Ecohydrological-based silviculture aims to improve the vigor of forest stands by conducting silvicultural treatments that enhance the water status of trees. At the same time, this type of silviculture has the capacity to increase the amount of water reaching aquifers or watercourses (blue water).
A large part of the Aleppo pine forests in the Iberian Peninsula have high densities and slow growth due to a certain degree of stagnation. These structures are particularly vulnerable to drought, and in a scenario of higher temperatures and more irregular precipitation, they will face enormous difficulties to persist.
Ecohydrological-based silviculture seeks to reduce the density of these stands to optimize water use and the water availability for trees, thus improving their vigor and making them less vulnerable to future conditions.
As part of the LIFE ADAPT-ALEPPO project, 9 demonstration plots have been developed where this type of innovative silviculture has been implemented.
To obtain reliable results on achieving the expected objectives in these plots, monitoring has been carried out through the installation of soil moisture sensor equipment.
Thus, on July 8, technicians from Ingeniería del Entorno Natural, the Polytechnic University of Valencia, and the University of Castilla-La Mancha installed 6 moisture sensors to monitor the moisture dynamics in the soil profile, connected to 6 data loggers (data recording and storage systems), to understand the hydrological evolution of the soil in the intervention area.
This equipment will allow understanding the forest-water relationship in the area with ecohydrological-based silvicultural treatments conducted in the Nerpio (Albacete) plot.
The installed data loggers enable remote data visualization, as well as detecting trends or problems.
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