Effects of Previous Land-Use on Plant Species Composition and Diversity in Mediterranean Forests

Abstract

At some point in their history, most forests in the Mediterranean Basin have been subjected to intensive management or converted to agriculture land. Knowing how forest plant communities recovered after the abandonment of forest-management or agricultural practices (including livestock grazing) provides a basis for investigating how previous land management have affected plant species diversity and composition in forest ecosystems. Our study investigated the consequences of historical “land management” practices on present-day Mediterranean forests by comparing species assemblages and the diversity of (i) all plant species and (ii) each ecological group defined by species’ habitat preferences and successional status (i.e., early-, mid-, and late-successional species). We compared forest stands that differed both in land-use history and in successional stage. In addition, we evaluated the value of those stands for biodiversity conservation. The study revealed significant compositional differentiation among stands that was due to among-stand variations in the diversity (namely, species richness and evenness) of early-, intermediate-, and late-successional species. Historical land management has led to an increase in compositional divergences among forest stands and the loss of late-successional forest species.

Land use legacies on forest understory vegetation and soils in the Mediterranean region: Should we use historical maps or in situ land use remnants?

“…In some studies, in situ PLU remnants were also recorded to confirm the accuracy of the historical map used (e.g. Peterken and Game, 1984), but thanks to the recent availability of large scale historical maps (Kaim et al, 2016), more and more studies are carried out without field survey (Kouba et al, 2015;Bergès et al, 2016). Here we underline the limitations of using historical maps, especially in our Mediterranean context.…”

“…Land use legacies on current forest soils, species richness and composition have been much less explored in Mediterranean forests compared to temperate forests (Amici et al, 2013;Kouba et al, 2015;Basnou et al, 2016). Basnou et al (2016) found that forest continuity had a weak effect on woody species, while Kouba et al (2015) highlighted a loss in late-successional species in Mediterranean forests due to intensive and widespread previous agricultural use in this region. Amici et al (2013) showed that light-demanding species richness decreased with increasing successional age of forest, despite the open forest canopy measured in forests at all successional ages.…”

Responses of Individual Plant Species, Functional Groups, <em>α</em>- and <em>β</em>-Diversity to Short-Term Grazing Exclusion under Severe Drought Episode in Long-Term Grazed Alfa-Steppes

“…Within each site, three 200-m linear transects (30 transects in total) were carried out. Plant abundance and richness within each transect were estimated using the Point-Intercept Method (Goodall 1952), which consists of recording, at every 20-cm intervals, the identity of all individuals that are in contact with a vertical nail (Kouba et al 2015). The abundance of each species in each transect was estimated from the number of individuals recorded along the same transect.…”

Linkage between plant species diversity and soil-based functions along a post-agricultural succession is influenced by the vegetative forms

“…Similarly, Paillet et al (2010) recorded the decrease of the evenness of early-successional shadeintolerant species for the benefit of intermediate-successional species due to the shadier conditions prevailing in the later stages of the succession. In addition, this decline of evenness in annuals species can be explained by the greater dominance of perennial species and shrubs, which are superior competitors for resources (Kouba et al 2015).…”