RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Twelve-year oak seedling survival and growth in post-coal mining pastures of northern Spain: Combined effects of nurse shrubs and grazing exclusion
A1 Muñoz Cerro, Elena
A1 Armijos Montaño, Andrés Roosevelt
A1 López Marcos, Daphne
A1 Martínez Ruiz, Carolina
A1 García Duro, Juan
K1 Facilitation
K1 Forest restoration
K1 Coal mine
K1 Leguminous shrubs
K1 Quercus petraea
K1 Quercus pyrenaica
K1 Herbivory
K1 3106 Ciencia Forestal
AB Facilitative interactions among plants can support vegetation recovery in degraded environments, yet theirmedium-term effectiveness in restoration remains insufficiently understood. We conducted a 12-year fieldexperiment in reclaimed open-cast coal mines in northern Spain to assess whether native colonizer legume shrubsenhance the survival and growth of seedlings of two Quercus species. A total of 800 seedlings were planted underfour treatments combining the presence/absence of shrub and grazing, allowing us to disentangle biotic andabiotic facilitation mechanisms. Shrubs enhanced seedling survival, particularly for Q. pyrenaica, by bufferingearly mortality during summer droughts. Medium-term seedling survival under shrubs was markedly higher thanin shrub-free areas (13–25 % vs. 1–4 %). Herbivory had a limited effect on survival, with fencing providingmarginal benefits in specific years. Slow increments of Quercus seedling height and diameter over time werefound, being more pronounced for Q. petraea, and varying as the combined effect of shrubs and grazing exclu-sion. Annual growth varied over time for both Quercus species, being greater under than outside shrubs forQ. petraea, while for Q. pyrenaica, the shrub effect depended on the year. Q. pyrenaica seedlings exhibited higherannual growth than Q. petraea. Differences in seedling annual growth with and without shrubs were smaller inthe driest years. We conclude that native shrubs play a key facilitative role in the medium-term restoration ofdegraded oak ecosystems under sub-Mediterranean conditions. Their effectiveness varies by species and responsevariable (survival vs. growth), and the underlying facilitation mechanisms differ over time.
PB Elsevier
SN 0378-1127
YR 2026
FD 2026
LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/80262
UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/80262
LA eng
NO Forest Ecology and Management, 2026, vol. 600, p. 123291
NO Producción Científica
DS UVaDOC
RD 03-dic-2025