000165806 001__ 165806
000165806 005__ 20260114135812.0
000165806 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.18172/cig.3589
000165806 0248_ $$2sideral$$a147076
000165806 037__ $$aART-2018-147076
000165806 041__ $$aspa
000165806 100__ $$0(orcid)0000-0002-6227-861X$$aLópez Alados, C.
000165806 245__ $$aClearing vs. burning for restoring Pyrenean grasslands after shrub encroachment
000165806 260__ $$c2018
000165806 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted
000165806 5203_ $$aAnthropogenic activities have modified vegetation on subalpine belts for a long time, lowering the treeline ecotone and influencing the landscape mainly through grazing and fire. The abandonment of these traditional land use practices during the last decades and global warming are contributing largely to the colonization of woody species in subalpine grasslands, causing irreversible changes in ecosystem functioning. A variety of management strategies requiring the use of fire and/or clear-cutting are carried out to prevent the expansion of highly encroaching shrubs and improve the conservation status of subhumid high-productive grasslands ecosystems. However, it is still poorly understood how different management strategies affect the recovery of subalpine grasslands, which is influenced concurrently by the vegetation community involved. In this study we used field experiments to test the impact of management treatments on soil properties and vegetation responses in subalpine Bromion erecti grassland communities colonized by the pyrophyte shrub Echinospartum horridum (Vahl) Rothm. on the southern Pyrenees. Vegetation was monitored for 5 years in E. horridum plots (two plots per treatment) where the vegetation was removed by prescribed fire (Burnt treatment) or by mechanical removal (Clear-cut treatment). Undisturbed E. horridum plots were used as a control (C-Erizón) for shrub removal treatments and a Bromion erecti grassland community regularly grazed (C-Grass) was used as a control for subalpine grassland. Clear-cut treatment of E. horridum community was more effective to control E. horridum colonization than Burnt treatment and contributed to a higher extent to recover original grassland vegetation, because E. horridum seedling performed worse (lower germination rates) and plant species were more similar to the original grassland (legumes, non-legume forbs, and grasses). Shrubs and sub-shrubs cover in Burnt areas increased faster than in Clear-cut areas during the 5 years following the treatment, although it did not reach the level of C-Erizón. Species richness and diversity increased in comparison with C-Erizón in both treatments, but they were significantly lower than those in the C-Grass. Network connectivity was larger in well preserved grasslands, i.e, C-Grass, than in any other treatments, mainly dominated by negative plant-plant association. Soils nutrients declined in Burnt sites 4 years after the fire treatment and no difference was observed between Clear-cut and C-Erizón sites, although they did not reach the soil fertility values of C-Grass in terms of organic matter and C/N ratio. This study showed that grazing favors plant diversity and community complexity in subalpine grasslands. It also demonstrated that clearing is a better strategy than burning to restore grasslands after shrub encroachment because burning entails deeper soil degradation and faster recovering of the pyrophyte shrub, E. horridum.
000165806 536__ $$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/647038/EU/Biological feedbacks and ecosystem resilience under global change: a new perspective on dryland desertification/BIODESERT$$9This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No H2020 647038-BIODESERT$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/CGL2011-27259$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/CGL2016-80783-R$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/FJCI-2015-26782
000165806 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess$$aby$$uhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es
000165806 592__ $$a0.79$$b2018
000165806 593__ $$aEarth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)$$c2018$$dQ1
000165806 593__ $$aGeography, Planning and Development$$c2018$$dQ1
000165806 593__ $$aEnvironmental Science (miscellaneous)$$c2018$$dQ1
000165806 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
000165806 700__ $$aSaiz, H.
000165806 700__ $$aNuche, P.
000165806 700__ $$aGartzia, M.
000165806 700__ $$aKomac, B.
000165806 700__ $$aDe Frutos, Á.
000165806 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0001-6970-7790$$aPueyo, Y.
000165806 773__ $$g45, 2 (2018), 441-468$$pCuad. investig. geogr.$$tGeographical Research Letters$$x0211-6820
000165806 8564_ $$s1130002$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/165806/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada
000165806 8564_ $$s1834682$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/165806/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada
000165806 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:165806$$particulos$$pdriver
000165806 951__ $$a2026-01-14-12:46:10
000165806 980__ $$aARTICLE