Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Is this the end? Dynamics of a relict stand from pervasively deforested ancient Iberian pine forests

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
European Journal of Forest Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A drier climate together with intense management can be detrimental for species when they are found at their xeric limit. We analyzed the dynamics of Pinus sylvestris in Central Spain in relation to colonization by more drought-tolerant Quercus pyrenaica. The studied forest presents high biodiversity and is one of the last stands relict from a widespread pine-dominated forest in West-Central Iberian Mountains demised by human deforestation. The observed age patterns could suggest a natural regeneration origin of the current stand for both species. However, while oaks regenerated continuously since the 1950s, there was almost no pine regeneration after the 1870s. Therefore, the lack of pine regeneration was previous to recent climatic changes. Pine stands with ongoing oak colonization were likely thinned in the 1920s in opposition to pure pine stands. Mixed and pure stands expressed certain differences in their response to climate. Pines suffered more from high temperatures from spring to fall, which would reflect their lower tolerance to drought than oaks. Cross-wavelet analysis showed that pine exhibited an increase in their sensitivity to drought intensity in the last years. However, the dominant pine canopy established in the nineteenth century does not show symptoms of growth decline in response to climate change. The factors determining the disruption of pine regeneration need to be determined. Management could have played a dominant role constraining stand dynamics, threatening pine sustainability through modifications of the understory vegetation and soil properties.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Améztegui A, Brotons L, Coll L (2010) Land-use changes as major drivers of mountain pine (Pinus uncinata Ram.) expansion in the Pyrenees. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 19:632–641

    Google Scholar 

  • Andrade A, González-Jonet RH (2007) El pinar de Hoyocasero (Ávila): ¿antigua repoblación o pinar natural conservado? Anal Biol 29:33–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Andreu L, Gutierrez E, Macias M, Ribas M, Bosch O, Camarero JJ (2007) Climate increases regional tree-growth variability in Iberian pine forests. Glob Change Biol 13(4):804–815

    Google Scholar 

  • Benavides R, Rabasa SG, Granda E, Escudero A, Hodar JA, Martinez-Vilalta J, Rincon AM, Zamora R, Valladares F (2013) Direct and indirect effects of climate on demography and early growth of Pinus sylvestris at the rear edge: changing roles of biotic and abiotic factors. PLoS One 8(3):e59824

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bigler C, Braker OU, Bugmann H, Dobbertin M, Rigling A (2006) Drought as an inciting mortality factor in Scots pine stands of the Valais, Switzerland. Ecosystems 9:330–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrer M, Urbinati C (2004) Age-dependent tree-ring growth responses to climate in Larix decidua and Pinus cembra. Ecology 85:730–740

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrión JS (ed) (2012) Paleoflora y Paleovegetación de la Península Ibérica y. Plioceno-Cuaternario, Baleares

    Google Scholar 

  • Castro J, Zamora R, Hodar JA, Gomez JM (2004) Seedling establishment of a boreal tree species (Pinus sylvestris) at its southernmost distribution limit: consequences of being in a marginal Mediterranean habitat. J Ecol 92:266–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castro J, Zamora R, Hodar JA, Gomez JM (2005) Alleviation of summer drought boosts establishment success of Pinus sylvestris in a Mediterranean mountain: an experimental approach. Plant Ecol 181:191–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavard X, Bergeron Y, Chen HYH, Pare D, Laganiere J, Brassard B (2011) Competition and facilitation between tree species change with stand development. Oikos 120:1683–1695

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cescatti A, Piutti E (1998) Silvicultural alternatives, competition regime and sensitivity to climate in a European beech forest. For Ecol Manage 102(2–3):213–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chauchard S, Carcaillet C, Guibal F (2007) Patterns of land-use abandonment control tree-recruitment and forest dynamics in mediterranean mountains. Ecosystems 10:936–948

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choat B, Jansen S, Brodribb TJ et al (2012) Global convergence in the vulnerability of forests to drought. Nature 491:752–755

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Couder G (1892) Distrito forestal de Avila. Memoria justificativa del Plan de aprovechamiento para el año forestal de 1892 á 1893. [Ávila, 30-IV-1892]. MSS. Arch. MAPA, Montes, leg. 87/7

