Ecology of Mediterranean Evergreen Oak Forests

Broadleaved evergreen forests where holm oak (Quercus ilex 1.) is almost the only canopy tree are a distinctive ecosystem of the Mediterranean Basin. Biogeographically, these forests lie between cool-temperate deciduous forests to the north and drier shrublands to the south. In a more general view, they are ecologically intermediate between these deciduous forests and humid warm-temperate evergreen forests, such as the laurisilva of the Macarone sian islands or the broadleaved evergreen forests of eastern Asia. Holm oak forests are characterized by small-stature trees (usually 5 to 12 m tall), which are slow growing, cast a deep shade, and have small, evergreen, sclerophyl lous leaves. Summer drought is the major environmental constraint. Mediterranean broadleaved evergreen forests have been underrepre sented in the open literature. For example, The Woodlands Data Set of the International Biological Program (IBP) contained data from just one holm oak forest plot, Le Rouquet in southern France (Reichle 1981). Also, some models of European forests consider just two major forest types, broad leaved deciduous and evergreen conifers, forgeting the extensive forests and woodlands of holm oak and cork oak (Quercus suber 1.), which are the ma jor evergreen oak tree species in the Mediterranean Basin. The extensive lit erature on Mediterranean-type ecosystems has also largely neglected these forests, being centred mostly on Mediterranean-type shrublands.

The first synthesis of the ecology of Mediterranean holm oak forests - a unique ecosystem, so far underrepresented in the literature Presents results that are applicable also to other water-limited forests

Klappentext

Used by humans since ancient times, evergreen oak forests still cover extensive mountain areas of the Mediterranean Basin. These broadleaved evergreen forests occupy a transitional zone between the cool-temperate deciduous forest biome and the drier Mediterranean pine forests and shrublands. Slow growing and casting a deep shade, the sclerophyllous holm oak (IQuercus ilex/I) absolutely dominates the closed canopy of many Mediterranean evergreen oak forests. This is a synthesis of 20 years of research on the structure, function, and dynamics of holm oak forests in two intensively studied experimental areas in Spain. By combining observational measurements at the leaf, tree, plot, and catchment scales with field experiments and modelling, the authors explore how these forests cope with strong water limitation and repeated disturbances.

Inhalt
1 Introduction.- 1 1 Holm Oak and Holm Oak Forests: An Introduction.- 2 Experimental Areas of Prades and Montseny.- 2 Stand Structure and Dynamics.- 3 Stand Structure, Aboveground Biomass and Production.- 4 Structure and Dynamics of the Root System.- 5 Resprouting Dynamics.- 6 Acorn Ecology.- 7 Seedling Recruitment.- 8 A Model of Stand Dynamics For Holm Oak-Aleppo Pine Forests.- 3 Light Harvesting and Gas Exchange.- 9 Leaf Traits and Canopy Organization.- 10 Gas Exchange and Water Relations.- 11 Modelling Canopy Gas Exchange During Summer Drought.- 12 GOTILWA: An Integrated Model of Water Dynamics and Forest Growth.- 4 Nutrient Cycling at the Stand Level.- 13 Water and Nutrient Limitations to Primary Production.- 14 Precipitation Chemistry and Air Pollution.- 15 Throughfall and Stemflow.- 16 Soil Nitrogen Dynamics.- 17 Soil Water Chemistry.- 18 Nutrient Distribution and Cycling.- 5 Hydrology and Biogeochemistry of Catchments.- 19 Water Balance in Catchments.- 20 Element Budgets in Catchments.- 21 Biogeochemical Models.- 6 Responses to Disturbances.- 22 Soil Fertility After Fire and Clear-Cutting.- 23 Functional Responses to Thinning.- 7 Animals in the Forest: Ecology of Two Main Groups.- 24 Soil Arthropods.- 25 Composition and Dynamics of the Bird Community.