Colonization Pattern of Abandoned Croplands by Quercus pyrenaica in a Mediterranean Mountain Region

Antonio J Pérez-Luque,Francisco J Bonet-García,Regino Zamora

doi:10.3390/f12111584

Abstract

Land abandonment is a major global change driver in the Mediterranean region, where anthropic activity has played an important role in shaping landscape configuration. Understanding the woodland expansion towards abandoned croplands is critical to develop effective management strategies. In this study, we analyze the colonization pattern of abandoned croplands by Quercus pyrenaica in the Sierra Nevada mountain range (southern Spain). We aimed to assess differences among populations within the rear edge of the Q. pyrenaica distribution. For this purpose, we characterized (i) the colonization pattern of Q. pyrenaica, (ii) the structure of the seed source (surrounding forests), and (iii) the abundance of the main seed disperser (Eurasian jay, Garrulus glandarius). The study was conducted in five abandoned croplands located in two representative populations of Q. pyrenaica located on contrasting slopes. Vegetation plots within three habitat types (mature forest, edge-forest and abandoned cropland) were established to compute the abundance of oak juveniles. The abundance of European jay was determined using data of bird censuses (covering 7 years). Our results indicate that a natural recolonization of abandoned croplands by Q. pyrenaica is occurring in the rear edge of the distribution of this oak species. Oak juvenile abundance varied between study sites. Neither the surrounding-forest structure nor the abundance of jays varied significantly between study sites. The differences in the recolonization patterns seem to be related to differences in the previous- and post-abandonment management.

Highlights

Land-use change is considered the main global change driver worldwide [1,2], affecting biodiversity [3], modifying ecological processes [4], and altering the provision of ecosystem services [5]
The results of our study show that, even in the current increasingly dry climatic conditions, Q. pyrenaica woodlands are able to recover the abandoned, formerly arable fields at the same attitudinal level where oak woodland can potentially exist
The Pyrenean oak woodland is clearly expanding in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, a rear edge of the distribution of this oak species

Summary

Introduction

Land-use change is considered the main global change driver worldwide [1,2], affecting biodiversity [3], modifying ecological processes [4], and altering the provision of ecosystem services [5]. Croplands abandonment and afforestation are the main processes of land-use change in the Northern hemisphere [2,6]. In the Mediterranean region, where anthropic activity has played an important role in shaping landscape configuration, cropland abandonment has been widespread during the second half of the last century [7,8,9]. Land-use change models predict an increase in this trend in the future [10,11]. The abandonment of traditional activities has left many Mediterranean landscapes in almost barren states, with poor vegetation cover [6,12]. A natural vegetation regeneration process started, with a spontaneous recovery of abandoned croplands [13,14,15,16,17]

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion