CLAVENCINA Project

Animal-plant interactions in heterogeneous environments: effects on the demography of holm oaks Quercus ilex at landscape scales (CLAVENCINA)
REN2002-04475-C02/GLO, Coordinated Project.
Financed by: the Spanish MCYT
Period: 2002-2003
Principal Investigator: José M. Gómez
Number of members: 2

     The main aim of this coordinated project is to ascertain the role of spatial heterogeneity on the interaction between Holm oaks (Quercus ilex) and the organisms that are keystones for its natural regeneration, as well as the consequences of this spatially structured interactions for the long-term dynamics of Holm oak forests and the landscapes in which they are integrated. 

     Hence, the main goal of the project is to analyse the effects of the differential perception of spatial scales by such keystone organisms on the landscape dynamics of Holm oak populations. Proper analyses of the way plant populations are maintained and move between landscape elements, and of the way keystone species speed up or ralentize such processes by means of the dispersal and/or elimination of potential recruits, are crucial for understanding both the local abundance and the regional distribution of plant species. The main idea is to ascertain whether the hierarchy of structural heterogeneity typical of Mediterranean landscapes is affected by functional heterogeneities between landscape units, that are derived from differences between units in their ability to sustain and rescue local populations.

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