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