Mitigating the stress of drought on soil respiration by selective thinning: contrasting effects of drought on soil respiration of two oak species in a Mediterranean forest
Chang, C. T. (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Espelta Morral, Josep Maria (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Biologia Animal, de Biologia Vegetal i d'Ecologia)
Sperlich, Dominik (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Sabaté i Jorba, Santi (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Sànchez Costa, Elisenda (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Cotillas de la Torre, Miriam (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Gracia, Carles (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)

Date:	2016
Abstract:	Drought has been shown to reduce soil respiration (SR) in previous studies. Meanwhile, studies of the effect of forest management on SR yielded contrasting results. However, little is known about the combined effect of drought and forest management on SR. To investigate if the drought stress on SR can be mitigated by thinning, we implemented plots of selective thinning and 15% reduced rainfall in a mixed forest consisting of the evergreen Quercus ilex and deciduous Quercus cerrioides; we measured SR seasonally from 2004 to 2007. Our results showed a clear soil moisture threshold of 9%; above this value, SR was strongly dependent on soil temperature, with Q10 of 3. 0-3. 8. Below this threshold, the relationship between SR and soil temperature weakened. We observed contrasting responses of SR of target oak species to drought and thinning. Reduced rainfall had a strong negative impact on SR of Q. cerrioides, whereas the effect on SR for Q. ilex was marginal or even positive. Meanwhile, selective thinning increased SR of Q. cerrioides, but reduced that of Q. ilex. Overall, our results showed that the negative effect of drought on SR can be offset through selective thinning, but the effect is attenuated with time.
Grants:	European Commission 238366 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2014/SGR-949
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Reduced rainfall ; Selective thinning ; Soil respiration ; Quercus ilex ; Quercus cerrioides
Published in:	Forests, Vol. 7, issue 11 (Nov. 2016) , art 263, ISSN 1999-4907

DOI: 10.3390/f7110263

16 p, 3.2 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > CREAF (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles