scholarly journals Colonization Pattern of Abandoned Croplands by Quercus pyrenaica in a Mediterranean Mountain Region

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1584
Author(s):  
Antonio J. Pérez-Luque ◽  
Francisco J. Bonet-García ◽  
Regino Zamora
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Landscape Configuration ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Quercus Pyrenaica ◽  
Colonization Pattern ◽  
Rear Edge ◽  
Juvenile Abundance ◽  
Study Sites

Land abandonment is a major global change driver in the Mediterranean region, where anthropic activity has played an important role in shaping landscape configuration. Understanding the woodland expansion towards abandoned croplands is critical to develop effective management strategies. In this study, we analyze the colonization pattern of abandoned croplands by Quercus pyrenaica in the Sierra Nevada mountain range (southern Spain). We aimed to assess differences among populations within the rear edge of the Q. pyrenaica distribution. For this purpose, we characterized (i) the colonization pattern of Q. pyrenaica, (ii) the structure of the seed source (surrounding forests), and (iii) the abundance of the main seed disperser (Eurasian jay, Garrulus glandarius). The study was conducted in five abandoned croplands located in two representative populations of Q. pyrenaica located on contrasting slopes. Vegetation plots within three habitat types (mature forest, edge-forest and abandoned cropland) were established to compute the abundance of oak juveniles. The abundance of European jay was determined using data of bird censuses (covering 7 years). Our results indicate that a natural recolonization of abandoned croplands by Q. pyrenaica is occurring in the rear edge of the distribution of this oak species. Oak juvenile abundance varied between study sites. Neither the surrounding-forest structure nor the abundance of jays varied significantly between study sites. The differences in the recolonization patterns seem to be related to differences in the previous- and post-abandonment management.

scholarly journals Ecological Diversity within Rear-Edge: A Case Study from Mediterranean Quercus pyrenaica Willd.

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Antonio J. Pérez-Luque ◽  
Blas M. Benito ◽  
Francisco J. Bonet-García ◽  
Regino Zamora
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Floristic Composition ◽  
Floristic Diversity ◽  
Quercus Pyrenaica ◽  
High Genetic Diversity ◽  
Rear Edge ◽  
Forest Inventories ◽  
Ecological Aspects ◽  
Edge Populations

Understanding the ecology of populations located in the rear edge of their distribution is key to assessing the response of the species to changing environmental conditions. Here, we focus on rear-edge populations of Quercus pyrenaica in Sierra Nevada (southern Iberian Peninsula) to analyze their ecological and floristic diversity. We perform multivariate analyses using high-resolution environmental information and forest inventories to determine how environmental variables differ among oak populations, and to identify population groups based on environmental and floristic composition. We find that water availability is a key variable in explaining the distribution of Q. pyrenaica and the floristic diversity of their accompanying communities within its rear edge. Three cluster of oak populations were identified based on environmental variables. We found differences among these clusters regarding plant diversity, but not for forest attributes. A remarkable match between the populations clustering derived from analysis of environmental variables and the ordination of the populations according to species composition was found. The diversity of ecological behaviors for Q. pyrenaica populations in this rear edge are consistent with the high genetic diversity shown by populations of this oak in the Sierra Nevada. The identification of differences between oak populations within the rear-edge with respect to environmental variables can aid with planning the forest management and restoration actions, particularly considering the importance of some environmental factors in key ecological aspects.

scholarly journals Dietary assessment of five species of anuran tadpoles from northern Odisha, India

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 12382-12388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Asrafuzzaman ◽  
Susmita Mahapatra ◽  
Jasmin Rout ◽  
Gunanidhi Sahoo
Keyword(s):  
Body Length ◽  
Dietary Assessment ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Food Spectrum ◽  
Aquatic Habitats ◽  
Morphometric Measurements ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Anuran Species ◽  
Study Sites

Anuran tadpoles are gregarious predators capable of differentiating food items among diverse types of prey via varied feeding and oral structures.  Tadpoles were collected from different study sites in three districts of northern Odisha during three consecutive rainy seasons (from July–October of 2015–2017).  After morphometric measurements (total length and body length), the stomach contents of 75 tadpoles belonging to five different anuran species (Duttaphrynus melanostictus, Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis, Fejervarya orissaensis, Polypedates maculatus and Microhyla ornata) belonging to four families namely Bufonidae, Dicroglossidae, Rhacophoridae and Microhylidae were examined.  The food spectrum of tadpoles included mostly detritus, followed by phytoplankton (represented by 5 classes and 54 genera).  Such studies contribute to the understanding of the natural diets of these anuran species that can assist in developing management strategies for them.  Aquatic habitats must be conserved and maintained so that conservation of anurans can be ensured.

