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Patterns and ecological consequences of abiotic heterogeneity in managed cork oak forests of Southern Spain

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Ecological Research

Abstract

Spatial heterogeneity of abiotic factors influences the structure and function of forests and must be taken into account for their conservation and sustainable management. In this study, we evaluate the heterogeneity of abiotic environmental variables in managed cork oak (Quercus suber L.) forests in southern Spain at patch, site and regional scales. The extent of spatial heterogeneity depended on the environmental variable examined and the scale considered. For example, soil Mn and P and light availability in the understorey were very heterogeneous at the regional scale, while soil N had low regional heterogeneity, but high spatial variability, at patch scale, attributed to open overstorey and grazing disturbance. There was a general trend of increasing heterogeneity with spatial scale. We also study the effects of a silvicultural practice—shrub clearing on the forest environment and its consequence for spatial heterogeneity. Shrub clearing increased understorey light and decreased its spatial heterogeneity with idiosyncratic effects on soil properties and their spatial heterogeneity at each site. Finally, we compare the heterogeneity (estimated by the coefficient of variation) obtained in these cork oak forests with a database compiled from published studies on other forest environments. The comparison revealed a remarkable extent of abiotic heterogeneity in the cork oak forests studied, suggesting that a sustainable management of these forests should combine intrinsic and human induced abiotic heterogeneity to preserve crucial ecological processes and to maintain high levels of biodiversity.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the projects 1FD97-0743-C03-03, Heteromed (REN2002-04041-C02-02/GLO) and Dinamed (CGL2005-05830-C03-01), funded by the Spanish CICYT. We thank Luis V. García, Eduardo Gutiérrez and Malole Díaz-Villa for their field assistance and Juan Arroyo for advice on the experimental design. We also thank Felipe Oliveros (Director) and the staff of Los Alcornocales Natural Park for their support and co-operation in setting up the experimental plots. Personnel of TRAGSA conducted the silvicultural practices. Rafael López and the staff in the Soil Lab of the IRNAS made chemical analyses of soil samples. Co-operative work and discussion of the manuscript was facilitated by the Spanish Network GLOBIMED and PLASTOFOR, AGL2004-00536/FOR to FV.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IRNAS, CSIC, P.O. Box 1052, 41080, Sevilla, Spain

    C. Quilchano, T. Marañón, I. M. Pérez-Ramos & L. Noejovich

  2. IRN, CCMA, CSIC, Serrano 115, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    F. Valladares

  3. Area de Biodiversidad y Conservación, ESCET Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933, Móstoles Madrid, Spain

    F. Valladares

  4. Departamento de Ecología, Universidad de Alcalá, 28871, Alcalá de Henares, Spain

    M. A. Zavala

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  1. C. Quilchano
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  2. T. Marañón
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  4. L. Noejovich
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  5. F. Valladares
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  6. M. A. Zavala
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Correspondence to T. Marañón.

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Quilchano, C., Marañón, T., Pérez-Ramos, I.M. et al. Patterns and ecological consequences of abiotic heterogeneity in managed cork oak forests of Southern Spain. Ecol Res 23, 127–139 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-007-0343-6

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