Factors affecting post-fire crown regeneration in cork oak (Quercus suber L.) trees

Cork oak (Quercus suber) forests are acknowledged for their biodiversity and economic (mainly cork production) values. WildWres are one of the main threats contributing to cork oak decline in the Mediterranean Basin, and one major question that managers face after Wre in cork oak stands is whether the burned trees should be coppiced or not. This decision can be based on the degree of expected crown regeneration assessed immediately after Wre. In this study we carried out a post-Wre assessment of the degree of crown recovery in 858 trees being exploited for cork production in southern Portugal, 1.5 years after a wildWre. Using logistic regression, we modelled good or poor crown recovery probability as a function of tree and stand variables. The main variables inXuencing the likelihood of good or poor crown regeneration were bark thickness, charring height, aspect and tree diameter. We also developed management models, including simpler but easier to measure variables, which had a lower predictive power but can be used to help managers to identify, immediately after Wre, trees that will likely show good crown regeneration, and trees that will likely die or show poor regeneration (and thus, potential candidates for trunk coppicin

MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL : A data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in P ortugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with 26% of all species being includedin the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associatedwith habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mam-mals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion formarine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems func-tionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is cru-cial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS INPORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublishedgeoreferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mam-mals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira thatincludes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occur-ring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live obser-vations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%),bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent lessthan 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrowsjsoil moundsjtunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animaljhairjskullsjjaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8),observation in shelters, (9) photo trappingjvideo, (10) predators dietjpelletsjpine cones/nuts, (11) scatjtrackjditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalizationjecholocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and100 m (76%). Rodentia (n=31,573) has the highest number of records followedby Chiroptera (n=18,857), Carnivora (n=18,594), Lagomorpha (n=17,496),Cetartiodactyla (n=11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n=7008). The data setincludes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened(e.g.,Oryctolagus cuniculus[n=12,159],Monachus monachus[n=1,512],andLynx pardinus[n=197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate thepublication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contrib-ute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting onthe development of more accurate and tailored conservation managementstrategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite thisdata paper when the data are used in publications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mammals in Portugal: a data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in Portugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with ~26% of all species being included in the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associated with habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mammals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion for marine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems functionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is crucial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublished georeferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mammals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira that includes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occurring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live observations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%), bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent less than 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrows | soil mounds | tunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animal | hair | skulls | jaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8), observation in shelters, (9) photo trapping | video, (10) predators diet | pellets | pine cones/nuts, (11) scat | track | ditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalization | echolocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and 100 m (76%). Rodentia (n =31,573) has the highest number of records followed by Chiroptera (n = 18,857), Carnivora (n = 18,594), Lagomorpha (n = 17,496), Cetartiodactyla (n = 11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n = 7008). The data set includes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened (e.g., Oryctolagus cuniculus [n = 12,159], Monachus monachus [n = 1,512], and Lynx pardinus [n = 197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate the publication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contribute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting on the development of more accurate and tailored conservation management strategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications

Modelação espacial do risco de ignição em Portugal Continental

Dissertação apresentada como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciência e Sistemas de Informação GeográficaPortugal regista actualmente a densidade mais elevada de focos de incêndio entre os países do sul da Europa Mediterrânica. A capacidade de prever a ocorrência de ignições pode constituir um importante instrumento, auxiliando os gestores na definição de prioridades entre áreas com risco de propagação idêntico, e proporcionando uma melhor eficácia na distribuição dos meios de prevenção e combate a incêndios. Neste estudo foram analisados 127 490 focos de incêndio que ocorreram em Portugal num período de cinco anos. Foram utilizados modelos de regressão logística para prever a probabilidade de ocorrência de ignições, usando diversas variáveis explicativas, humanas e ambientais, e foi também produzido um mapa de risco de ignição para Portugal continental. Quer os modelos quer o mapa produzidos foram avaliados utilizando diferentes métodos. Os resultados obtidos mostram que as ignições estão muito relacionadas com a presença e actividade humana. Foi demonstrado que é possível prever a probabilidade de ocorrência de ignições a nível nacional com uma precisão satisfatória, previsões essas que poderão ser bastante úteis no apoio à tomada de decisões na gestão do risco de incêndio

Fire effects on forest species in mediterranean basin ecosystems: ecology and management

Doutoramento em Engenharia Florestal e dos Recursos Naturais - Instituto Superior de Agronomi

Factors affecting post-fire regeneration after coppicing of cork oak (Quercus suber L.) trees in northeast Algeria

Wildfires may have serious and long-lasting impacts in Mediterranean Basin oak forests. Although cork oak is usually considered a highly fire-resistant tree species, post-fire recovery is not guaranteed. We assessed the mortality and regeneration of 729 cork oak trees that burned and were cut in six sites with the objective of identifying the main factors affecting the short- to medium-term post-fire recovery. We used linear mixed models to investigate potential relationships between tree stump status at the end of the second and fifth growing seasons and several tree- and site-level variables. Overall tree mortality in the second year was 44% and was negatively affected by bark thickness, and positively affected by root exposure, trunk injuries and diameter, by decreasing order of importance. Between the second and fifth years mortality increased to 53% but it was only observed in sites with high grazing pressure. Grazing also had a strong negative impact on basal resprouts growth, thereby compromising tree recovery. The results give useful information on the need for application of adequate forest management practices (particularly avoiding debarking injuries, soil erosion, and grazing pressure), to increase the resilience of these ecosystems and reduce the negative economic and ecological impacts of wildfires.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Problems and solutions to cork oak (Quercus suber L.) regeneration: a review

13 Pág.This study aimed to review the requirements and difficulties of natural and artificial regeneration of cork oak (Quercus suber L.) in the Mediterranean Basin. Cork oak regeneration is achieved naturally by means of sexual or vegetative reproduction (by seeds or by sprouting), or artificially through direct seeding, or seedling planting. Both natural and artificial regeneration of cork oak fre-quently encounter numerous difficulties which limit the ecological conditions for cork oak regeneration, including acorn predation, slow growth, vegetative competition, browsing of seedlings, fires, pests and diseases, and summer drought. We reviewed the state of the art of these difficulties and s ummarize the potential solutions for each regeneration form.The authors sincerely thank Walt Koenig (Hastings Reservation, UC Berkeley) for technical language editing. The authors also acknowledge the Faculty of Science of Bizerte (University of Carthage, Tunisia) and the Silvo-Pastoral Institute of Tabarka (University of Jendouba, Jendouba, Tunisia).Peer reviewe

data_Ungulates_and_ecosystem_services: Ungulates mediate trade-offs between carbon storage and wildfire hazard in Mediterranean oak woodlands

Data set for the accepted paper in the Journal of Applied Ecolog

Polar marine biology science in Portugal and Spain: Recent advances and future perspectives

Publicado