  • D’Arrigo R, Wilson R, Liepert B, Cherubini P (2008) On the `Divergence Problem’ in Northern Forests: a review of the tree-ring evidence and possible causes. Glob Planet Change 60:289–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Del Río M, Schütze G, Pretzsch H (2014) Temporal variation of competition and facilitation in mixed species forests in Central Europe. Plant Biol 16:166–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Filippo A, Alessandrini A, Biondi F, Blasi S, Portoghesi L, Piovesan G (2010) Climate change and oak growth decline: Dendroecology and stand productivity of a Turkey oak (Quercus cerris L.) old stored coppice in Central Italy. Ann For Sci 67:706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Díaz-Pinés E, Rubio A, Van Miegroet H, Benito M, Montes F (2011) Does tree species composition control soil organic carbon pools in Mediterranean mountain forests? For Ecol Manage 262(10):1895–1904

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eilmann B, Zweifel R, Buchmann N, Fonti P, Rigling A (2009) Drought-induced adaptation of the xylem in Scots pine and pubescent oak. Tree Physiol 29:1011–1020

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Franco Múgica F, Anton MG, Ollero HS (1998) Vegetation dynamics and human impact in the Sierra de Guadarrama, Central System, Spain. Holocene 8:69–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fritts HC (1976) Tree rings and climate. Blackburn Press, Caldwell, p 567

    Google Scholar 

  • Galiano L, Martinez-Vilalta J, Lloret F (2010) Drought-induced multifactor decline of scots pine in the pyrenees and potential vegetation change by the expansion of co-occurring oak species. Ecosystems 13:978–991

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • García Ortíz, A (1873) Distrito forestal de Ávila. Memoria de la ejecución del plan de aprovechamiento formado para el año forestal de 1872-73. [Ávila, 15-IX-1873]. MSS. Arch. MAPA, Montes, leg. 1/4

  • García-Ruiz JM, Lopez-Moreno JI, Vicente-Serrano SM, Lasanta-Martinez T, Begueria S (2011) Mediterranean water resources in a global change scenario. Earth-Sci Rev 105:121–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gavilán RG (2005) The use of climatic parameters and índices in vegetation distribution. A case study in the Spanish Sistema Central. Int J Biometeorol 50:111–120

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gea-Izquierdo G, Cañellas I (2014) Contrasting instability in growth trends of Mediterranean oaks at opposite distributional limits. Ecosystems 17:228–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gea-Izquierdo G, Martín-Benito D, Cherubini P, Cañellas I (2009) Climate-growth variability in Quercus ilex L. west Iberian open woodlands of different stand density. Ann For Sci 66:802

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gea-Izquierdo G, Fonti P, Cherubini P, Martín-Benito D, Chaar H, Cañellas I (2012) Xylem hydraulic adjustment and growth response of Quercus canariensis Willd. to climatic variability. Tree Physiol 32:401–413

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gea-Izquierdo G, Viguera B, Cabrera M, Cañellas I (2014) Drought induced decline could portend widespread oak mortality at the xeric ecotone in managed Mediterranean pine-oak woodlands. For Ecol Manag 320:70–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Génova M, Gómez F, Morla C (eds.) (2009) Los bosques de Gredos a través del tiempo. Monografías de la Red de Espacios Naturales de Castilla y León. Serie Técnica: Junta de Castilla y León. Valladolid. 320 p

  • González-Bueno A, Sánchez-Mata D (2007) El Pinar de Hoyocasero: análisis histórico de su utilización. In: Ávila en el tiempo. Homenaje al profesor Ángel Barrios 2: 55–84. Diputación de Ávila. Ávila

  • Gotway CA, Stroup WW (1997) A generalized linear model approach to spatial data analysis and prediction. J Agric Biol Environ Stat 2:157–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goulard M, Voltz M (1992) Linear coregionalization model: tools for estimation and choice of cross-variogram matrix. Math Geol 24:269–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grinsted A, Moore JC, Jevrejeva S (2004) Application of the cross wavelet transform and wavelet coherence to geophysical time series. Nonlinear Proc Geophys 11:561–566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Q, Bertness MD (2014) Extreme stresses, niches, and positive species interactions along stress gradients. Ecology 95(6):1437–1443

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Herrera et al (2012) Development and Analysis of a 50 year high-resolution daily gridded precipitation dataset over Spain. Int J Climatol 32:74–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes RL (1983) Computer-assisted quality control in tree-ring dating and measurement. Tree-Ring Bull 43:69–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Lebourgeois F, Gomez N, Pinto P, Merian P (2013) Mixed stands reduce Abies alba tree-ring sensitivity to summer drought in the Vosges mountains, western Europe. Forest Ecol Manage 303(9):61–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lookingbill TR, Zavala MA (2000) Spatial pattern of Quercus ilex and Quercus pubescens recruitment in Pinus halepensis dominated woodlands. J Veg Sci 11(4):607–612