scholarly journals Essential habitat for sardine juveniles in Iberian waters

2017 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sílvia Rodríguez-Climent ◽  
Maria Manuel Angélico ◽  
Vítor Marques ◽  
Paulo Oliveira ◽  
Laura Wise ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fishery Management ◽  
Generalized Additive Models ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
Additive Models ◽  
Spawning Grounds ◽  
Significant Relationships ◽  
Juvenile Abundance ◽  
Spatial Differences ◽  
Core Areas

In a period when the Iberian sardine stock abundance is at its historical minimum, knowledge of the sardine juvenile’s distribution is crucial for the development of fishery management strategies. Generalized additive models were used to relate juvenile sardine presence with geographical variables and spawning grounds (egg abundance) and to model juvenile abundance with the concurrent environmental conditions. Three core areas of juvenile distribution were identified: the Northern Portuguese shelf (centred off Aveiro), the coastal region in the vicinity of the Tagus estuary, and the eastern Gulf of Cadiz. Spatial differences in the relationship between juvenile presence and egg abundances suggest that essential juvenile habitat might partially differ from the prevailing spawning grounds. Models also depicted significant relationships between juvenile abundance, temperature and geographical variables in combination with salinity in the west and with zooplankton in the south. Results indicate that the sardine juvenile distribution along the Iberian Peninsula waters are an outcome of a combination of dynamic processes occurring early in life, such as egg and larva retention, reduced mortality and favourable feeding grounds for both larvae and juveniles.

Cybaeus (Araneae: Cybaeidae): the aspenicolens species group of the Californian clade

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4926 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-244
Author(s):  
ROBB BENNETT ◽  
CLAUDIA COPLEY ◽  
DARREN COPLEY
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Species Group ◽  
Identification Key ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Kern County ◽  
East Central ◽  
Central California ◽  
Distribution Maps ◽  
Moist Forest ◽  
Species Groups

Species of North American Cybaeus L. Koch (Araneae: RTA clade: Cybaeidae) are common moist-forest spiders classified in Holarctic and Californian clades. Here, in the second paper in a planned series reviewing the six Californian clade species groups, we review the species of the aspenicolens group. We recognize five species in two subgroups: the aspenicolens subgroup (Cybaeus aspenicolens Chamberlin & Ivie, C. blasbes Chamberlin & Ivie, and C. coylei Bennett spec. nov.) and the fraxineus subgroup (C. fraxineus Bennett spec. nov. and C. thermydrinos Bennett). The species of the aspenicolens group have very restricted distributions on the western slopes of the central and southern Sierra Nevada mountain range from Tuolumne County south to northern Kern County in east central California, U.S.A. Descriptions, illustrations, distribution maps, and an identification key are provided for the five species as well as a discussion of conservation issues of relevance to the group. 

Environmental benefits of traditional irrigation ditches in the Sierra Nevada (Spain) ecosystem by analysing the spatial-temporal evolution of NDVI on different time scales

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Aparicio ◽  
Rafael Pimentel ◽  
María José Polo
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Mountain Area ◽  
Traditional Irrigation ◽  
Landsat Satellite

