Modeling shrub encroachment in subalpine grasslands under different environmental and management scenarios

Journal of Environmental Management

Volumn 121, Issue , 2013, Pages 160-169

  Komac, B ^a   Kefi, S ^b   Nuche, P ^c   Escos J ^d   Alados, C L ^c  

^a Institut d'Estudis Andorrans (CENMA/IEA)   (Andorra)

^b INSTITUT DES SCIENCES DE L EVOLUTION   (France)

^c INSTITUTO PIRENAICO DE ECOLOGÍA   (Spain)

^d UNIVERSITY OF ZARAGOZA   (Spain)

Author keywords

Echinospartum horridum; Eriz n; Grazing; Land abandonment; Lattice structured model; Mountain grasslands; Pyrenees; Woody encroachment

Indexed keywords

AGRICULTURE; ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT;

ECHINOSPARTUM HORRIDA; ERIZÓN; GRAZING; LAND ABANDONMENTS; LATTICE-STRUCTURED MODEL; MANAGEMENT SCENARIOS; MOUNTAIN GRASSLAND; PYRENEES; STRUCTURED MODELING; WOODY ENCROACHMENTS;

GLOBAL WARMING;

ALPINE ENVIRONMENT; DATA SET; ECOLOGICAL MODELING; ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT; ENDANGERED SPECIES; ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT; GLOBAL WARMING; GRASSLAND; GRAZING MANAGEMENT; SHRUB; SPECIES DIVERSITY; SUBALPINE ENVIRONMENT;

ARTICLE; ECHINOSPARTUM HORRIDUM; ECOSYSTEM; ENCROACHMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS; GRASSLAND; GREENHOUSE EFFECT; SHRUB; SIMULATION;

PYRENEES;

ECHINOSPARTUM HORRIDUM;

EID: 84875773461     PISSN: 03014797     EISSN: 10958630     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.01.038     Document Type: Article

References (80)

