Land use and climate changes effects on plant and soil C and N dynamics

Soil is the major terrestrial reservoir of C. In spite of its obvious importance, there is a lack of knowledge about how climate change and land-use change interactions affect carbon cycle. The aim of this research line is to contribute to assess the vulnerability of soil carbon stocks in silvopastoral systems, by means of understand … Read more

Shrubland management strategies to maximize multiple ecosystem functions and services

Understory shrubs play an important role in forest functioning as they may compete with overstory trees for soil resources and increase the risk of fire propagation. Moreover, shrub encroachment into grassland may decrease pastoral value and increase fire hazard to surrounding forests. However, shrubs may have value as a fodder resource or alternative biomass energy, … Read more

Sustainability of Agro-Silvo-Pastoral systems

Despite the low contribution of silvopastoralism to the total Gross Domestic Product of the most of European Mediterranean regions, extensive livestock systems play an important social and economic role in the structure of rural areas. This research line aims to (i) detect relevant bottle necks on the structure and management of silvopastoral systems for their … Read more