Multitaxon biodiversity and functional recovery in restored native forests in a biosphere reserve
widespread replacement of native forests with pastures, exotic plantations, and urban developments, ultimately reducing biodiversity. Despite recent natural forest expansion and restoration efforts, this has not always been accompanied by ecological recovery. In the Basque Country (northern Iberian...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Formato: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Universidad del País Vasco |
| Repositorio: | Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/75902 |
| Acesso em linha: | http://hdl.handle.net/10810/75902 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palavra-chave: | exotic plantation eucalyptus sp. pinus radiata plants birds bacteria fungi |
| Resumo: | widespread replacement of native forests with pastures, exotic plantations, and urban developments, ultimately reducing biodiversity. Despite recent natural forest expansion and restoration efforts, this has not always been accompanied by ecological recovery. In the Basque Country (northern Iberian Peninsula), Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus plantations have become dominant, raising ecological concerns due to their low species diversity and impacts on soil processes. In response, the EU Nature Restoration Law (2024) has established binding targets to recover degraded ecosystems, promoting active restoration strategies that incorporate trait-based and multitaxon approaches. This study evaluates whether native forest restorations in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve support higher biodiversity and ecosystem functioning compared to the most abundant forest systems in the area. Four forest types (restored native forests, Pinus radiata plantations, Eucalyptus plantations, and reference native forest) were compared across 36 plots. We assessed vascular plants, birds, bacteria, and fungi using field surveys, soil DNA sequencing, and functional trait assignments. Diversity metrics and both taxonomic and functional composition were compared among systems. Restored forests showed significantly higher plant and bird diversity than exotic plantations, with Eucalyptus consistently exhibiting lowest values across most indicators. Species and functional composition analyses revealed that restored forests closely resembled native systems, while Eucalyptus was associated with early-successional and stress-tolerant traits. Pine plantations exhibited intermediate patterns, particularly in microbial communities. Overall, active restoration with native species proved effective in recovering biodiversity and ecosystem function, though full convergence with native forests may require longer timescales. |
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