Laura Hernández Mateo

• PhD Forest Ecology
• PostDoc Position at Spanish National Research Council

Invasive species currently pose a major environmental challenge. Understanding their development and the factors associated with their expansion is the first step towards developing effective control measures. This work proposes the use of detailed spatio-temporal information from forest monitoring systems to assess the demographic rates, spatio-te...

Robinia pseudoacacia L. (black locust) is a deciduous tree native to North America, widely introduced and naturalized in Europe. Despite being one of the world's most invasive woody angiosperms, its role in European forest policy remains contentious, with debates about its invasion potential, ecological impacts, and control measures and it is not f...

National as well as international requirements have led to an increased need to quantify deadwood stocks in forest ecosystems given their important role not only in terms of carbon storage and regulation of the carbon cycle but also as biodiversity refugia. However, differences in definitions and field monitoring as well as gaps in existing data on...

Key message Nested plot designs with concentric plots with increasing radii and size threshold underestimate tree species richness with respect to full census sampling with no tree size restrictions. Regeneration emerged as the most relevant pool for tree species richness estimation. Context Nested or concentric plot designs, where trees are sampl...

ECOSISTEMAS consolidates its commitment to an open and fair publishing system and moves towards its internationalization

Acknowledgement to reviewers and guest editors of ECOSISTEMAS in the year 2023

Forest biomass is an essential resource in relation to the green transition and its assessment is key for the sustainable management of forest resources. Here, we present a forest biomass dataset for Europe based on the best available inventory and satellite data, with a higher level of harmonisation and spatial resolution than other existing data....

Key message Abies alba Mill.– Pinus uncinata Ramond. ecotone dynamics are examined along both altitudinal and protection level gradients by combining field inventories and Landsat data. An upward expansion of A. alba to the subalpine belt is observed in the last decades as a result of stand maturation after logging cessation. Context High-mountain...

Key message This paper proposes a methodology that could be considered as a base for a harmonized protocol for stem-quality reporting in Europe while conducting National Forest Inventories, in order to cost-efficiently obtain a visual wood quality proxy. The importance of the variables selected, the limitations identified, and some improvements to...

Anthropic activities have modelled and simplified southern European forest landscapes for centuries. Over recent decades, new drivers related to human-mediated global change have induced the redistribution of tree species and an increase in more complex forests. However, the current large-scale patterns and drivers of these changes are yet to be fu...

Reseña bibliográfica: “Inventarios Forestales Nacionales de América Latina y el Caribe. Hacia la armonización de la información forestal” de Carla Ramírez, Iciar Alberdi, Carlos Bahamondez y Joberto Veloso de Freitas (coords.), 2021

La defoliación arbórea es uno de los mejores indicadores para evaluar el estado fitosanitario de los bosques. Existen varias redes en España que toman esta información: Red Europea de Seguimiento de Daños en Bosques de ICP-Forests, Redes Autonómicas de Seguimiento de Daños, y Red de Seguimiento y Evaluación de Parques Nacionales. El objetivo de est...

Nota sobre creación de un Grupo de Trabajo en la AEET: BigBioData, Seguimiento de la Biodiversidad en la era del Big data

El seguimiento y evaluación de la distribución, estructura y funcionamiento de la biodiversidad, así como los efectos que ejercen diferentes presiones y amenazas sobre su conservación y dinámica en un contexto de Cambio Global, constituyen uno de los grandes retos de la ciencia actual y un eje crítico en las agendas de numerosas agencias gubernamen...

Plantations of Eucalyptus species have been widely used in Spain to meet the high demand for wood given their rapid growth and high wood production capacity. Defoliation induced by the invasive eucalypt weevil (Gonipterus platensis (Marelli)), however, has been causing significant economic damage to Spanish Eucalyptus spp. plantations since the 199...

Determining site quality is essential in order to develop sustainable forest management, allowing more appropriate silvicultural decisions to be made. However, most studies carried out in Spain have focused on a few species and at local scale, which makes it difficult to apply the findings or conduct studies at larger scales. The aim of this study...

European beech is a temperate species with peripheral populations in the Mediterranean mountains. These Mediterranean beech forests have often been interpreted as climatic relicts. However, the use of this term does not always seem appropriate because their recent post-glacial expansion in the Iberian Peninsula makes it difficult to disentangle the...

Research Highlights: This is the first study that has considered forest management and wildfires in the balance of living biomass and carbon stored in Mediterranean forests. Background and Objectives: The Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement request countries to estimate and report carbon emissions and removals from the forest in a transparent and re...

Forest deadwood is a relevant factor in the provision of ecosystem services (forest biodiversity, carbon sequestration, recreational and aesthetic values), but it also influences the risk and impact of forest perturbations. Hence, reliable estimations are urgently need in the lack of detailed information in Mediterranean forests at large scales. In...

Forest deadwood is a key indicator for biodiversity, disturbances and for carbon storage assessments. However, the role of Mediterranean forests in deadwood carbon storage is unclear. In this regard, the European Regulation 2018/841 on the inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry in the 2030 cli...

