Mediterranean soils

(Sicilian farmers look) Back to the future

Antonio Jordán August 30, 2016

Wheatfield with Crows, by Van Gogh. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

Sicilian farmers are returning to cultivate ancient seed. This is to recover the ancient wisdom that feed the island and Italy since ancient times. Giuseppe Li Rosi is a local farmer and one of the strongest supporters of the return to traditional agriculture. He has converted a property of 100 hectares to traditional farming and proudly guards three local seed varieties (“Timilia”, “Maiorca” and ...[Read More]

Wildfires and soil: Where are we now?

Antonio Jordán March 3, 2015

Lorena M. Zavala. University of Seville, Sevilla, Spain Antonio Jordán. University of Seville, Sevilla, Spain Jorge Mataix-Solera. University Miguel Hernández, Elche, Spain Artemi Cerdà. University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain Are wildfires a natural ecological factor or an environmental problem? According to official statistics, during the 1990’s, about 1.5 millions ha were burned in Spain. ...[Read More]

Mediterranean Environmental Research Group (GRAM)

Antonio Jordán August 25, 2014

By Marc Oliva The Mediterranean Environmental Research Group, (GRAM) from the University of Barcelona has over 20 years of working experience in the field of the effects of forest fires on soil properties. In 1998 the doctoral thesis entitled “Fire effects on soil properties, the role of fire intensity” carried out by Xavier Úbeda emphasized the importance of fire intensity impa ...[Read More]

Monday paper: Soil carbon stocks and their variability across the forests, shrublands and grasslands of peninsular Spain

Antonio Jordán April 7, 2014

Doblas-Miranda, E., Rovira, P., Brotons, L., Martínez-Vilalta, J., Retana, J., Pla, M., and Vayreda, J. 2013. Soil carbon stocks and their variability across the forests, shrublands and grasslands of peninsular Spain. Biogeosciences, 10, 8353-8361. DOI: 10.5194/bg-10-8353-2013. Abstract Accurate estimates of C stocks and fluxes of soil organic carbon (SOC) are needed to assess the impact of climat ...[Read More]