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Quercus pyrenaica Forests Under Contrasting Management Histories in Northern Portugal: Carbon Storage and Understory Biodiversity

2025Journal article Open access
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datacite.subject.fosCiências Agrárias::Agricultura, Silvicultura e Pescas
datacite.subject.fosCiências Naturais::Ciências Biológicas
datacite.subject.sdg04:Educação de Qualidade
datacite.subject.sdg13:Ação Climática
dc.contributor.authorPousa, Eduardo
dc.contributor.authorVilla, María
dc.contributor.authorSouza, Júlio Henrique Germano de
dc.contributor.authorCastro, Marina
dc.date.accessioned2025-11-11T11:22:44Z
dc.date.available2025-11-11T11:22:44Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.description.abstractOld-growth forests are crucial for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation due to their high carbon storage, structural complexity, and resilience to environmental stressors. Yet, such ecosystems are rare in Europe, and their ecological functioning remains poorly understood. This study assesses the capacity of Quercus pyrenaica forests in the Montesinho-Nogueira Natura 2000 site (Bragança, Portugal) to develop maturity attributes under different forest management histories. We compare an area with low human intervention for over 80 years (10.2 ha) to two areas harvested for traditional small-scale firewood and timber extraction around 30 years ago (11.4 ha and 2.73 ha). Dendrometric measurements, carbon storage, floristic inventories of understory vegetation, and regeneration surveys were conducted across 42 sub-plots during June–July 2024. Results show that older forests store significantly more carbon and support greater biodiversity, evenness and regeneration, while younger forests present higher values of species richness, including several rare taxa. Our findings suggest that under favorable conditions, secondary forests can recover substantial biomass and carbon stocks within a few decades, while mature stands continue to accumulate carbon and maintain complex structures. Differences in floristic composition between sites may also reflect distinct silvopastoral practices between patches, such as itinerant grazing through forest patches, which historically characterized the Montesinho landscape. These results highlight the value of preserving a mosaic of successional stages, as both mature and intermediate-phase forests, together with compatible human activities, provide complementary biodiversity benefits and contribute to the multifunctionality of Mediterranean agroforestry systems.por
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research was funded by European funds through the LIFE Programme, under the project SILFORE—Towards the conservation and management of resilient agroforestry systems through silvopastoralism (Project 10107445—LIFE21-CCA-ESLIFE SILFORE). This work was supported by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC): CIMO, UIDB/00690/2020 (DOI: 10.54499/UIDB/00690/2020); and SusTEC, LA/P/0007/2020 (DOI: 10.54499/LA/P/0007/2020).
dc.identifier.citationPousa, Eduardo, Villa, María; Souza, Júlio Henrique Germano de; Castro, Marina (2025). Quercus pyrenaica Forests Under Contrasting Management Histories in Northern Portugal: Carbon Storage and Understory Biodiversity. Land. ISSN 2073-445X. 14:10, p. 1-20
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/land14101953
dc.identifier.issn2073-445X
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10198/35031
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherMDPI
dc.relationMountain Research Center
dc.relationAssociate Laboratory for Sustainability and Tecnology in Mountain Regions
dc.relation.ispartofLand
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
dc.subjectOld-growth forests
dc.subjectCarbon storage
dc.subjectBiodiversity conservation
dc.subjectForest management
dc.subjectNatura 2000
dc.subjectSpecies richness
dc.subjectClimate change mitigation
dc.titleQuercus pyrenaica Forests Under Contrasting Management Histories in Northern Portugal: Carbon Storage and Understory Biodiversityeng
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.awardTitleMountain Research Center
oaire.awardTitleAssociate Laboratory for Sustainability and Tecnology in Mountain Regions
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB%2F00690%2F2020/PT
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/LA%2FP%2F0007%2F2020/PT
oaire.citation.endPage20
oaire.citation.issue10
oaire.citation.startPage1
oaire.citation.titleLand
oaire.citation.volume14
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameVilla
person.familyNameSouza
person.familyNameCastro
person.givenNameMaría
person.givenNameJúlio Henrique Germano de
person.givenNameMarina
person.identifier2303569
person.identifier.ciencia-idB81D-89AC-6368
person.identifier.ciencia-idE41B-6A5D-D90D
person.identifier.ciencia-id6417-7D8D-FD7E
person.identifier.orcid0000-0001-8353-5438
person.identifier.orcid0000-0001-5233-2064
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-6368-8098
person.identifier.ridB-5197-2016
person.identifier.scopus-author-id57158670600
person.identifier.scopus-author-id56612728000
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
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