought-prone sites due to improved water use. Synthesis. Complementarity may enhance growth in mixed forests. However, water scarcity can constrict light-related complementarity for shade intolerant species (Scots pine) in drought-prone sites. Basal area increment–intrinsic water-use efficiency relationships were negative for Scots pine and positive for European beech. These contrasting behaviours have got implications for coping with the expected increasing drought events in Scots pine–European beech mixtures located near the ecological limit of the two species. Complementarity effects between tree species should be considered to avoid overestimating the degree of future carbon uptake by mixed conifer–broadleaf forests.

Moving from Ecological Conservation to Restoration: An Example from Central Taiwan, Asia

The concept of “natural conservation” has been evolving since the beginning of the first efforts to preserve the natural landscape. The creation of the first national parks in the 19th century was originated by the belief that landscapes of exceptional beauty should be preserved from human influence and maintained in their current state for the enjoyment of future generations (Runte, 1997). During the first years of the establishment of national parks around the world, defining these “exceptional landscapes” was usually based on the static beauty of the area: majestic mountains, glaciers, old forests, gorges, canyons, waterfalls, etc. The protection in these areas was basically achieved through the prevention of creating human structures in the sites, reducing and controlling human activity and, in practice, maintaining the areas as they look at the time when they were declared as protected. Therefore, this protection was not based on ecological considerations, but on a human-centered view of natural sites.

Linking Climate Change and Forest Ecophysiology to Project Future Trends in Tree Growth: A Review of Forest Models

Climate change is already altering tree species ranges, with tree lines shifting upwards and polewards around the world (Dullinger et al., 2004; Soja et al., 2007; Harsch et al., 2009). A recent analysis of the potential effects of climate change on tree distribution in British Columbia (western Canada) suggested that important timber species including white spruce and lodgepole pine may lose suitable habitat and suffer adversely from a combination of warming trends and reduced growing season precipitation (Hamann & Wang, 2006). In contrast, species such as Douglas fir and ponderosa pine may actually expand their range and potentially show improved growth rates in parts of their existing range. A recent study in the mountains of interior British Columbia showed how at high elevation, trees historically responded positively to increased temperatures, while at low elevations trees showed a negative response to growing season maximum temperature and a positive correlation with growing season precipitation (Lo et al., 2010a, 2010b). Given these species-specific responses it is not surprising that recent research has failed to identify direct links between warmer temperatures and observed changes in species ranges (Dullinger et al., 2004; Wilmking et al., 2004). The important ecological and socio-economic consequences of such changes have prompted multiple modelling efforts to predict the future location of habitat suitable for tree species and to assess the potential implications for tree growth of changes in climate. Defining such areas and estimating the losses or gains due to climate change in timber production have important consequences on forest management and conservation. The most popular approaches to project future areas of suitable habitat for commercial tree species have involved analysis of historical records of tree lines in boreal and alpine environments (Dullinger et al., 2004), using climate envelope models (Hamann & Wang, 2006). Similarly, dendroclimatology (studying historical tree growth rates by analyzing tree ring width) has been used to link climate and tree growth rates (Wilmking et al., 2004; Lo et al., 2010a, 2010b). These approaches are based mostly on climatic information, although their combination with other information such as soil or topography has been used to

Maintaining Ecosystem Function by Restoring Forest Biodiversity – Reviewing Decision-Support Tools that link Biology, Hydrology and Geochemistry

Land use change in forest ecosystems is a worldwide problem. In many cases, however, the change is only temporary, and after a period of economic activity, the original forest must be reclaimed back to its original (or as close as possible) estate. A typical case is in open-pit mining. In many juridictions there is a legal requirement for the company to engage in restorative activities designed to bring back biodiversity and function to those areas espoiled by mining.

Modelling mixed forest stands: Methodological challenges and approaches

Mixedwoods are increasingly becoming one of the major focuses in ecological modelling studies, due to their higher productivity and resiliency compared to monocultures. In this chapter, we provide a review on the state-of-the-art of models simulating mixedwood stands. After reviewing almost 400 peer-reviewed publications, it is clear that most modelling exercises are done for explanatory uses rather than for decision-making support tools. Among them, North America and central Europe are the main model development centers. It is also clear that more model portability is needed, as even the most widely distributed models tend to be used in the same region where they were originally developed. Finally, the four models used more widely for simulating mixed forests stands were identified: two have been applied mostly in boreal/temperate ecosystems (FORECAST and SILVA), whereas the other two have been used in tropical/subtropical environments (FORMIND and FORMIX). A comparison of their different modelling approaches is provided, and multimodel exercises are suggested as a way to both compare model performance and also to reduce simulation uncertainty due to model selection.Abstract Mixedwoods are increasingly becoming one of the major focuses in ecological modelling studies, due to their higher productivity and resiliency compared to monocultures. In this chapter, we provide a review on the state-of-the-art of models simulating mixedwood stands. After reviewing almost 400 peer-reviewed publications, it is clear that most modelling exercises are done for explanatory uses rather than for decision-making support tools. Among them, North America and central Europe are the main model development centers. It is also clear that more model portability is needed, as even the most widely distributed models tend to be used in the same region where they were originally developed. Finally, the four models used more widely for simulating mixed forests stands were identified: two have been applied mostly in boreal/temperate ecosystems (FORECAST and SILVA), whereas the other two have been used in tropical/subtropical environments (FORMIND and FORMIX). A comparison of their different modelling approaches is provided, and multimodel exercises are suggested as a way to both compare model performance and also to reduce simulation uncertainty due to model selection.

