Aitor Ameztegui, awarded by the Spanish Society of Forest Sciences for his doctoral thesis

Aitor Ameztegui, former student of the FiDBosc group, has recently been awarded by the Spanish Society of Forest Sciences (SECF) as the second best Ph.D. Thesis in Forest Sciences in 2013. The thesis, entitled Forest dynamics at the montane-subalpine ecotone in the Pyrenees, was supervised by Dr. Lluís Coll and was defended in CTFC last July. It aimed at a better understanding of the main drivers of forest dynamics in mixed mountain forests. One of the main findings of Aitor's work was the substantial role that land-use changes play in the observed patterns of recent forest expansion in the Pyrenees, as well as the effect that shade tolerance can play interacting with the expected consequences of climate change in tree demography.

Currently, Aitor is developing a post-doctoral stage in the Centre for Forest Research of the Université du Québec à Montréal (Canada), where he works in the integration of forest management alternatives under global change scenarios.

The award ceremony will take place on friday 21st at the Palace of Santa Cruz in Valladolid, coinciding with the celebration of the International Day of Forests.

Congratulations, Aitor!

New doctor at FiDBosc!

Lluis, Aitor and the members of the board

Today, July 17th, Aitor Ameztegui  succesfully defended his PhD Dissertation entitled "Forest dynamics at the montane-subalpine ecotone in the Eastern Pyrenees", here in Solsona, in front of the members of the board: Dr. Jordi Voltas from Universitat de Lleida, Dr. Lorena Gómez-Aparicio from IRNAS-CSIC, and Dr. Christian Ammer from Göttingen University.

Aitor's thesis has been developed here at FiDBosc, under supervision of Lluís Coll, so congratulations to both Lluís and Aitor!

Two moments of the defence

PhD defence: Aitor Ameztegui

Aitor Ameztegui will defend his PhD Thesis next july 17th at the Forest Sciences Center of Catalonia (CTFC). Aitor has developed his PhD project "Forest dynamics at the montane-subalpine ecotone in the Eastern Pyrenees", in the FiDBosc group, under supervision of Dr. Lluís Coll .

The main objective of this thesis was to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of mixed-conifer forests constituting the montane-subalpine ecotone of the Pyrenees. For this, we identified the main environmental factors that drive the dynamics of these communities to then assess how changes in these factors may affect their future structure and composition. This work was done using a multiscale approach that allowed detecting the key factors determining the dynamics of these systems across different biological scales.

All the information gathered across the different scales was used to parameterize an individual-based, spatially-explicit model of forest dynamics (SORTIE-ND) in order to simulate the future dynamics of the studied forests.The results of the simulations support the predictions of future biome changes in the Pyrenean subalpine forests, since A. alba and P. sylvestris may find appropriate conditions for colonizing mountain pine dominated stands due to land-use change-related forest densification and climate warming, respectively.

One of the studied mixed-forests

TITLE: Forest dynamics at the montane-subalpine ecotone in the Eastern Pyrenees

AUTHOR: Aitor Ameztegui (CTFC)

SUPERVISOR: Dr. Lluís Coll (CTFC)

TIME: Wednesday, July 17th 2013, at 11 A.M.

VENUE: Conference Hall at the Forest Sciences Center of Catalonia (CTFC)

CONTACT: 

New Article: Unraveling the role of light and biotic interactions on seedling performance of four Pyrenean species along environmental gradients

 In a new article, recently published in Forest Ecology and Management, we have assessed the role of factors acting at fine spatial and temporal scale (i.e. microsite level) on the dynamics of montane and subalpine forests of the Pyrenees. We established a set of experimental mixed plantations along elevational and environmental gradients using four common species in the area: Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), mountain pine (Pinus uncinata), silver fir (Abies alba) and birch (Betula pendula), and monitored seedling performance over 4 years. 

Short events of extreme climatic conditions (drought, freezing) had a strong impact on juvenile tree mortality, mainly affecting the species growing further from their mean elevational range. Moreover, we found that positive plant-plant interactions were markedly species-specific and varied with elevation. They were in particular present in the subalpine sites, modulating the effects of unfavorable climatic conditions for species growing above their current limits. In contrast, we did not detect any positive nor negative effect of shrubs on the plants established at the low-elevation sites, suggesting that, in such conditions, the net effect of above- and belowground interactions is neutral. In these sites, the herbaceous cover was found to negatively affect A. alba survival, probably due to competition for water. Finally our results show a positive effect of canopy closure on silver fir survival.

 In summary, our study underlined that plant-plant interactions and other factors driving at fine temporal and spatial scales can have a strong impact in the dynamics of montane-subalpine forests of the Pyrenees. These processes acting at microsite level should thus be explicitly considered when implementing management plans to contend the future impacts of climate change in these areas.

Ameztegui, A; Coll, L (2013) Unraveling the role of light and biotic interactions on seedling performance of four Pyrenean species along environmental gradients. Forest Ecology and Management 303: 25-34.

The study area, in the Cadí Range, Catalonia (Photo: Aitor Ameztegui)

Què fem al CTFC? Aitor Ameztegui

Desde hace un tiempo, el Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya realiza la serie de breves entrevistas "Què fem al CTFC?" donde se intenta explicar a qué nos dedicamos las distintas líneas y grupos del centro.

Esta semana el protagonista ha sido Aitor Ameztegui, miembro del FiDBosc, quien ha explicado las principales líneas incluídas en su tesis sobre dinámica de bosques mixtos de montaña. Os dejamos a continuación el vídeo de Aitor (en catalàn). ¡Esperamos que os guste!

Attendance to the third Seminar of the project FOR CLIMADAPT in the Vesubius National Park

Last week, on febrary 22th to 24th, Santi Martín actively participated in the third Seminar of the project FOR CLIMADAPT (Adaptation of the Mediterranean forests to the climate change) in the Vesubius National Park (Italy).

This project is an European project of cooperation co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) extending over the period 2010-2013. It aims at encouraging initiatives and innovative experiments for an adapted management of the Mediterranean wooded ecosystems to the current and upcoming impacts of climate evolutions.
This last seminar had, as a central theme, the methods of ecological restoration of the forest environment in a context of climate change. The organizers partners presented the state of progression of their pilot actions in the Vesubius National Park. The rest of the project partners (AIFM, the Umbria Region, the CTFC, the ONF, the ADPM, and Forêt Méditerranéenne) presented also the progress report of their planned activities. Santi Martin presented the activities developed by FiDBosc regarding the "study of vegetation dynamics in the Pyrenees, in the context of global change", and the "demonstrative implementation of enrichment plantations in pine mono-specific forests to imptove resilience and adaptive capacity".

Collaboration with south-east Asia

José Ramón González  collaborates with RECOFTC (The Centre for People and Forests) in a study for evaluating sustainable management practices for bamboo forests. The collaboration implies the design and implementation of an inventory in Thailand and Laos, and the subsequent analysis of data. The inventory will cover at least three different management systems for bamboo forest: highly controlled management, non-control management, and non-management.

By evaluating the structure of the forest in terms of: abundance of bamboo clumps; number of clums per clump; characteristics of the clums (alive vs dead , age, size, quality) ; and culm drainage per management cycle, it will be possible to assess the production of the forest and the actual revenue obtained from it.

MEDPINE 4: 4th International Conference on Mediterranean Pines

Last week, FiDBosc attended MEDPINE 4, the 4th International Conference in Mediterranean Pines in Avignon, France. This conference, organized by the INRA, aimed at making a state of knowledge on the research of all disciplines carried out on mediterranean pines, in order to identify research gaps and make recommendations for sustainable management.

In Avignon, Aitor Ameztegui presented a study  in which we assessed the role that interspecific differences in response to light can play in driving the dynamics of conifer-mixed forests in the Pyrenees. This study is a part of Aitor's Ph.D. on mixed-forest dynamics.

Seminari científic

Aprofitant la visita al CTFC dels professors Bart Muys (Universitat de Leuben) i Christian Messier (Universitat de Québec a Montréal) s’ha organitzat un seminari científic demà divendres 6 de maig, en el marc del qual es realitzaran les següents presentacions:

- Change trajectories of soil biota after conversion of broadleaved forest to spruce monoculture (B. Muys)

- IDENT: an International Diversity Experiment Network with Trees (C. Messier)

El seminari tindrà lloc a la sala d’actes del CTFC i començarà a les 12h (és preveu que tingui una durada total d’una hora i mitja)

Esteu tots convidats a participar-hi! 

We're all back!

After a few months in which some of the FiDBosc members have been temporarily out, making a stage, and also after the summer holidays, we're all back in the lab!!

You can see us down here, with the lab at full-capacity! Click on the photo to see the original picture.

We hope you all had a great summer, and wish you a great return!

FiDBosc members

Celebradas las primeras jornadas técnicas del proyecto Interreg UNCI'PLUS

En el marco del proyecto europeo Interreg UNCI'PLUS, en cuya parte I se elaborará la "Guía de gestión del pino negro en los Pirineos orientales", se han celebrado recientemente dos jornadas de campo para el debate entre técnicos y especialistas sobre diferentes aspectos relativos a la gestión de las masas forestales dominadas por dicha especie. Los organizadores y principales entidades implicadas en el proyecto (Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya, Departament de Medi Ambient i Habitatge, Office National des Forêts, Parc Naturel Régional des Pyrénées Catalanes, Centre Régional de la Propriété Forestière y GEIE Forespir) debarieron durante estas dos jornadas tanto sobre la gestión de masas de vocación productora como de las de vocación silvopastoral, así como de lo relativo a la conservación de los recursos genéticos y paisajísticos en la gestión de los bosques de pino negro.

Más información en la nueva web del proyecto UNCI'PLUS

Course attendance: Conservation and management of forests in the West Coast of the United States and Canada

Between january and may 2010, Aitor Ameztegui has attended to the Course: "Conservation and management of forests in the West Coast of the United States and Canada", taught by Prof. Christian Messier, from UQAM-CEF (Montréal, Canada).

In a first phase, participants have acquired the needed knowledge about these issues by reading and discussing in groups about the main concerns in conservation and management of these forests. On a second phase, participants will make a field trip between the 5th and 16th may. This trip will allow them to get a better knowledge of the typical ecosystems of the North American west coast (from British Columbia to California) and to meet and discuss with some local specialists (Drs. Michael Papaik and Seth Bigelow in California, Dr. Klaus Puettmann in Oregon and Dr. Hamish Kimmins in British Columbia).

Cick here to get more information about the course

M.Sc. Degree obtained

Santiago Martín and Aitor Améztegui have recently obtained the Master of Science degree on Forest Research at Universitat de Lleida. Santiago Martin's Master Thesis analysed the effects of stand attributes and location on wind and snow damage in the Pyrenees pine forests, while Aitor Ameztegui assessed the role of land-use changes on the expansion of Pinus uncinata in the Eastern Pyrenees.

Congratulations to both of them!

New FiDBosc Web page!

The Forest Functioning and Dynamics Group (FiDBosc) has created a new webpage. We hope you will find it interesting, and please do not hesitate to contact us for further information!

Please be welcome to FiDBosc web page!
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FiDBosc Members