TY - CHAP
T1 - Drought Effects on Portuguese Forest Cover
AU - Lidon, Fernando José Cebola
AU - Reboredo, Fernando Henrique da Silva
AU - Pessoa, Maria Fernanda
PY - 2014/1/1
Y1 - 2014/1/1
N2 - Whether current climate changes might be exclusively of anthropogenicorigin, is still an open discussion. Global changes in temperature, precipitation andatmospheric CO2 concentration may force species to adapt to new conditions, tomigrate, while others eventually may become extinct. Moreover, although theatmospheric CO2 enrichment could increase plant productivity, drought stress andthe nutrient availability may limit the biomass production. Extreme weather eventsoccurred in Europe ranging from extreme flooding in Austria, Germany andBulgaria to severe droughts in Spain, Portugal, France and Italy. The EuropeanEnvironmental Agency (EEA) predicts that Southern European countries willexperience, increased drought stress as well as forest fires with risks for humanhealth, biodiversity and economy. The evolution of the drought in the last decadesin Portuguese mainland shows a trend that confirms the predictions of the EEA.Furthermore, the continuous monitoring of the drought status is a useful tool tohelp agricultural and forestry related activities. Thus, some obvious questions areraised: How the main forest species in the mainland (Pinus pinaster, Quercussuber and Eucalyptus globulus) behave at the physiological level? Is the ability ofstress to respond the pathogenic attacks reduced by extended warm and dryperiods? Will Quercus suber migrate to Northern areas while Southern areas willbecome more and more with desert-like conditions? Will Eucalyptus spread to theNorth replacing the large areas of Pinus pinaster? Which might be the impacts ofthese changes in the economy and in the GDP?
AB - Whether current climate changes might be exclusively of anthropogenicorigin, is still an open discussion. Global changes in temperature, precipitation andatmospheric CO2 concentration may force species to adapt to new conditions, tomigrate, while others eventually may become extinct. Moreover, although theatmospheric CO2 enrichment could increase plant productivity, drought stress andthe nutrient availability may limit the biomass production. Extreme weather eventsoccurred in Europe ranging from extreme flooding in Austria, Germany andBulgaria to severe droughts in Spain, Portugal, France and Italy. The EuropeanEnvironmental Agency (EEA) predicts that Southern European countries willexperience, increased drought stress as well as forest fires with risks for humanhealth, biodiversity and economy. The evolution of the drought in the last decadesin Portuguese mainland shows a trend that confirms the predictions of the EEA.Furthermore, the continuous monitoring of the drought status is a useful tool tohelp agricultural and forestry related activities. Thus, some obvious questions areraised: How the main forest species in the mainland (Pinus pinaster, Quercussuber and Eucalyptus globulus) behave at the physiological level? Is the ability ofstress to respond the pathogenic attacks reduced by extended warm and dryperiods? Will Quercus suber migrate to Northern areas while Southern areas willbecome more and more with desert-like conditions? Will Eucalyptus spread to theNorth replacing the large areas of Pinus pinaster? Which might be the impacts ofthese changes in the economy and in the GDP?
M3 - Chapter
SN - 978-3-319-08454-1/ 978-3-319-08455-8
T3 - World Forests
SP - 67
EP - 96
BT - Forest Context and Policies in Portugal:Present and Future Challenges
A2 - Fernando, Reboredo
A2 - António, Almeida José
A2 - Luis, Constantino
A2 - Fernando, Lidon
A2 - Graça, Louro
A2 - Loreto, Monteiro Maria
A2 - João, Pais
A2 - Fernanda, Pessoa Maria
A2 - Alan, Phillips
A2 - Francisco, Rego
A2 - Cristina, Santos
PB - Springer International Publishing
CY - Cham
ER -
