Dr. Pere Casals Tortras.

Certification of scientific productivity and science and transfer activity for the program I3 (Agencia Nacional de Evaluación)

Specialist in plant and soil relationships in agrosilvopastoral systems. With a background in plant and soil sciences, I have a PhD in the University of Barcelona addressing plant and soil N dynamics after prescribed fires. Broad experience in studying soil nutrient cycling and organic matter changes as affected by fire and afforestation. Skills using ¹³C, ¹⁴C and ¹⁵N as a soil and plant tracers and soil C fractionation. Involved in research projects assessing the effects forest management, land-use and climate changes on plant and soil relationships.

In order to contribute to a sustainable management of agrosilvopastoral systems, my research interest focuses on the effects of management derived perturbations (i.e. prescribed fires, grazing) or land use and climate stresses (i.e. land abandonment, drought, temperature increase) on plant dynamics, nutrient cycling and organic C stocks and fluxes. At the present I am full-time researcher at the Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia, working to contribute to the comprehensive understanding of burning-driven mechanisms that determine functional shrub composition and structure and key components of soil.

Selected Papers:

Casals P, Valor T, Rios A I, Shipley B. 2018 Leaf and bark functional traits predict resprouting strategies of understory woody species after prescribed fires. For.Ecol.Manage. 429, 158-174.

Casals P, Rios AI. 2018. Burning intensity and low light availability reduce resprouting ability and vigor of Buxus sempervirens L. after clearing. Sci. Total Environ. 627c, 403-416

Casals P, Valor T, Besalú A, Molina-Terrén D 2016. Understory fuel load and structure eight to nine years after prescribed burning in Mediterranean pine forests. For. Ecol. Manage. 362, 156-168

Casals P, Lopez-Sangil L, Carrara A, Gimeno C, Nogués S, 2011. Autotrophic and heterotrophic contributions to short-term soil CO₂ efflux following simulated summer precipitation pulses in a Mediterranean dehesa. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 25, GB 3012, doi:10.1029/2010GB003973

Casals P, Garcia-Pausas J, Montané F, Romanyà J, Rovira P, 2010. Root decomposition in grazed and abandoned Mediterranean and mountain grasslands estimated by standard labelled roots. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 139: 759-765

Casals P, Baiges T, Bota G, Chocarro C, de Bello F,  Fanlo R, Sebastià MT, Taull M. 2009. Silvopastoral systems in the Northeastern Iberian Peninsula. A Multifunctional Perspective. In: Rigueiro-Rodríguez A, McAdam JH, Mosquera-Losada MR (Eds) Agroforestry in Europe: Current Status and Future Prospects. Springer-Berlag.  ISBN 978-1-4020-8271-9, Cap. 9, pp. 161-181

Casals P, Gimeno C, Carrara A, Lopez-Sangil L, Sanz MJ. 2009. Soil CO₂ efflux and extractable organic carbon fractions under simulated precipitation events in a Mediterranean Dehesa. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 41: 1915-1922.

Casals P, Romanya J, Vallejo VR 2005. Short-term N2 fixation by legume seedlings and resprouts after fire in Mediterranean old-fields. Biogeochemistry, 76(3) : 477- 501

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Jordi Garcia-Pausas. PhD.

Research Scientist specialized in soil C and N stocks and dynamics in grasslands. Working on priming effects in different soil C and nutrient scenarios.

Selected Papers:

Garcia-Pausas J, Romanyà J, Montané F, Ríos A, Taull M., Rovira P, Casals P, 2017. Are soil carbon stocks in mountain grasslands compromised by land-use changes?. In Jordi Catalan, Josep Mª Ninot, Merce Aniz (Eds.) High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World. Advances in Global Change Research. Springer Open 9, pp. 207 -230.

Garcia-Pausas, J., Paterson, E., 2011. Microbial community abundance and structure are determinants of soil organic matter mineralisation in the presence of labile carbon. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 43: 1705-1713.

Garcia-Pausas J, Casals P, Romanya J, Vallecillo S. Sebastià MT, 2011. Seasonal patterns of belowground biomass and productivity in mountain grasslands in the Pyrenees. Plant and Soil, 340: 315-326

Garcia-Pausas J, Casals P, Camarero Ll, Huguet C, Sebastià MT, Thomson R, Romanya J, 2008. Factors regulating carbon mineralization in the surface and subsurface soils of the Pyrenean mountain grasslands. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2008.08.001

Garcia-Pausas J, Casals P, Camarero Ll, Huguet C, Sebastià MT, Thomson R, Romanya J, 2007. Soil organic carbon storage in mountain grasslands of the Pyrenees: Effects of climate and topography. Biogeochemistry, 82: 279-289

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Pere Rovira Castella PhD.