<p>In Mediterranean mountain regions, traditional irrigation systems still persist in areas where the  modernization approaches do not succeed in being operational. It is common that these systems alter the soil uses, vegetation distribution and hydrological natural regime. </p><p>This is the case of the extensive network of irrigation ditches in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range in southeastern Spain (an UNESCO  Reserve of the Biosphere, with areas as Natural and National Park), which originated in Muslim times, and is still operational in some areas. These ditches have contributed to maintaining local agricultural systems and populations in basins dominated by snow conditions, and they constitute a traditional regulation of water resources in the area. The network is made up of two types of irrigation ditches: “careo” and irrigation ditches. The first, the "careo", collects the meltwater and infiltrates it along its course, maintaining a high level of soil moisture and favouring deep percolation volumes that can be later consumed by the population through springs and natural fountains. The second, the irrigation ones, are used to transport water from the natural sources to the agricultural plots downstream the mountain area. In 2014, several irrigation ditches were restored in the Natural Park. This is a chance to further explore and quantify the role of this network in the hydrological budget on a local basis.  </p><p>The aim of this work is to evaluate to what extent the existence of these intermittent water networks affects the evolution of the surrounding vegetation. For this, one of the restored systems,  the Barjas Ditch in the village of Cañar, with a successful water circulation along its way, was selected from the increase of the soil water content in the ditch influence area and, indirectly a differential development of vegetation. Two analyses are performed using remote sensing information. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI, which is a spectral index used to estimate the quantity, quality and development of vegetation that can therefore be used indirectly as an indicator of the state of soil moisture, was used as the indicator of evolution. For this purpose, a historical set of LandSat satellite images  (TM, ETM+ and OLI) has been used. On the one hand, a global analysis on the whole mountainous range was carried out, comparing NDVI patterns in areas affected and non-affected by the ditches. On the other hand, the restored  Barjas ditch is used to assess vegetation changes before and after the restoration.</p>

Overview of Naturally Occurring Asbestos in California and Southwestern Nevada

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-14
Author(s):  
R. Mark Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
North American ◽  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Island Arc ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
The North ◽  
Rock Types ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Naturally Occurring Asbestos

ABSTRACT Naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) is being discovered in a widening array of geologic environments. The complex geology of the state of California is an excellent example of the variety of geologic environments and rock types that contain NOA. Notably, the majority of California rocks were emplaced during a continental collision of eastward-subducting oceanic and island arc terranes (Pacific and Farallon plates) with the westward continental margin of the North American plate between 65 and 150 MY BP. This collision and accompanying accretion of oceanic and island arc material from the Pacific plate onto the North American plate, as well as the thermal events caused by emplacement of the large volcanic belt that became today's Sierra Nevada mountain range, are the principal processes that produced the rocks where the majority of NOA-bearing units have been identified.

scholarly journals Impact of North Atlantic Oscillation on the Snowpack in Iberian Peninsula Mountains

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esteban Alonso-González ◽  
Juan I. López-Moreno ◽  
Francisco M. Navarro-Serrano ◽  
Jesús Revuelto
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic Oscillation ◽  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Snow Water Equivalent ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Winter Climate ◽  
Mountain Ranges ◽  
Iberian Range ◽  
The Impact

The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is considered to be the main atmospheric factor explaining the winter climate and snow evolution over much of the Northern Hemisphere. However, the absence of long-term snow data in mountain regions has prevented full assessment of the impact of the NAO at the regional scales, where data are limited. In this study, we assessed the relationship between the NAO of the winter months (DJFM-NAO) and the snowpack of the Iberian Peninsula. We simulated temperature, precipitation, and snow data for the period 1979–2014 by dynamic downscaling of ERA-Interim reanalysis data, and correlated this with the DJFM-NAO for the five main mountain ranges of the Iberian Peninsula (Cantabrian Range, Central Range, Iberian Range, the Pyrenees, and the Sierra Nevada). The results confirmed that negative DJFM-NAO values generally occur during wet and mild conditions over most of the Iberian Peninsula. Due to the direction of the wet air masses, the NAO has a large influence on snow duration and the annual peak snow water equivalent (peak SWE) in most of the mountain ranges in the study, mostly on the slopes south of the main axis of the ranges. In contrast, the impact of NAO variability is limited on north-facing slopes. Negative (positive) DJFM-NAO values were associated with longer (shorter) duration and higher (lower) peak SWEs in all mountains analyzed in the study. We found marked variability in correlations of the DJFM-NAO with snow indices within each mountain range, even when only the south-facing slopes were considered. The correlations were stronger for higher elevations in the mountain ranges, but geographical longitude also explained the intra-range variability in the majority of the studied mountains.

scholarly journals Effects of Post-Fire Deadwood Management on Soil Macroarthropod Communities

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1046 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos R. Molinas-González ◽  
Jorge Castro ◽  
Adela González-Megías ◽  
Alexandro B. Leverkus
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Dead Wood ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Bare Soil ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Higher Plant ◽  
Salvage Logging ◽  
Management Interventions ◽  
Biological Legacies ◽  
Experimental Treatments

