Holistic management approach as a tool for dehesa/montado restoration

PosterDehesa/montado can be defined as a multi-purpose agroforestry system with scattered oak trees. This ecosystem covers an estimated 3.1 million ha and is the most extended silvopastoral system and the largest High Nature Value Farming System in Europe. However, the sustainability of dehesas/montados has been questioned in recent years because of trends towards more intensive and simplified management, which in turn have led to changes in vegetation and soil properties and increased soil erosion rates. Holistic Management approach, based on time-controlled grazing systems, not only increases productivity but also implies ecosystem improvements: soil properties (soil structure, amount of organic matter, water efficiency, and availability soil nutrients) and pasture species cover and composition. McCoster (2000) has described a synergistic effect between a cell grazing (similar to HM) and trees regeneration in Australia. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the effect of the Holistic Management Grazing Approach on the soil properties, trees recovery, pasture cover, biodiversity and productivity opposite to nowadays continuous grazing management and different pasture innovations in Spanish and Portuguese dehesa/montado farms

Response of Mediterranean rangeland species (plant weigbt and mineral composition) to water conditions.

6 páginas, 1 figura y 1 tabla estadísticaAn analysis of plant composition and plant weight of different rangeland species from Spain revealed that these species are largely dependent on the humidity of the babitats where they thrive. Rainfall increases plant weight and affects K and Na content in Trifolium sublerraneum. Precipitation was found to be significant for P, Ca, Mg and Na uptake. Soil moisture affects Mg and Na uptake by plants.Peer reviewe

Forest landscape restoration in the drylands of Latin America

Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) involves the ecological restoration of degraded forest landscapes, with the aim of benefiting both biodiversity and human well-being. We first identify four fundamental principles of FLR, based on previous definitions. We then critically evaluate the application of these principles in practice, based on the experience gained during an international, collaborative research project conducted in six dry forest landscapes of Latin America. Research highlighted the potential for FLR; tree species of high socioeconomic value were identified in all study areas, and strong dependence of local communities on forest resources was widely encountered, particularly for fuelwood. We demonstrated that FLR can be achieved through both passive and active restoration approaches, and can be cost-effective if the increased provision of ecosystem services is taken into account. These results therefore highlight the potential for FLR, and the positive contribution that it could make to sustainable development. However, we also encountered a number of challenges to FLR implementation, including the difficulty of achieving strong engagement in FLR activities among local stakeholders, lack of capacity for community-led initiatives, and the lack of an appropriate institutional and regulatory environment to support restoration activities. Successful implementation of FLR will require new collaborative alliances among stakeholders, empowerment and capacity building of local communities to enable them to fully engage with restoration activities, and an enabling public policy context to enable local people to be active participants in the decision making process. © 2012 by the author(s). Published here under license by the Resilience Alliance

Forage production under suboptimal conditions: an overview of drougbt problems in Mediterranean-type ecosystems

11 páginasThis paper reviews the current state of forage production studies in dry environments, with special attention to semi-arid (man-made oak savannas or "dehesas") and arid Mediterranean-type ecosystems in Spain. Forage production in dry environments is usually affected by non-c1imatic constraints and is linked to important characteristics of ecosystem functioning and management. Past studies are grouped into 1) classification of agrosystems, 2) water constraints and links between forage production and other ecosystem characteristics 3) soil constraints, and 4) implications for ecosystem management. Agrosystems have been c1assified on the basis of a number of variables such as f10ristic composition, vegetatíon physiognomy and production. Water supply in these habitats is conditioned by the high variabi litYof sea onal rainfall, topography, and the effect of tree shadows. Ir influences various ecological properties such as diversity and persistence. Soil constraints are related to nutrient content, nutrient uptake by plants and salinity. Management is aimed at optimizing the usually low productivity of these regions. The possibilities are planned extensive grazing, fertilization, introduction of species and ecotypes, planting forage shrubs, growing forage grain plants and alternating annual cycles of arable crops and pastures. The most promising studies of forage production in dry regions are related to the Sustainable Biosphere Initiative, and in turn biodiversity and sustainability. Techniques such as remote sensing are fostering these studie .Peer reviewe

Persistent Acacia savannas replace Mediterranean sclerophyllous forests in South America

Mediterranean ecosystems are global hotspots of biodiversity threaten by human disturbances. Growing evidence indicates that regeneration of Mediterranean forests can be halted under certain circumstances and that successional stages can become notoriously persistent. The Mediterranean sclerophyllous forest in central Chile is been largely transformed into savannas dominated by the invasive legume tree Acacia caven as result of interacting management and ecological factors. We used multi-temporal satellite imagery to study the transition dynamics of these major vegetation types over the last four decades (1975–2008). Vegetation changes were related to indicators of resource availability (topography, water availability, solar radiance), potential propagule availability (distance to forest remnant patches) and disturbance regimes (grazing, fire occurrence and distance to roads and cities). During this study period, forests were mostly converted into Acacia savannas (46.1%). Acacia savanna was the most persistent natural vegetation type. The probability of sclerophyllous forest degradation into Acacia savanna increased on drier northern-exposed slopes, close to roads and further away from forest remnants. In contrast, forest regeneration from Acacia savanna was higher on moister southern-exposed slopes and closer to forest remnants. Acacia savannas are increasingly being converted into cultivated land on the moister locations or switching into a bare soil state in locations close to cities and further away from forest remnants. These results highlight the vulnerability of diverse sclerophyllous forests and its increasing conversion into persistent Acacia savannas in the Mediterranean region of central Chile and identify the ecological conditions for successful conservation and restoration of the native sclerophyllous forest vegetation that can be used for sensible land use planning

La vegetación arvense en un agrosistema sometido a tratamientos de reforestación y abonado con compost de residuos sólidos urbanos

5 páginas, ilustraciones y tablas estadísticas.La reforestación parece haberse concentrado en el objetivo primordial de las tierras agrícolas abandonadas de nuestra península, según las actuales directrices de la PAC. Sin embargo, no tenemos referencias respecto al coste económico del beneficio ecológico que ello puede suponer en un corto plazo de tiempo. Por ello este trabajo se propone presentar los primeros resultados correspondientes al papel positivo que puede jugar la vegetación arvense en las primeras fases de implantación de una cubierta arbórea en agrosistemas que durante muchos años han estado sometidos al cultivo cerealístico. Por otra parte, la eliminación de residuos sólidos urbanos (RSU) y la escasez de fertilizantes orgánicos, han establecido un clima favorable para que surgiera la necesidad de crear las primeras plantas de reciclado de estos residuos mediante el proceso de compostaje de la fracción orgánica. El interés agrícola del producto deberá ser evaluado en base a numerosos criterios, pero pensamos que no deberá olvidarse el efecto que este abonado puede tener respecto a las "malas hierbas". De aquí que ello haya constituido otro de los objetivos que se pretende alcanzar en este trabajo.Peer reviewe