DiveRpine: Diversification of pine plantations in Mediterranean mountains. An interactive R tool to help decision makers

Abstract

Forest plantations are an example of widespread land-use change shaping terrestrial ecosystems. They usually have high stand density, low tree diversity, and homogeneous structure. Their conversion into more natural forests, i.e. naturalization, to foment active regeneration, heterogeneous structure, high biodiversity levels, and high resilience to disturbances such as pests and fires, is urgently needed. More diverse and heterogeneous forest stands display greater resilience to global change, in addition to protecting the ecosystem services that mountainous pine-plantations provide.We present diveRpine (diveRsification of pine plantation), an interactive application designed to show how the species richness (and therefore resilience) varies in pine plantations based on the mountain landscape configuration, the internal structure of the stand, and the composition of the dispersal vectors. The aim of the application is double. On the one hand, it would provide a guidance tool for natural resource managers that aid in the naturalization of forest plantations to recover the multifunctionality of these ecosystems. On the other hand, this tool could be a valuable teaching resource in ecology and conservation classes, since it has great value to explore virtual scenarios and demonstrate the process of prioritization of the management actions. The user can simulate different combinations and analyze how they would affect the tree-species richness in a specific pine plantation stand. It also allows the user to visualize some of the complex ecological processes that underlie the diversification of pine plantations in Mediterranean mountain areas. This tool provides a valuable aid for decision making, for example helping managers to decide whether or not to intervene in a certain pine stand, by projecting the most probable ecological succession under a specific scenario. Our diveRpine concept combining scientific rigor with simplicity of presentation and interpretation is applicable in any restoration context.