<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Castro, Helena</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Fortunel, Claire</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Freitas, Helena</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Effects of land abandonment on plant litter decomposition in a Montado system: relation to litter chemistry and community functional parameters</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Plant and Soil</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">ecosystem processes</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Land use change</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">leaf dry matter content</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Life form</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">litter quality</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Mediterranean</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2010</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2010///</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.springerlink.com/index/10.1007/s11104-010-0333-2</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">333</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">181 - 190</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Changes in land use and subsequent shifts in vegetation can influence decomposition through changes in litter quality (chemistry and structure) and alterations of soil temperature and moisture. Our aim was to study the effects of land abandonment on litter decomposition in a Mediterranean area of Montado, South Portugal. We tested the hypothesis that decomposition tends to slow down with abandonment, as woody species, richer in lignified structures, replace herbaceous species. We assessed the decomposition of community litter in situ using litterbag technique. To test the influence of local conditions, we simultaneously incubated a standard litter in situ. Our results showed that the shift from herbaceous to shrubdominated communities lead to decreased decomposition rates. Changes in litter decomposition were primarily driven by changes in litter quality, even though the uneven pattern of litter mass loss over the experiment might reveal an effect from possible differences in microclimate. Shrub litter had higher nutrient content than herbaceous litter, which seemed to favour higher initial decomposition rates, but lower decomposition rate in the longer term. Shrubs also contribute to woody litter, richer in lignin, and secondary compounds that retard decomposition, and may play a role in increasing pools of slowly decomposing organic matter.</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1-2</style></issue></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Castro, Helena</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Lehsten, Veiko</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Lavorel, Sandra</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Freitas, Helena</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Functional response traits in relation to land use change in the Montado</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Agriculture, Ecosystems &amp; Environment</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Fourth-corner method</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Functional groups</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">functional traits</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Mediterranean</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Null model</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Plant</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Secondary succession</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2010</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2010///</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0167880910000368</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">137</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">183 - 191</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The socio-economic changes of the last decades have resulted in changes in traditional land uses with consequent abandonment of large farmland areas in the Mediterranean region. We assessed the response of species richness and composition, and species functional traits to decreasing land use intensity in a Montado system, an agro-pastoral system characteristic of the Alentejo, Southern Portugal. Additionally, we investigated whether plant functional types can be established based on the response to decreasing land use intensity in these systems. Consistent with previous studies, species richness decreased sharply after land abandonment, and this was associated with a strong turnover in species composition from grazed to abandoned sites as the vegetation changed from herbaceous to shrub dominated communities. Pronounced differences in functional traits were found for different successional stages. Therophyte life form, short plant height, high speciﬁc leaf area (SLA), low leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and small seeds with dispersal structures were dominant in grazed plots. Within abandoned plots, chamaephytes dominated in plots abandoned for 10–15 years and decreased in favour of nanophanerophytes in plots abandoned for 20–30 years. Plant height, LDMC and seed mass increased with abandonment time while SLA decreased. Functional response groups sufﬁcient to describe vegetation change were identiﬁed combining life form and SLA. Therophytes with medium SLA were the dominant functional group in grazed areas, while nanophanerophytes with medium or low SLA were associated with later phases of abandonment. At intermediate stages of succession the dominant group was chamaephytes with medium SLA but functional diversity was highest as all the groups, except hemicryptophytes with medium SLA, were represented. These changes in functional composition can be translated into effects on key ecosystem properties. The increase in LDMC indicates an increase in ﬂammability while trends in both LDMC and SLA suggest decreased decomposition, and thereby carbon and nutrient cycling. These will need to be considered in combination with consequences for other ecosystem properties for future management.</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1-2</style></issue><notes><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The following values have no corresponding Zotero field:&lt;br/&gt;publisher: Elsevier B.V.</style></notes></record></records></xml>