1. Aguiar M.R., Parvelo J.M., Sala O.E., Lauenroth W.K. Ecosystem responses to changes in plant functional type composition: an example from the Patagonian steppe. Journal of Vegetation Science 1996, 7:381-390.
2. Alados, C.L., Errea, P., Gartzia, M., Aznar, J.M., Nocito, J., Escós, J., Fillat, F. Socio-ecological effects of a transition from an agro-pastoral to a services-based society in alpine grazing systems, submitted for publication.
3. Alados C.L., El Aich A., Komac B., Pueyo Y., García-González R. Self-organized spatial patterns of vegetation in alpine grasslands. Ecological Modelling 2007, 201:233-242.
4. Anthelme F., Jean-Charles V., Brun J.-J. Shrub encroachment in the Alps gives rise to the convergence of sub-alpine communities on a regional scale. Journal of Vegetation Science 2007, 18:355-362.
5. Aparicio A., Guisande R. Replenishment of the endangered Echinospartum algibicum (Genisteae, Fabaceae) from the soil seed bank. Biological Conservation 1997, 81:267-273.
6. Aparicio A., Albaladejo R.G., Ceballos G.L. Genetic differentiation in silicicolous Echinospartum (Leguminosae) indicated by allozyme variability. Plant Systematics and Evolution 2002, 230:189-201.
7. Archer S. Woody plant encroachment into south-western grasslands and savannas: rates, patterns and proximate causes. Ecological Implications of Livestock Herbivory in the West 1994, 13-68. Society of Range Management, Denver, Colorado, USA. M. Vavra, R. Pieper (Eds.).
8. Ball M.C., Egerton J., Lutze J.L., Gutschick V.P., Cunningham R.B. Mechanisms of competition: thermal inhibition of tree seedling growth by grass. Oecologia 2002, 133:120-130.
9. Barclay A., Crawford R. Seedling emergence in the rowan Sorbus aucuparia from an altitudinal gradient. Journal of Ecology 1984, 72:627-636.
10. Bartolomé J., Plaixat J., Fanlo R., Boada M. Conservation of isolated Atlantic heathlands in the Mediterranean region: effects of land-use changes in the Montseny biosphere reserve (Spain). Biological Conservation 2005, 122:81-88.
11. Batllori E., Gutiérrez E. Regional tree line dynamics in response to global change in the Pyrenees. Journal of Ecology 2008, 96:1275-1288.
12. Baudena M., D'Andrea F., Provenzale A. An idealized model for tree-grass coexistence in savannas: the role of life stage structure and fire disturbances. Journal of Ecology 2010, 98:74-80.
13. Benito Alonso J.L. Vegetación del Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido (Sobrarbe, Pirineo Central Aragonés) 2006, Publicaciones del Consejo de Protección de la Naturaleza de Aragón, Zaragoza.
14. Briggs J.M., Knapp A.K., Blair J.M., Heisler J.L., Hoch G.A., Lett M.S., McCarron K. An ecosystem in transition: woody plant expansion into mesic grassland. Bioscience Biotechnology and Biochemistry 2005, 55:243-254.
15. Carcaillet C., Brun J.J. Changes in landscape structure in the Northwestern Alps over the last 7000 Years: lessons from soil charcoal. Journal of Vegetation Science 2000, 11:705-714.
16. Clark P.E., Krueger W.C., Bryant L.D., Thomas D.R. Livestock grazing effects on forage quality of elk winter range. Journal of Range Management 2000, 53:97-105.
17. Cuesta J. Despoblacion de la montaña pirenaica aragonesa. El caso del sobrarbe 2003, S. Escolano Utrilla, J.D.L. Riva Fernández (Eds.).
18. D'Odorico P., Laio F., Ridolfi L. A probabilistic analysis of fire-induced tree-grass coexistence in savannas. The American Naturalist 2006, 167:E79-E87.
19. D'Odorico P., Fuentes J.D., Pockman W.T., Collins S.L., He Y., Medeiros J.S., DeWekker S., Litvak M.E. Positive feedback between microclimate and shrub encroachment in the northern Chihuahuan desert. Ecosphere 2010, 1:1-11.
20. Del Barrio G., Creus J., Puigdefábregas J. Thermal seasonality of the high mountain belts of the Pyrenees. Mountain Research and Development 1990, 10:227-233.
21. Dullinger S., Dirnböck T., Grabherr G. Patterns of shrub invasion into high mountain grasslands of the northern calcareous Alps, Austria. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 2003, 35:434-441.
22. Eldridge J.D., Bowker M.A., Maestre F.T., Roger E., Reynolds J.F., Whitford W.G. Impacts of shrub encroachment on ecosystem structure and functioning: towards a global synthesis. Ecology Letters 2011, 14:709-722.
23. Ellenberg H. Vegetation Ecology of Central Europe 1988, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
24. Eriksson O., Ehrlén J. Seed and microsite limitation of recruitment in plant populations. Oecologia 1992, 91:360-364.
25. Fernández-Illescas C.P., Rodríguez-Iturbe I. Hydrologically driven hierarchical competition-colonization models: the impact of interannual climate fluctuations. Ecological Monographs 2003, 73:207-222.
26. Frank D.A., Groffman P. Ungulate vs. landscape controls of soil C and N processes in grasslands of Yellowstone National Park. Ecology 1998, 79:2229-2241.
27. Frazer J.M., Davis S.D. Differential survival of chaparral seedlings during the first summer drought after wildfire. Oecologia 1988, 76:215-221.
