Effects of Afforestation on Plant Diversity and Soil Quality in Semiarid SE Spain
Farmland afforestation has been promoted in recent decades and is one of the main strategies included in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration to recover degraded areas. However, the impacts of afforestation on plant diversity and soil quality indicators are still not well-understood in semiarid en...
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Forests |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/12/1730 |
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| author | Carmen Segura María N. Jiménez Emilia Fernández-Ondoño Francisco B. Navarro |
| author_facet | Carmen Segura María N. Jiménez Emilia Fernández-Ondoño Francisco B. Navarro |
| author_sort | Carmen Segura |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Farmland afforestation has been promoted in recent decades and is one of the main strategies included in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration to recover degraded areas. However, the impacts of afforestation on plant diversity and soil quality indicators are still not well-understood in semiarid environments. In this study, we assessed the relationships between plant diversity indicators (abundance, total richness, richness by functional groups, and Shannon diversity) and a large number of variables in 48 afforestation sites in southeast Spain. We considered associated environmental factors, such as geographical, climatic or edaphic variables, age, and land-use history. We compared plant diversity and soil properties following land-use change from cereal cropping to afforestation, which is one of the most common land-use changes in Mediterranean areas. Plant diversity in afforested sites was found to be dependent on previous land use, the proximity of natural vegetation, several soil properties (texture, pH, and total nitrogen), and plantation age. Afforested soils showed higher plant diversity and an improvement in edaphic parameters related to multifunctionality in semiarid ecosystems (i.e., soil organic carbon, nitrogen, and potassium) than arable cropped soils. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:05:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-213370960ed743c3a145185fc8b5a7de |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:05:59Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-213370960ed743c3a145185fc8b5a7de2023-11-23T08:21:36ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072021-12-011212173010.3390/f12121730Effects of Afforestation on Plant Diversity and Soil Quality in Semiarid SE SpainCarmen Segura0María N. Jiménez1Emilia Fernández-Ondoño2Francisco B. Navarro3Department of Sustainable Agriculture Sciences, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Okehampton EX20 2SB, UKDepartment of Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Campus de Cartuja, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, SpainDepartment of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Granada, C/Severo Ochoa, s/n, 18071 Granada, SpainArea of Agriculture and Environment, Institute of Agricultural Research and Training of Andalusia (IFAPA), Government of Andalusia, Camino de Purchil s/n, 18004 Granada, SpainFarmland afforestation has been promoted in recent decades and is one of the main strategies included in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration to recover degraded areas. However, the impacts of afforestation on plant diversity and soil quality indicators are still not well-understood in semiarid environments. In this study, we assessed the relationships between plant diversity indicators (abundance, total richness, richness by functional groups, and Shannon diversity) and a large number of variables in 48 afforestation sites in southeast Spain. We considered associated environmental factors, such as geographical, climatic or edaphic variables, age, and land-use history. We compared plant diversity and soil properties following land-use change from cereal cropping to afforestation, which is one of the most common land-use changes in Mediterranean areas. Plant diversity in afforested sites was found to be dependent on previous land use, the proximity of natural vegetation, several soil properties (texture, pH, and total nitrogen), and plantation age. Afforested soils showed higher plant diversity and an improvement in edaphic parameters related to multifunctionality in semiarid ecosystems (i.e., soil organic carbon, nitrogen, and potassium) than arable cropped soils.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/12/1730active restorationfunctional groupsplant richnesssoil propertiesland-use changeMediterranean region |
| spellingShingle | Carmen Segura María N. Jiménez Emilia Fernández-Ondoño Francisco B. Navarro Effects of Afforestation on Plant Diversity and Soil Quality in Semiarid SE Spain Forests active restoration functional groups plant richness soil properties land-use change Mediterranean region |
| title | Effects of Afforestation on Plant Diversity and Soil Quality in Semiarid SE Spain |
| title_full | Effects of Afforestation on Plant Diversity and Soil Quality in Semiarid SE Spain |
| title_fullStr | Effects of Afforestation on Plant Diversity and Soil Quality in Semiarid SE Spain |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of Afforestation on Plant Diversity and Soil Quality in Semiarid SE Spain |
| title_short | Effects of Afforestation on Plant Diversity and Soil Quality in Semiarid SE Spain |
| title_sort | effects of afforestation on plant diversity and soil quality in semiarid se spain |
| topic | active restoration functional groups plant richness soil properties land-use change Mediterranean region |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/12/1730 |
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