Están los bosques mixtos pirenaicos de pino silvestre y haya en el camino hacia la saturación por nitrógeno

Rocío Alonso Miguel Álvarez Cobelas Jose Manuel Álvarez-Martínez Mariano Amoroso Enrique Andivia Gabriel Arellano Cristina Armas María Arróniz Crespo Anna Avila Isabel Banos-González Eulogio Bedmar Raquel Benavides Marta Benito Garzón Juan A. Blanco Francisco Javier Bonet García Raphael Boulay Santiago Fernando Burneo Francisco Cabezas Rafael Calama Silvia Calvo Aranda Julio A. Camargo Daisy Cárate-Tandalla José A. Carreira de la Fuente Myriam Catalá Miquel De Cáceres Pilar de la Rua Thibaut Dominique Delsinne Dennis Denis Lucía DeSoto Suárez María T. Domínguez David A. Donoso David A Donoso Jorge Durán María José Endara Blanca Figueroa-Rangel Rubén G. Mateo José M. García del Barrio Enrique García de la Riva Ana I. García-Cervigón Morales Héctor García-Gómez Óscar Godoy Uriel Hernandez Gomez Lorena Gémez Aparicio Penélope González José González Novoa Manuela González Suárez Daniel Griffith Roberto José Guerrero David Gutiérrez Xavier Haro Carrión Laura Hernández Mateo Javier Herrero Asier Herrero Méndez Sheila Izquieta Rojano Luis Lassaletta John Lattke Alex Leverkus Francisco Lloret Jorge Lozano Yudi Lozano Manuel Macía Jaime Madrigal González Esteban Manrique Santiago Martín Alcón Pilar Martín Isabel Javier Martínez Abaigar Jesús Martínez Fernández José Luis Martínez Menéndez Isabel Martínez Moreno Francisco Javier Martínez Vega Marcos Méndez Iglesias Rubén Milla Marcos Miñarro Daniel Moya Navarro Sven Mutke Rafael Ma Navarro Cerrillo Francisco Bruno Navarro Reyes Susana Ochoa Gaona Raúl Ochoa Hueso Daniel Paredes Mauricio Parra Quijano Sergio Pérez Guerrero Carolina Puerta Piñero Neptalí Ramírez-Marcial José V. Roces Díaz Alexandra Rodríguez Carlos Rodríguez Osorio Itziar Rodríguez Urbieta Susana Rodríguez-Echeverría Pere Rovira Paloma Ruiz-Benito Asunción Saldaña Ángela Sánchez-Miranda Fábio Suzart de Albuquerque María Fernanda Tapia-Armijos Jerónimo Torres-Porras María Triviño Raúl Vaca Alejandro Valdecantos Jordi Vayreda Alejandro Velázquez Martínez Albert Vila-Cabrera Rafael Villar Francisco Javier Zamora Camacho Carlos Zamorano-Elgueta Galo Zapata Ríos Lista de revisores que han completado revisiones en el año 2016Visconti, F., de Paz, J.M. 2017. Estimation of the potential CO 2 sequestration and emission capacity of the agricultural soils of the Valencian Community. Ecosistemas 26(1): 91-100. Doi.: 10.7818/ECOS.2017.26-1.15 Agricultural soils have capacity to sequester CO 2 in the form of organic matter. However, this capacity has hardly been quantified and mapped for large territories and with a wide variety of crops, such as the Valencian Community. This task is required to properly size the role of agriculture in any strategy to mitigate climate change. In this paper a first estimate of the potential CO 2 sequestration and emission capacity of the agricultural soils of the Valencian Community down to 20 cm depth has been made. This estimate has been carried out based on the average and spatial variability of the agricultural soil organic matter content in homogeneous agro-ecological zones in climate, soil class and land use, and using GIS, geostatistics and map algebra techniques. The sequestration and emission capacities were found to be 24.0 and 22.0 Mt of carbon, respectively. These values are equivalent to roughly ± 8 years of carbon emissions by use of fossil fuels in the Community itself. This sequestering capacity, which could be reached in 15 to 100 years with the global adoption of management practices that foster soil organic matter accumulation, has an important but insufficient effect compared to the current emission rate. In any case, increasing carbon sequestration in soils, either through management improvement or through organic matter incorporation programs, is very important both to improve sequestration capacity and even more to adapt agroecosystems to climate change.

3ª edición de la Escuela de Ecología de Verano UPNA (2017)

Fallas Henriquez, A., Molina-Murillo, S. 2017. Methodological proposal to quantify and to compensate the agroecosystem services generated by the good agricultural practices of small-farmers. Ecosistemas 26(3): 89-102. Doi.: 10.7818/ECOS.2017.26-3.11 A diversified and less intensive management of agricultural systems produces agroecosystem services that are often not estimated nor compensated in developing countries. The main objective of this study was to create a tool that allows quantification of agroecosystemic services (SAgro) generated in agroforestry peasant farms, and additionally estimate compensation values. Following an initial test in 2013 on 10 farms, an important bibliographical review was carried out, the consultation of experts, and the evaluation in 2015 of 50 farms at the national level, most of them members of the National Agroforestry Union (UNAFOR) of Costa Rica. As a result, a tool was developed to measure in an agile, flexible and economical way the ecosystem services generated by good agricultural practices produced by small producers (peasants) both for their agricultural system as well as the forest system. We also found that the size of farms is not necessarily the determining factor for the production of agroecosystem services, but rather the type of management practices and investments made. In this process, it was estimated that with an average compensation of US

Relationships between climate and tree radial growth in interior British Columbia, Canada

271.6 per agricultural hectare per year, the production or maintenance of agroecosystem services could be encouraged through good agricultural practices.