Forests offer a wide diversity of crucial ecosystem services, including climate and hydrological regulation, preservation of biodiversity, provision of both timber and non-timber products, and opportunities for recreation, among others. However, forests face transformations driven by natural and human factors, which are foreseen to increase under the context of climate-change and socio-economic trends. The monitoring […]
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The journey to quantify ecosystem services related to non-timber forest products: predicting wild mushroom yields using remotely sensed data
All natural spaces have a direct producing function, through which essential raw materials for society are obtained, such as food or wood, but they also provide services, such as hydrological protection or quality water generation, biodiversity, landscape, the enjoyment of public use or carbon sequestration, which are gradually being perceived by society as preferential functions […]
Historical reconstruction of traditional forest management in pollarded Iberian ash woodlands
Pollarded forests of narrow-leaved ash trees constitute silvopastoral systems of important cultural and environmental interest and configure landscapes with great conservation values in Central Spain. In a recent study, we reconstructed the historical patterns of pruning management since the 18th century by identifying sudden growth changes and anatomical markers through dendrochronological analysis. Tree-ring growth revealed […]
Can large-scale climatic patterns serve to predict tree growth in pine species? Insights from the rear edge
It was during the XV century when Leonardo da Vinci (1452 — 1519) mentioned that “trees form rings annually and their thickness is determined by the conditions under which they grew”. Since then, the relationship between climate and tree growth is a matter of great interest for dendrochronologists. Most attention has been focused on the […]
The late-medieval demographic crisis induced a widespread rewilding in Mediterranean mountain forests
Subalpine ecosystems are natural laboratories to study the evolution of global warming, since their dynamics are particularly sensitive to temperature changes. However, the alpine and subalpine environments also count on a long history of human use. In a recent study, we analysed the contribution of climate-human interactions to historical forest recruitment dynamics. In this new […]