RT info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis
T1 Determination of bark production costs, a fireadaptive trait, in a Mediterranean pine species
T2 Determinación de los costes de construcción de la  corteza, carácter de adaptación al fuego, en una  especie de pino mediterráneo
A1 Herrero de San Luis, Elisa
A2 Universidad de Valladolid. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenierías Agrarias
K1 Bark thickness
K1 Fire adaptations
K1 Life-history theory
K1 Pinus halepensis
K1 Resources  allocation
K1 Wood
K1 3106.08 Silvicultura
K1 3106 Ciencia Forestal
AB Bark thickness is a fire-adaptive trait in plants, influenced by environmental factors. In this study, we use Pinus halepensis to study the production costs of bark, because even though this species is an obligate seeder, recent studies showed that some populations could survive certain fire regimens. In dry continental climates, P. halepensis populations require more time and resources to develop the minimum basal bark thickness necessary for survival under moderately intense fires. However, these populations do not reach a critical bark thickness at breast height. This can increase the immaturity risk, dead by fire before establishing an aerial seed bank capable of ensuring recruitment. Understanding ecotypic patterns, phenotypic plasticity, and relative resource allocation to bark requires assessing the construction costs of bark and wood, which have not been previously studied in trees. To address this, we collected bark and wood samples at breast height and the tree base by a destructive analysis. The samples underwent carbon-nitrogen (C/N) ratio analysis and ash/nitrate determination, as carbon concentration is a reliable indicator of construction costs. Our results showed that, as expected, bark construction costs were higher than wood. The construction costs of bark were also significantly higher than wood at the tree base. Moreover, we observed significant differences among populations between the costs of wood and bark, and in some cases, between breast height and the tree base. These findings highlight the importance of studying resource allocation to key adaptive traits such as bark thickness. Furthermore, our results confirm the importance of bark thickness in P. halepensis so implementing silvicultural treatments to reduce immaturity risk under changing climatic conditions is essential for the conservation and management of its populations, ensuring their persistence.
YR 2025
FD 2025
LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/75511
UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/75511
LA eng
NO Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales
DS UVaDOC
RD 06-abr-2025