The quantification of forests available for wood supply (FAWS) is essential for decision-making with regard to the maintenance and enhancement of forest resources and their contribution to the global carbon cycle. The provision of harmonized forest statistics is necessary for the development of forest associated policies and to support decision-mak...

Plots of three National Forest Inventories were analyzed and classified in mixed, pure, coniferous and broadleaved. First results show a national increase of 3.29% in natural mixed plots . It is also noticeable that pure plots are more sensitive to change than mixed ones. Data show that there is an increase of mixed broadleaved forests and a decre...

Los ecosistemas forestales de montaña de la Península Ibérica, en los que algunas especies de árboles forman sus límites meridionales de su área de distribución mundial, son especialmente sensibles a los efectos del cambio climático y a los cambios que se han producido en la gestión y usos en estas áreas. Como consecuencia, estamos asistiendo a una...

Rear-edge tree populations are currently at the forefront of habitat conservation. Understanding the dynamics of such marginal and peripheral populations is necessary to improve their preservation in the face of global change. Focusing on the south-western rear edge populations of silver fir (Abies alba) in Europe (Spanish Pyrenees) and using 763 r...

Accurate carbon-balance accounting in forest soils is necessary for the development of climate change policy. However, changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) occur slowly and these changes may not be captured through repeated soil inventories. Simulation models may be used as alternatives to SOC measurement. The Yasso07 model presents a suitable alte...

Aim of study: To present the evolution of the current multi-objective Spanish National Forest Inventory (SNFI) through the assessment of different key indicators on challenging areas of the forestry sector. Area of study: Using information from the Second, Third and Fourth SNFI, this work provides case studies in Navarra, La Rioja, Galicia and Bal...

Bioclimatic transition zones are supposed to encompass sensitive areas to global change effects on forest ecosystems. In this study, we attempt to detect shifts in the ranges of contrasting Iberian tree species in the submediterranean transition zone in Navarra, northern Spain. These shifts are analysed in the context of a significant increase in t...

Humans have historically played a critical role in the management of Mediterranean-type ecosystems (MTEs) through traditional fire use. Although chestnut forests are widespread across the Mediterranean Basin, little is known about their historical fire regimes. Our goal here is to generate testable hypotheses about the drivers of fire regime dynami...

Los bosques juegan un papel fundamental como sumidero o fuente de carbono y en la conservación de la biodiversidad a nivel global. Por este motivo, la detección y seguimiento de los efectos del cambio global sobre los ecosistemas forestales, sus tendencias y los factores asociados constituyen algunos de los grandes retos a los que se enfrentan en l...

http://www.in-tree.org/uploads/images/book/Introduced_tree_species_E-1.pdf

Since woody biomass is an important renewable energy source and plays a decisive role in mitigating the effects of climate change the issue of the availability of wood is emerging as a relevant post-Kyoto decision. Accordingly, from a national to a global scale, production of better information on the quantities of wood available has turned out to...

The collection of information on the approaches of wood resources assessment was essential to provide background details necessary to meet the objectives of COST Action Usewood. This chapter describes the processes that were used by COST Action Usewood to review the wood resource assessment methods used in NFI’s and gives an insight into the differ...

The necessity to have homogenous and objective forest statistics for decision making at national level provided the impetus for undertaking the first forest inventory on a national scale in Spain (NFI1) between 1965 and 1974. This first National Forest Inventory (NFI), based on aerial photograph interpretation, set the foundations for subsequent NF...

The supply of wood in Europe on a sustainable basis is highly relevant for forestry and related policies, particularly in relation to (i) analysing global change mitigation strategies and carbon accounting (ii) establishing realistic forecasts and targets for wood resources, biomass and renewable energy and (iii) assessing and supporting strategies...

El impacto del cambio global en nuestros bosques está irrumpiendo como una de las grandes preocupaciones de la sociedad del siglo XXI (FAO, 2015). La detección y seguimiento de los efectos del cambio global sobre los bosques constituyen uno de los grandes retos a los que se enfrentan en la actualidad científicos y gestores forestales. Los inventari...

For national and international reporting on forest available for wood supply (FAWS), harmonized data are needed. This information is required as forests provide goods for various sectors like the timber industry or the bioenergy sector. The effect of applying different thresholds to the three restriction classes (environmental, social and economic...

The compilation of GHG inventories has become a common practice to support environmental decision- and policy-making, for example in the context of the UNFCCC. To estimate GHG emissions, simulation models present viable alternatives to measured data. In order to make an informed decision on model selection, clear information on the purpose and appl...

Wood resources are a long standing and important political issue. First established at local and then at national level, information about wood resources were collated at international level by FAO from 1948 onwards. The Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and the policy at European Union level stressed the requirement for the sustainable management of these...

The book presents the current state and good practices of national forest inventories in monitoring wood resources and demonstrates pathways for harmonisation and improved common reporting. Beyond a general overview over availability and use of wood resources in different countries, it provides a unique collection of original contributions from nat...