Research Scientist with expertise in soil nutrients and organic matter dynamics. Expertise in physical and chemical fractionation of soil organic matter, and biochemical characterization of the obtained fractions.  Involved in projects devoted to the quantification of soil C stocks at the whole-country level.

 Selected Papers:

Rovira P, Rovira R, 2010. Mathematical description of litter decomposition: Towards a generalised exponential approach. Geoderma, 155: 329-343.

Rovira P, Jorba M,  Romanyà J, 2010. Active and passive organic matter fractions in Mediterranean forest soils. Biology and Fertility of Soils,  46: 355-369.

Rovira P, Duguy B, Vallejo VR, 2009. Black carbon in wildfire-affected mediterranean shrubland soils. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 172: 43-52.

Rovira P, Kurz-Besson C, Hernàndez P, Coûteaux MM, Vallejo VR, 2008. The amino acid signature of decomposing litter. Plant and Soil, 307: 149-166.

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Specialist on silvopastoralism. He is interested on the definition of opportunities and threats for the sustainability of agro-silvo-pastoral systems. Skills on forest and rangeland resources assessment and management, with expertise in Mediterranean and alpine regions and in El Salvador and Syria pastoral systems.

Selected papers:

Taüll M, Casals P, Baiges T. 2016. Tipologies de pastura de les principals formacions arbrades. Ed. Generalitat de Catalunya, Dept. Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca i Alimentació, Centre de la Propietat Forestal. (http://cpf.gencat.cat/ca/detalls/Article/Informacio-pastures).

Taüll M, Baiges T, Casals P. 2012 Producción herbácea, calidad de pasto y carga ganadera en diferentes rodales adehesados en Cataluña: efecto del arbolado Actas LI Reunión Científica de la Sociedad Española para el Estudio de los Pastos.

Taull M, Baiges T, 2010. Pasturatge amb bestiar boví de zones de bosc: planificació de l’aprofitament ramader, gestió de l’arbrat i del matoll. Actes de les XXVII Jornades Tècniques Silvícoles, 44 – 51

Baiges T, Taull M, Casals P, 2007. Gestión silvopastoral en Catalunya: de sistema productivo a herramienta de conservación. Cuadernos de la Sociedad Española de las Ciencias Forestales, 22: 11 – 16

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Dra. Teresa Valor Ibars. PhD.

Research Scientist working to contribute to the understanding of management-driven mechanisms determining forest composition, structure and dynamics. Her PhD focuses on the study of the short and medium term effects of prescribed burning on Mediterranean pines. Specifically, she aims to understand the mechanisms driven by fire that affects the primary and secondary metabolism of pine species. She has broad experience on dendrocronology and gas chromatography techniques, and on the use of stable isotope dendrochronology to extract information about the physiological responses of trees to environmental stressors. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the scientific basis for optimizing the burning prescription in order to achieve management objectives and minimize the negative effects on the ecosystem.

Selected papers:

Valor T, Casals P, González-Olabarria JR, Piqué M, Battipaglia G. 2018. Disentangling the effects of crown scorch and competition release on the physiological and growth response of Pinus halepensis Mill using δ13C and δ18O isotopes. For. Ecol. Manage. 424, 276-287

Casals P, Valor T, Rios A I, Shipley B. 2018 Leaf and bark functional traits predict resprouting strategies of understory woody species after prescribed fires. For.Ecol.Manage. 429, 158-174.

Valor T, González-Olabarria JR, Piqué M, Casals P. 2017. The effects of burning season and severity on the mortality over time of Pinus nigra ssp. salzmannii (Dunal) Franco and P. sylvestris L. For. Ecol.  Manage.doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2017.08.027

Valor T, González-Olabarria JR, Piqué M, Casals P. 2017. The effects of burning season and severity on the mortality over time of Pinus nigra ssp. salzmannii (Dunal) Franco and P. sylvestris L. For. Ecol.  Manage. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2017.08.027

Valor T, Ormeño E, Casals P. 2017. Temporal effects of prescribed burning on terpene production in Mediterranean pines. Tree Physiology, doi:10.1093/treephys/tpx069

Casals P, Valor T, Besalú A, Molina-Terrén D 2016. Understory fuel load and structure eight to nine years after prescribed burning in Mediterranean pine forests. For. Ecol. Manage. 362, 156-168

Valor T, González-Olabarria JR, Piqué M. 2015. Assessing the impact of prescribed burning on the growth of European pines. For. Ecol. Manage. 343, 101-109

Valor T, Piqué M, López BC, González-Olabarria JR. 2013. Influence of  tree size, reduced competition and climate on the growth response of  Pinus nigra Arn. salzmannii after fire. Ann. For. Sci. DOI 10.1007/s13595-013-0284-x

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