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lopez-Merino L, Lopez-Saez JA, Alba-Sanchez F, Perez-Diaz S, Carrion JS (2009) 2000 years of pastoralism and fire shaping high-altitude vegetation of Sierra de Gredos in central Spain. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 158:42–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • López-Sáez JA, Abel-Schaad D, Pérez-Díaz S, Blanco-González A, Alba-Sánchez F, Dorado M, Ruiz-Zapata B, Gil-García MJ, Gómez-González C, Franco-Múgica F (2014) Vegetation history, climate and human impact in the Spanish central system over the last 9000 years. Quat Int. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2013.06.034

    Google Scholar 

  • Maestre FT, Callaway RM, Valladares F, Lortie CJ (2009) Refining the stress-gradient hypothesis for competition and facilitation in plant communities. J Ecol 97:199–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mancebo JM, Molina JR, Camino F (1993) Pinus sylvestris L. en la vertiente septentrional de la sierra de Gredos (Ávila). Ecología 7:233–245

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell TD, Jones PD (2005) An improved method of constructing a database of monthly climate observations and associated high-resolution grids. Int J Climatol 25:693–712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mölder I, Leuschner C (2014) European beech grows better and is less drought sensitive in mixed than in pure stands: tree neighbourhood effects on radial increment. Trees 28(3):777–792

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montes F, Ledo A (2010) Incorporating environmental and geographical information in forest data analysis: a new fitting approach for universal kriging. Can J For Res 40:1852–1861

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neuman SP, Jacobson EA (1984) Analysis of nonintrinsic spatial variability by residual kriging with application to regional groundwater levels. J Int Assoc Math Geol 16:499–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nowacki GJ, Abrams MD (1997) Radial-growth averaging criteria for reconstructing disturbance histories from presettlement-origin oaks. Ecol Monograph 67:225–249

    Google Scholar 

  • Portalbes A (1952) Maestros mayores, arquitectos y aparejadores de El Escorial. Ed. Rollán, Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  • Pretzsch H, Schütze G, Uhl E (2013) Resistance of European tree species to drought stress in mixed versus pure forests: evidence of stress release by inter-specific facilitation. Plant Biol 15:483–495

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pulido FJ, Diaz M (2005) Regeneration of a Mediterranean oak: a whole-cycle approach. Ecoscience 12(1):92–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2013) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R foundation for statistical computing, Vienna, Austria. ISBN: 3-900051-07-0. http://www.R-project.org/

  • Richter K, Eckstein D, Holmes RL (1991) The dendrochronological signal of pine trees (Pinus spp.) in Spain. Tree-Ring Bull 51:2–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Rigling A, Bigler C, Eilmann B, Feldmeyer-Christe E, Gimmi U, Ginzler C, Graf U, Mayer P, Vacchiano G, Weber P, Wohlgemuth T, Zweifel R, Dobbertin M (2013) Driving factors of a vegetation shift from Scots pine to pubescent oak in dry Alpine forests. Glob Change Biol 19:229–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rinntech (2003) TSAP-WIN. Time series analysis and presentation for dendrochronology and related applications, Version 0.53

  • Rodríguez C, Montes F, Ruiz F, Cañellas I, Pita P (2014) Stem mapping and estimating standing volume from stereoscopic hemispherical images. Eur J For Res. doi:10.1007/s10342-014-0806-6

    Google Scholar 

  • Rozas V, Lamas S, Garcia-Gonzalez I (2009) Differential tree-growth responses to local and large-scale climatic variation in two Pinus and two Quercus species in northwest Spain. Ecoscience 16:299–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubiales JM, Garcia-Amorena I, Genova M, Manzaneque FG, Morla C (2007) The Holocene history of highland pine forests in a submediterranean mountain: the case of Gredos mountain range (Iberian Central range, Spain). Quat Sci Rev 26(13–14):1759–1770

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubiales JM, Morales-Molino C, Garcia Alvarez S, Garcia-Anton M (2012) Negative responses of highland pines to anthropogenic activities in inland Spain: a palaeoecological perspective. Veg Hist Archaeobot 21:397–412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubio A, Gavilán RG, Montes F, Gutiérrez-Girón A, Díaz-Pines E, Mezquida ET et al (2011) Biodiversity measures applied to stand-level management: can they really be useful? Ecol Indicat 11:545–556