28. García-Ruiz J.M., Lasanta T. Land-use changes in the Spanish Pyrenees. Mountain Research and Development 1990, 10:267-279.
29. García-Ruiz J.M., Lasanta T., Ruiz-Flano P., Ortigosa L., White S., González C., Martí C. Land-use changes and sustainable development in mountain areas: a case study in the Spanish Pyrenees. Landscape Ecology 1996, 11:267-277.
30. Gaussen H., Bagnouls F. Saison seche et indice xerotermique 1953, Université de Toulouse, Faculté des Sciences, Toulouse, Francia.
31. Gehrig-Fasel J., Guisan A., Zimmermann N.E. Tree line shifts in the Swiss Alps: climate change or land abandonment?. Journal of Vegetation Science 2007, 18:571-582.
32. Gilad E., Shachak M., Meron E. Dynamics and spatial organization of plant communities in water-limited systems. Theoretical Population Biology 2007, 72:214-230.
33. Grabherr G., Gottfried M., Pauli H. Climate effects on mountain plants. Nature 1994, 369:448.
34. Higgins S.I., Bond W.J., Trollope S.W. Fire, reprouting and variability: a recipe for grass-stepe coexistence in savanna. Journal of Ecology 2000, 88:213-229.
35. Hobbs N.T. Modification of ecosystems by ungulates. Journal of Wildlife Management 1996, 60:695-713.
36. Ingerson T.E., Buvel R.L. Structure in asynchronous cellular automata. Physica 1984, 10D:59-68.
37. Jeltsch F., Milton S.J., Dean W.R.J., van Rooyen N., Moloney K.A. Modelling the impact of small-scale heterogeneities on tree-grass coexistence in semi-arid savannas. Journal of Ecology 1998, 86:780-794.
38. Knapp A.K., Briggs J.M., Collins S.L., Archer S.R., Bret-Harte M.S., Ewers B.E., Peters D.P., Young D.R., Shaver G.R., Pendall E., Cleary M.B. Shrub encroachment in North American grasslands: shifts in growth form dominance rapidly alters control of ecosystem carbon inputs. Global Change Biology 2008, 14:615-623.
39. Knapp A.K., McCarron J.K., Silletti G.A., Hoch G.I., Heisler M.-S., Lett J.M., Blair J.M., Briggs J.M., Smith M.D. Ecological Consequences of the Replacement of Native Grasslands by Juniperous virginina and Other Woody Plants Western North American Juniperous Communities: a Dynamic Vegetation Type 2008, Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 156-169.
40. Komac B. Effects des modifications de l'utilisation des terres sur la conservation des pâturages subalpins 2010, du Parc National de Ordesa Mont-Perdu, Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine. Université de Savoie, Chambéry, France.
41. Komac B., Alados C.L., Bueno G., Gómez D. Spatial patterns of species distributions in grazed subalpine grasslands. Plant Ecology 2011, 212:519-529.
42. Komac B., Alados C.L., Camarero J.J. Influence of topography on the colonization of subalpine grasslands by Echinospartum horridum. Artic and Alpine Research 2012, 43:601-611.
43. Körner C. Alpine Plant Life. Functional Plant Ecology of High Mountain Ecosystems 1999, Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
44. Krauchi N., Brang P., Schonenberger W. Forests of mountainous regions: gaps in knowledge and research needs. Forest Ecology and Management 2000, 132:73-82.
45. Lasanta T., Vicente-Serrano S., Cuadrat-Prats J.M. Mountain Mediterranean landscape evolution caused by the abandonment of traditional primary activities: a study of the Spanish Central Pyrenees. Applied Geography 2005, 25:47-65.
46. Lasanta T., Arnáez J., Errea M.P., Ortigosa L., Ruiz-Flaño P. Mountain pastures, environmental degradation, and landscape remediation: the example of a Mediterranean policy initiative. Applied Geography 2009, 29:308-319.
47. Lett M.S., Knapp A.K. Consequences of shrub expansion in mesic grassland: resource alterations and graminoid responses. Journal of Vegetation Science 2003, 14:487-496.
48. Loehle C. Partitioning of reproductive effort in clonal plants: a benefit-cost model. Oikos 1987, 49:199-208.
49. Magee T.K., Antos J.A. Tree invasion into a mountain-top meadow in the Oregon Coast Range, USA. Journal of Vegetation Science 1992, 3:485-494.
50. Marinas A., García-González R., Aldezabal A., Palacio S., y Gómez-García D. Interés ecológico y pastoral del erizón (Echinospartum horridum (Vahl) Rothm.). Pastos y ganadería extensiva 2004, 117-122. SEEP-IRNASA, Salamanca. B. García-Criado, A. García Ciudad, B.R. Vazquez de Aldana, I. Zabalgogeazcoa (Eds.).
51. McNaughton S.J. Grazing as an optimization process: grass-ungulate relationships in the Serengeti. The American Naturalist 1984, 113:691-703.
52. McPherson G.R., Wright H.A. Effects of cattle grazing and Juniperus pinchottii canopy cover on herb cover and production in western Texas. American Midland Naturalist 1990, 123:144-151.
53. McPherson G.R., Wright H.W., Wester D.B. Patterns of shrub invasion in semiarid Texas grasslands. American Midland Naturalist 1988, 120:391-397.
54. Millar G., Cummins R. Regeneration of Scots pine Pinus sylvestris at the natural treeline in the Cairngrom Mountains, Scotland. Holarctic Ecology 1982, 5:27-34.
