A holm oak forest located in the Prades mountains (north-east Spain) was subjected to an experimental drought, reducing soil water moisture by 15 per cent by the use of plastic strips and funnels that partially excluded rain throughfall and by ditch exclusion of water runoff. We monitored mushroom production per plot once a week during 1999 and 2000. Drought treatment did not delay mushroom appearance, but reduced mushroom production by 62 per cent on average. This suggests that in a drier environment - as predicted for Mediterranean areas in the near future - there is likely to be a decrease in mushroom production, and as a result, changes in some ecological parameters such as soil organic matter decomposition, and also a reduction in the economic and recreational value of these Mediterranean forests.
Discussion(0)
No comments yet. Be the first to comment.