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz-Labourdette D, Nogues-Bravo D, Sainz Ollero H, Schmitz MF, Pineda FD (2012) Forest composition in Mediterranean mountains is projected to shift along the entire elevational gradient under climate change. J Biogeogr 39(1):162–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarris D, Christodoulakis D, Korner C (2011) Impact of recent climatic change on growth of low elevation eastern Mediterranean forest trees. Clim Change 106:203–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soliveres S, Maestre FT (2014) Plant–plant interactions, environmental gradients and plant diversity: a global synthesis of community-level studies. Perspect Plant Ecol Evol Syst 16(4):154–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein A, Corsten LCA (1991) Universal kriging and cokriging as a regression procedure. Biometrics 47:575–587

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sthultz CM, Gehring CA, Whitham TG (2007) Shifts from competition to facilitation between a foundation tree and a pioneer shrub across spatial and temporal scales in a semiarid woodland. New Phytol 173:135–145

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tessier L, Nola P, Serrebachet F (1994) Deciduous Quercus in the Mediterranean region—tree-ring/climate relationships. New Phytol 126:355–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thuiller W, Lavorel S, Araujo MB, Sykes MT, Prentice IC (2005) Climate change threats to plant diversity in Europe. PNAS 102:8245–8250

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Torrence C, Compo GP (1998) A practical guide to wavelet analysis. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 79:61–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valbuena-Carabaña M, de Heredia UL, Fuentes-Utrilla P, Gonzalez-Doncel I, Gil L (2010) Historical and recent changes in the Spanish forests: a socio-economic process. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 162:492–506

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vicente-Serrano SM, Beguería S, López-Moreno JI (2010) A Multi-scalar drought index sensitive to global warming: the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index—SPEI. J Clim 23(7):1696–1718

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vila-Cabrera A, Martinez-Vilalta J, Galiano L, Retana J (2013) Patterns of forest decline and regeneration across scots pine populations. Ecosystems 16:323–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wackernagel H (1995) Multivariate geostatistics. Springer, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Weber P, Rigling A, Bugmann H (2008) Sensitivity of stand dynamics to grazing in mixed Pinus sylvestris and Quercus pubescens forests: a modelling study. Ecol Model 210:301–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research is a contribution to the Labex OT-Med (No ANR-11-LABX-0061) funded by the (Investissements d’Avenir) program of the French National Research Agency through the A*MIDEX project (No ANR-11-IDEX-0001-02).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CEREGE UMR 7330, CNRS/Aix-Marseille Université, Europole de l’Arbois, BP 8013545, Aix-en-Provence Cedex 4, France

    G. Gea-Izquierdo

  2. INIA-CIFOR, Ctra. La Coruña km 7.5, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    F. Montes & I. Cañellas

  3. Facultad de Farmacia, UPM, Ciudad Universitaria s.n., 28040, Madrid, Spain

    R. G. Gavilán

  4. ETSI Montes, UPM, Ciudad Universitaria s.n., 28040, Madrid, Spain

    A. Rubio

Authors
  1. G. Gea-Izquierdo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. F. Montes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. G. Gavilán
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. I. Cañellas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. A. Rubio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. Gea-Izquierdo.

Additional information

Communicated by Miren del Rio.

Appendix

Appendix

See Figs. 7, 8, and 9.

Fig. 7
figure 7

Local precipitation and mean temperature trends of hydrological year (Septembert−1–Augustt) for the period 1901–2009

Full size image
Fig. 8
figure 8

Cross-wavelet coherence: a pure pines and b mixed pines

Full size image
Fig. 9
figure 9

Long-term BAI trends (normalized) and trends of key climatic and drought covariates as obtained from Fig. 4. a Summer SPEI, b minimum winter temperature, and c maximum temperature of the period May–July. Climatic variables are in gray and their smoothed trends are shown in black solid lines. BAI smoothed trends from pure pine stands are in black lines with triangles, whereas BAI trends of mixed pine stands are represented with circles

Full size image

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gea-Izquierdo, G., Montes, F., Gavilán, R.G. et al. Is this the end? Dynamics of a relict stand from pervasively deforested ancient Iberian pine forests. Eur J Forest Res 134, 525–536 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-015-0869-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-015-0869-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation