Articles publicats (Ciència i Enginyeria Forestal i Agrícola)
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- ItemOpen AccessTo what extent replacing N fertilization by a companion service cover crop maintains crop productivity and N use efficiency?(Elsevier, 2026) Allende-Montalbán, Raúl; Simon Miquel, Genís; Plaza Bonilla, DanielReplacing mineral nitrogen fertilizers with organic sources or service crops is often proposed to enhance resource nutrient use efficiency and reduce environmental impacts. However, in semi-arid irrigated systems, evidence of their agronomic performance is limited. A three-year field experiment in a wheat-wheat-rapeseed rotation compared five strategies: unfertilized control (0 N), full mineral fertilization (FM), pre-sowing slurry + mineral top-dressing (BAU), full slurry fertilization (FS), and a legume companion cover crop (CCC). In both wheat cropping seasons, CCC yielded less than FM, BAU and FS, and showed lower water use efficiency, with no benefits from biological N fixation. A non-significant trend of lower yields in CCC compared to 0 N was also observed in 2021 and 2022. FM and FS achieved equivalent yields at comparable N rates, indicating that slurry can fully replace mineral fertilizer for both pre-sowing and top-dressing applications without yield or nitrogen use efficiency penalties, while also increasing soil organic carbon in surface layers. These results highlight the need for critical evaluation of CCC in semi-arid irrigated systems, as they may not improve -and can even reduce- productivity and resource use efficiency.
- ItemOpen AccessBeyond one-size-fits-all: Refining forest restoration indicators for the Mediterranean context based on expert knowledge(Elsevier, 2025) Erdozain Ibarra, Maitane; Madrid, Victoria; Àvila Callau, Aitor; Alberdi, Iciar; Cañellas, Isabel; Navarro-Cerrillo, Rafael M.; Palacios-Rodríguez, Guillermo; Palau, Jordi; Miguel Magaña, Sergio deGlobal and European forest restoration initiatives such as the European Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR) have set ambitious targets, but ensuring that restoration efforts translate into effective socioecological outcomes requires robust monitoring frameworks with appropriate indicators. However, the NRR’s proposed indicators for forest restoration have raised concerns regarding the lack of socioeconomic considerations and their applicability across diverse forest contexts, including the Mediterranean. This study evaluates expert perceptions of thirty-four indicators (NRR, scientific literature, and socioeconomic ones) through a Delphi consultation with over sixty forest restoration experts from diverse disciplinary and sociodemographic backgrounds in Spain. Our findings reveal that deadwood (both lying and standing) accumulation was deemed the least relevant NRR indicator by experts (mean ± SD: 3.3 ± 1.2 on a Likert scale) due to concerns about increased wildfire risk, whereas native tree species dominance (4.3 ± 0.8) and tree species diversity (4.3 ± 0.9) were the most highly rated ones. Additionally, 93 % of experts agreed that socioeconomic indicators should be incorporated into restoration monitoring, with positive public perception of restoration (4.5 ± 0.8) being the most valued metric. Experts also highlighted the need for indicators assessing ecosystem resilience, such as natural regeneration, fire risk and soil erosion, which are currently absent from the NRR. Building on these insights, we propose a flexible, goal-oriented framework for selecting restoration indicators, balancing harmonization with regional adaptation, and highlighting indicators that evaluate multiple restoration goals. This approach aims to enhance the effectiveness of forest restoration monitoring in Spain and other southern European regions while contributing to the development of national restoration plans.
- ItemOpen AccessKey challenges in forest restoration and adaptation in Spain: expert-based solutions for a resilient future(Elsevier, 2025) Erdozain Ibarra, Maitane; Àvila Callau, Aitor; Madrid, Victoria; Alberdi, Iciar; Cañellas, Isabel; Navarro-Cerrillo, Rafael M.; Palacios-Rodríguez, Guillermo; Palau, Jordi; Ros, Laura; Miguel Magaña, Sergio deThe growing momentum for ecological restoration presents a critical opportunity to tackle environmental crises, especially in the context of climate change adaptation. With the newly adopted European Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR) requiring Member States to develop national restoration plans, Spain stands as a paradigmatic case due to its long history of restoration efforts and its location in the Mediterranean, a recognized climate change hotspot. Understanding the barriers and opportunities involved is essential to ensure effective implementation. Drawing on the knowledge of over 60 national experts and applying the Delphi method, we (1) ranked 45 key political, social, economic, technical and environmental challenges limiting climate-adaptive forest restoration in Spain; (2) analyzed how demographic and professional factors influenced perceptions of these challenges; and (3) co-developed strategic recommendations to overcome them. Experts identified economic and political barriers such as short-term budgets, undervaluation of ecosystem services, perverse incentives, political short-termism, bureaucracy and policy fragmentation as the most limiting, ranking approximately 1.5 points higher than the most significant technical or environmental challenges. Perceptions significantly varied by gender, age and geographic location. Key solutions include the creation of independent restoration agencies with stable funding, legal and policy reforms, financial incentives for landowners (valuation of ecosystem services) and stronger private sector involvement. Our findings highlight the need for an integrated, cross-sectoral approach that aligns governance, financing and stakeholder participation. These insights offer a valuable foundation for informing Spain’s National Restoration Plan and contribute to broader European efforts to ensure the long-term success of restoration initiatives.
- ItemOpen AccessEnhancing soil organic carbon and structure in Mediterranean rice systems through cover cropping(Elsevier, 2025) Nascimento, Gonçalo; Catala-Forner, Mar; Villegas, Dolors; Ferre, Oriol; Tomàs, Núria; Cantero-Martínez, CarlosCover crops (CC) are recognized for their role in preventing and remediating soil degradation, yet their effects in Mediterranean rice (Oryza sativa L.) systems remain uncertain. This study evaluated the impact of ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.; RG) and hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth; HV) as winter CC on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics and physical properties of a Calcaric Fluvisol over three years. The effects were compared to a dry bare fallow (BF), with and without nitrogen (N) fertilizer application to rice. Cover cropping increased topsoil SOC levels (p = 0.015), with particulate organic matter as the primary driver (p = 0.039). Longer periods of cover cropping may be needed for a more prominent effect on mineral-associated organic matter dynamics and C sequestration. While both CC increased aggregation after incorporating rice residues by 17 % (p = 0.005), ryegrass demonstrated a more persistent improvement by also enhancing aggregation at CC termination (p = 0.013). However, hairy vetch may offer greater long-term benefits to soil quality potentially by supporting higher CC and rice residue inputs. Soil penetration data suggests constraints to CC root growth in conventional rice systems and highlights the need to integrate CC with other sustainable management practices to maximize their benefits. This study underscores how winter CC can enhance soil organic matter and restore soil quality of Mediterranean rice systems, despite the limiting conditions for growth.
- ItemOpen AccessOptimizing mangrove afforestation site selection in gulf cooperation council nations using remote sensing and machine learning(Elsevier, 2025) Roy, Abhilash Dutta; Mohan, Midhun; Hendy, Ian; AlMealla, Reem; Watt, Michael S.; Burt, John A.; Torres-Florez, Juan Pablo; Almansoori, Amna; Alzahlawi, Nessrine; Abdullah, Meshal; Ali, Tarig; Nithyanandan, Manickam; Aboobacker, Valliyil Mohammed; Miguel Magaña, Sergio deMangrove forests are vulnerable coastal ecosystems that provide multiple ecosystem services and act as blue carbon sinks. Mangroves in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of the Arabian peninsula (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE) have faced pressure from numerous anthropogenic factors including population growth, dredging and reclamation in lagoonal habitats, pollution and rapid urban development. Given the inconsistent outcomes of past mangrove ARR (Afforestation-Reforestation-Revegetation) efforts, our research aimed to identify high-potential ARR sites in the GCC using remote sensing. We identified eight factors related to mangrove ARR outcomes through correlation analyses: elevation, soil pH, median precipitation, median and minimum land surface temperature (LST), soil salinity, soil texture and distance from urban areas. To predict mangrove suitability, we compared the Random Forest (RF), XGBoost (XGB), Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Naive Bayes (NB) classification algorithms. The RF model performed best with an F1-score of 0.96, ROC-AUC of 0.99 and PR-AUC of 0.75. Variable importance analysis revealed that median LST, soil texture and median precipitation were the most influential variables. Favorable conditions for mangrove establishment included median temperatures of 32–37 °C, minimum temperatures around 27 °C, clayey soils, and monthly rainfall above 10 mm. Other suitable characteristics included lower elevation, greater distance from urban areas, slightly acidic to neutral pH, and moderate-to-high soil salinity. Our findings show that there is a large opportunity for mangrove afforestation in the GCC and also proposes a framework to identify optimal sites for mangrove growth, which can improve ARR success and support biodiversity and blue carbon goals in the Arabian peninsula.