Dead wood comprises a vast amount of biological legacies that set the scene for ecological regeneration after wildfires, yet its removal is the most frequent management strategy worldwide. Soil-dwelling organisms are conspicuous, and they provide essential ecosystem functions, but their possible affection by different post-fire management strategies has so far been neglected. We analyzed the abundance, richness, and composition of belowground macroarthropod communities under two contrasting dead-wood management regimes after a large wildfire in the Sierra Nevada Natural and National Park (Southeast Spain). Two plots at different elevation were established, each containing three replicates of two experimental treatments: partial cut, where trees were cut and their branches lopped off and left over the ground, and salvage logging, where all the trees were cut, logs were piled, branches were mechanically masticated, and slash was spread on the ground. Ten years after the application of the treatments, soil cores were extracted from two types of microhabitat created by these treatments: bare-soil (in both treatments) and under-logs (in the partial cut treatment only). Soil macroarthropod assemblages were dominated by Hemiptera and Hymenoptera (mostly ants) and were more abundant and richer in the lowest plot. The differences between dead-wood treatments were most evident at the scale of management interventions: abundance and richness were lowest after salvage logging, even under similar microhabitats (bare-soil). However, there were no significant differences between microhabitat types on abundance and richness within the partial cut treatment. Higher abundance and richness in the partial cut treatment likely resulted from higher resource availability and higher plant diversity after natural regeneration. Our results suggest that belowground macroarthropod communities are sensitive to the manipulation of dead-wood legacies and that management through salvage logging could reduce soil macroarthropod recuperation compared to other treatments with less intense management even a decade after application.

scholarly journals Rapid changes in snow cover at low elevations in the Sierra Nevada, California, U.S.A.

1997 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 367-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Kattelmann
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Rainfall Runoff ◽  
Runoff Generation ◽  
Distributed Models ◽  
Rapid Changes ◽  
Spatially Distributed ◽  
Precipitation Type ◽  
River Forecasting

Snow cover in the intermittent snow zone of the Sierra Nevada can occupy more than 10 000 km2 of the mountain range, but it has received relatively little attention in river forecasting. Snow is deposited at lower elevations only during the cold storms of winter, and remains there only for a few days or weeks. When cold storms have created a thin snow cover at low elevations, a subsequent warm storm can melt this snow in just a few hours and increase the runoff response dramatically. Operational hydrological models and river-forecasting procedures have tended to overlook contributions from the intermittent-snow zone, focusing instead on rainfall-runoff or melt from the snowpack zone at higher elevations. Data-collection efforts are minimal in this zone, too. Ideally, spatially distributed models of snowmelt and runoff generation are needed to account for the typically large differences in snow cover on different aspects in the intermittent snow zone. Although aircraft and satellite imagery would be most desirable to monitor the distribution of snow cover in the intermittent-snow zone, even a few climate stations that report precipitation type and snow presence would be a major improvement over the present situation in the Sierra Nevada.

scholarly journals Air Pollution and Watershed Research in the Central Sierra Nevada of California: Nitrogen and Ozone

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 206-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Hunsaker ◽  
Andrzej Bytnerowicz ◽  
Jessica Auman ◽  
Ricardo Cisneros
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Forest Service ◽  
Passive Samplers ◽  
Department Of Agriculture ◽  
Clean Air

Maintaining healthy forests is the major objective for the Forest Service scientists and managers working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Air pollution, specifically ozone (O3) and nitrogenous (N) air pollutants, may severely affect the health of forest ecosystems in the western U.S. Thus, the monitoring of air pollution concentration and deposition levels, as well as studies focused on understanding effects mechanisms, are essential for evaluation of risks associated with their presence. Such information is essential for development of proper management strategies for maintaining clean air, clean water, and healthy ecosystems on land managed by the Forest Service. We report on two years of research in the central Sierra Nevada of California, a semi-arid forest at elevations of 1100–2700 m. Information on O3and N air pollutants is obtained from a network of 18 passive samplers. We relate the atmospheric N concentration to N concentrations in streams, shallow soil water, and bulk deposition collectors within the Kings River Experimental Watershed. This watershed also contains an intensive site that is part of a recent Forest Service effort to calculate critical loads for N, sulfur, and acidity to forest ecosystems. The passive sampler design allows for extensive spatial measurements while the watershed experiment provides intensive spatial data for future analysis of ecosystem processes.

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