<?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, H.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Freitas, H.</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Above-ground biomass and productivity in the Montado: From herbaceous to shrub dominated communities</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Journal of Arid Environments</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Land use change</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Life form</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Mediterranean</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Secondary succession</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">semi-arid</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2009</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2009///</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140196308003698</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">73</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">506 - 511</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Our study was focused on the effect of abandonment on above-ground biomass and net primary productivity (ANPP) in a Montado in Southern Portugal. The Montado has a long history of human management and control of invasion by shrubs is achieved by clearing, ploughing and grazing. When these cease, it is invaded by Mediterranean matorral species. We hypothesized that the change in life form dominance would affect both biomass and productivity, but while the total biomass was expected to increase, the effects on ANPP were less clear. We tested our hypothesis by determining above-ground biomass and ANPP along a gradient of decreasing land use intensity, ranging from extensive grazing to 20 years of abandonment. Above-ground biomass increased with abandonment, which was related with the increase in shrub cover. In addition, we found a decrease in herbaceous ANPP that was more than compensated by an increase in shrub ANPP in plots abandoned for longer time, resulting in a signiﬁcant increase in total ANPP. This increase was strongly related with the increase in the cover of Cistus ladanifer, a pioneer species that colonises degraded areas and forms one of the ﬁrst stages of succession of woody communities.</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">4-5</style></issue><notes><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The following values have no corresponding Zotero field:&lt;br/&gt;publisher: Elsevier Ltd</style></notes></record></records></xml>