• Context It is assumed that global change is already affecting the composition, structure and distribution of forest ecosystems; however, detailed evidences of altitudinal and latitudinal shifts are still scarce. • Aims To develop a method based on National Forest Inventory (NFI) to assess spatio-temporal changes in species distributions. • Method...

Andalusia is one of Europe’s most biologically diverse regions due to its geographical position, its large size and its particular climatic, topographical and historical conditions. This book examines the state of the biodiversity associated with the main forest types of this region from the data collected in the Third National Forest Inventory and...

RESUMEN El trabajo tuvo como objetivo evaluar el efecto de los principales sistemas agrícolas de la Península de Paraguaná, sobre el carbono orgánico del suelo (COS) y el carbono de la biomasa microbiana (C-BM). Para ello se tomaron muestras superficiales de suelo (0-25 cm) en cinco áreas agrícolas de la zona, ubicadas en la provincia de humedad de...

Para definir estrategias de mitigación del cambio global y poder plantearse objetivos para la estimación de energía procedente de la biomasa a nivel nacional y Europeo, así como para apoyar la propuesta de un aumento del uso de madera como una decisión posterior al Protocolo de Kioto, es necesario conocer la disponibilidad de madera en Europa sobre...

Context Old-growth trees play a very important role in the maintenance of biodiversity in forests. However, no clear definition is yet available to help identify them since tree age is usually not recorded in National Forest Inventories. Aims To develop and test a new method to identify old-growth trees using a species-specific threshold for tre...

Within the genus Acacia there are several species which exhibit invasive behaviour. In the region of Galicia (NW Spain) A. dealbata Link and A. melanoxylon R.Br. are the most abundant of these species. They have expanded from small plots into forest ecosystems and have become the dominant tree species in some areas. The general objective of this wo...

Available at: http://www.paleodiversitas.org/

Teniendo como punto de partida la Convención de la Diversidad bioló-gica de 1992, desde la segunda mitad del siglo XX las perspectivas en política y gestión medioambiental han dado un giro sin precedentes. Variables intangibles, difíciles de medir, como es la biodiversidad, son cada vez más importantes para la sociedad. En consecuencia, enmar-cado...

Teniendo como punto de partida la Convención de la Diversidad biológica de 1992, desde la segunda mitad del siglo XX las perspectivas en política y gestión medioambiental han dado un giro sin precedentes. Variables intangibles, difíciles de medir, como es la biodiversidad, son cada vez más importantes para la sociedad. En consecuencia, enmarcado en...

Charred woods may be used to effectively reconstruct past wood acquisition strategies. We used anthracological data from the pre-Roman settlement of Pintia (Padilla de Duero, Valladolid) to examine the use of forest resources at the local scale. Palaeoecological data revealed heterogeneous landscapes in the inland northern meseta with environments...

The study of more than 700 charcoals from the Vaccaean settlement of Pintia (Padilla del Duero, Valladolid) provides new local and detailed data about the Iron Age II forest composition in Continental–Mediterranean inland Spain. Pinus gr. sylvestris/nigra (from which an unexpectedly high number of charcoals were identified), together with Mediterra...

The role of pinewoods as native forests in the Iberian Mountains, and their long-term dynamics during the last interglacial, has been intensely debated among geobotanists. This debate has resulted in several different hypotheses regarding the interpretation of the present day landscape.Recent research on Late Quaternary palaeoecological records has...

The role of pinewoods as native forests in the Iberian Mountains, and their long-term dynamics during the last interglacial, has been intensely debated among geobotanists. This debate has resulted in several different hypotheses regarding the interpretation of the present day landscape. Recent research on Late Quaternary palaeoecological records ha...

El entorno del Pico del Lobo es uno de los enclaves del Sistema Central con una mayor diversidad de taxones eurosiberianos y boreo-alpinos, presentando además diversos hábitats de carácter atlántico y orófilo bien conservados. La presencia en la zona de dos especies del Catálogo de Flora Protegida regional,Swertia perennis L. y Huperzia selago (L.)...

El objetivo del trabajo es dar a conocer el estado actual de conocimientos científicos sobre el pasado del paisaje vegetal (Cuaternario final) en los territorios interiores no montanos de la depresión del Duero. Se recogen todos los yacimientos cuyo estudio ya ha concluido así como los que se encuentran en fase de investigación o prospección. Se pr...

Holocene dynamics of pines in the western Iberian mountains

Se presentan en este trabajo resultados preliminares del estudio de carbones hallados en la excavación arqueológica de Las Quintanas (campañas de 1998 al 2004) pertenecientes a la ciudad vaccea de Pintia (Peñafiel, Valladolid). La cronología de los restos (último tercio del Holoceno) demuestra que Pinus pinaster y Pinus gr sylvestris/nigra tuvieron...

Se presentan los resultados de los estudios de macrorrestos e impresiones vegetales hallados en dos localidades de la submeseta norte de la Península Ibérica. Los troncos y piñas subfósiles extraídos en las obras de la turbera de Tubilla del Lago (Burgos), así como el molde de piña encontrado en los travertinos de Tubilla del Agua (Burgos), han sid...