Decoupling of traditional burnings and grazing regimes alters plant diversity and dominant species competition in high-mountain grasslands

Múgica Azpilicueta, Leire; Canals Tresserras, Rosa María; San Emeterio Garciandía, Leticia; Peralta de Andrés, Francisco Javier

Publication:
Decoupling of traditional burnings and grazing regimes alters plant diversity and dominant species competition in high-mountain grasslands

dc.contributor.author	Múgica Azpilicueta, Leire
dc.contributor.author	Canals Tresserras, Rosa María
dc.contributor.author	San Emeterio Garciandía, Leticia
dc.contributor.author	Peralta de Andrés, Francisco Javier
dc.contributor.department	Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura	eu
dc.contributor.department	Zientziak	eu
dc.contributor.department	Institute on Innovation and Sustainable Development in Food Chain - ISFOOD	en
dc.contributor.department	Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación	es_ES
dc.contributor.department	Ciencias	es_ES
dc.contributor.funder	Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa	es
dc.date.accessioned	2021-07-22T07:36:40Z
dc.date.available	2021-07-22T07:36:40Z
dc.date.issued	2021
dc.description.abstract	Over millennia, the combination of controlled burnings and extensive grazing has maintained mosaic landscapes and preserved mountain grasslands in southern Europe. In the last century, deep socio-economic changes have led to an abandonment of traditional uses, to a general decline of the domestic herbivory and to a misuse of burning practices. This study aims to quantify how the decoupling of burning and grazing regimes affects in the long-term the structure, diversity and dynamics of high-mountain, shrub-encroached grasslands. In spring 2012, four treatments (burned-grazed, burned-ungrazed, unburned-grazed and unburned-ungrazed) were set up at three sites in the Special Area of Conservation Roncesvalles-Selva de Irati, in southwest Pyrenees. During seven years, we monitored floristic composition and the height of the native tall-grass Brachypodium rupestre in four plots at each site. In the burned plots, we surveyed the resprout of the dominant shrub Ulex gallii and the dynamics of recovering of the herbaceous vegetation. Plant communities evolved differently in grazed and ungrazed plots. Extensive grazing, despite being lower than in previous decades, maintained plant diversity and limited shrub encroachment. The total absence of grazing fostered the encroachment of U. gallii at two sites and the expansion of B. rupestre at the other site. When B. rupestre cover was >60%, the encroachment of U. gallii was reduced. This research highlights the competition that occurs between shrubs and tall-grasses in the absence of grazing, and the modulating effect exerted by the burnings and the site-specific features. Understanding local plant dynamics is the first step to design the most appropriate practices that help to preserve diversity at the landscape and the community level in high-mountain grasslands of south Europe.	en
dc.description.sponsorship	Interreg Sudoe Programme, European Regional Development Fund, European-Union, Open2preserve Project (SOE2/P5/E0804). Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain (CGL2010-21963 and CGL2011-29746 projects). L. Múgica was funded through a UPNA's Research Staff Training Grant. Leticia San Emeterio has received funding from “la Caixa” Foundation, Spain and CAN Foundation, Spain, under agreement LCF/PR/PR13/51080004.	en
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147917
dc.identifier.issn	0048-9697
dc.identifier.uri	https://academica-e.unavarra.es/handle/2454/40240
dc.language.iso	eng	en
dc.publisher	Elsevier	en
dc.relation.ispartof	Science of Total Environment 790 (2021) 147917	en
dc.relation.projectID	info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MICINN//CGL2011-29746/ES/	en
dc.relation.publisherversion	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147917
dc.rights	© The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license	en
dc.rights.accessRights	Acceso abierto / Sarbide irekia	es
dc.rights.accessRights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess	en
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.subject	Land-use changes	en
dc.subject	Pyric herbivory	en
dc.subject	Grazing cessation	en
dc.subject	Tall-grass dominance	en
dc.subject	Grassland diversity	en
dc.title	Decoupling of traditional burnings and grazing regimes alters plant diversity and dominant species competition in high-mountain grasslands	en
dc.type	Artículo / Artikulua	es
dc.type	info:eu-repo/semantics/article	en
dc.type.version	Versión publicada / Argitaratu den bertsioa	es
dc.type.version	info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion	en
dspace.entity.type	Publication
relation.isAuthorOfPublication	9f218e9c-44f6-41a0-a221-50075abb0c3e
relation.isAuthorOfPublication	f6b5aa24-57e2-4fa1-9c05-644401efeb72
relation.isAuthorOfPublication	4c9a54ce-b378-45a6-a539-171d91b6d75d
relation.isAuthorOfPublication	7d5ae061-3d45-4437-9b3d-691aca62142c
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery	9f218e9c-44f6-41a0-a221-50075abb0c3e