55. Molinillo M., Lasanta T., García-Ruiz J.M. Managing mountainous degraded landscapes after farmland abandonment in the central Spanish Pyrenees. Environmental Management 1997, 21:587-598.
56. Montserrat P., Fillat F. The system of grassland management in Spain. Managed Grasslands Regional Studies 1990, Elsevier. A.I. Breymeyer (Ed.).
57. Montserrat P., Montserrat J.M., Montserrat G. Estudio de las comunidades de Echinospartum horridum en el Pirineo español. Acta Biologica Montana 1984, IV:249-257.
58. Montserrat-Martí J. Evolución glaciar y postglaciar del clima y la vegetación en la vertiente sur del Pirineo 1992, Estudio palinológico Ciencias, Barcelona.
59. Noy-Meir I. Stability of plant-herbivore models and possible applications to savanna. Ecology of Tropical Savannas: Ecological Studies 1982, 591-609. Springer, Berlin. B.J. Huntley, B.H. Walker (Eds.).
60. Palacio S. Fenomorfología y variaciones estacionales de nitrógeno y carbohidratos en seis especies de caméfitos leñosos mediterráneos. Una aproximación funcional 2006, Departamento de Biología Vegetal Barcelona, Barcelona, p. 203.
61. Pérez-Cabello F., Ibarra P. Procesos de regeneración vegetal en communidades incendiadas (prepirineo oscense). Geografía física de Aragón. Aspectos generales y temáticos 2004, 153-162. Universidad de Zaragoza e Institución Fernando el Católico, Zaragoza. J.L. Peña, L.A. Longares, M. Sánchez (Eds.).
62. Price J., Morgan J. Woody plant encroachment reduces species richness of herb-rich woodlands in southern Australia. Austral Ecology 2008, 33:278-289.
63. Reynolds J.F., Maestre F.T., Kemp P.R., Stafford-Smith D.M., Lambin E. Natural and human dimensions of land degradation in drylands: causes and consequences. Libro Terrestrial Ecosystems in a Changing World 2007, 247-257. S.B. Heidelberg (Ed.).
64. Richardson D.M., Bond W.J. Determinants of plant distribution: evidence from pine invasions. American Naturalist 1991, 137:639-668.
65. Rodriguez-Iturbe I., D'Odorico P., Porporato A., Ridolfi L. Tree-grass coexistence in savannas: the role of spatial dynamics and climate fluctuations. Geophysical Research Letters 1999, 26:247-250.
66. Roura-Pascual N., Pons P., Etienne M., Lambert B. Transformation of a rural landscape in the eastern Pyrenees between 1953 and 2000. Mountains Research and Development 2005, 25:252-261.
67. Sankaran M., Augustine D.J. Large herbivores suppress decomposer abundance in a semiarid grazing ecosystem. Ecology 2004, 85:1052-1061.
68. Sankaran M., Ratnam J., Hanan N.P. Tree-grass coexistence in savannas revisited - insights from an examination of assumptions and mechanisms invoked in existing models. Ecology Letters 2004, 7:480.
69. Sankaran M., Hanan N.P., Scholes R.J., Ratnam J., Augustine D.J., Cade B.S., Gignoux J., Higgins S.I., Le Roux X., Ludwig F., Ardo J., Banyikwa F., Bronn A., Bucini G., Caylor K.K., Coughenour M.B., Diouf A., Ekaya W., Feral C.J., February E.C., Frost P.G.H., Hiernaux P., Hrabar H., Metzger K.L., Prins H.H.T., Ringrose S., Sea W., Tews J., Worden J., Zambatis N. Determinants of woody cover in African savannas. Nature 2005, 438:846-849.
70. Scholes R.J., Archer S.R. Tree-grass interactions in savannas. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 1997, 28:517-544.
71. Theurillat J.-P., Guisan A. Potential impact of climate change on vegetation in the European Alps: a review. Climatic Change 2001, 50:77-109.
72. Tobler M.W., Cochard R., Edwards P.J. The impact of cattle ranching on large-scale vegetation patterns in a coastal savanna in Tanzania. Journal of Applied Ecology 2003, 40:430-444.
73. Van Auken O.W. Shrub invasions of North American semiarid grasslands. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 2000, 31:197-215.
74. Van Auken O.W. Causes and consequences of woody plant encroachment into western North American grasslands. Journal of Environmental Management 2009, 90:2931-2942.
75. van Langevelde F., van de Vijver C.A.D.M., Kumar L., van De Koppel J., de Ridder N., van Andel J., Skidmore A.K., Hearne J.W., Stroosnijder L., Bond W.J., Prins H.H.T., Rietkerk M. Effects of fire and herbivory on the stability of savanna ecosystems. Ecology Letters 2003, 84:337-350.
76. van Wijk M.T., Rodriguez-Iturbe I. Tree-grass competition in space and time: insights from a simple cellular automata model based on ecohydrological dynamics. Water Resources Research 2002, 38:18.11-18.15.
77. Vázquez A., Moreno J.M. Patterns of lightning-, and people-caused fires in Peninsular Spain. International Journal Wildland Fire 1998, 8:101-115.
78. Wallis DeVries M.F., Poschlod P., Willems J. Challenges for the conservation of calcareous grasslands in northwestern Europe: integrating the requirements of flora and fauna. Biological Conservation 2002, 104:265-273.
79. Walter H. Ecology of Tropical and Subtropical Vegetation 1971, Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh.
80. Wildová R., Wild J., Herben T. Fine-scale dynamics of rhizomes in a grassland community. Ecography 2007, 30:264-276.