Noticebale growth of all species planted just 6 months after afforestation. In July we will measure the height and width of the plants by first time, but a generalized growth of all the species can already be observed. Many plants come out above the protectors and only a few individual have died.
On April 27, 2022, a group of students and teachers from the Higher Technical School of Agricultural Engineers and Forestry of Albacete, University of Castilla la Mancha, visited us. During the visit we discussed the problem of the abandoned mining tailings and showed the students and teachers (Dr. Pablo Ferrandis and Dr. Daniel Moya, Department …
We continue counting the number of germinated seeds, which has increased considerably favoured by the rain in April. The two species with the highest germination scores are Lygeum spartum and Piptatherum miliaceum.
The topographically most depressed area of the plot was flooded by the large amount of water that fell during the rains at the beginning of April, despite having tilled the soil before sowing. Fortunately the plants survived the flood, and even some species such as Lygeum spartum were favored.
After the heavy rains in April we verified how the fascines and the plants retained removed soil particles. The evidence of soil erosion was very clear and also the accumulation of particles by to fascines, the furrows created by tillage, and planting.
On March 14, the company IngenierÃa del Entorno Natural made the first drone flight to photograph the plantation. To correctly assess the vegetation cover, we removed the forest protectors from the 742 plants (when the flight was over, we put them back).
On March 10, the pitfall traps were placed to capture insects and small animals and four cameras were placed for photo trapping of small mammals.
We removed the baits (bait lamina) to evaluate the activity of edaphic invertebrates during the winter period. Also, the soil temperature is measured.
The germination of the sown species is assessed for the first time. The new seedlings were marked in order to recognize them in subsequent counts, which will be carried out on 23 February and 2 March 2022.
We measured CO2 released from the soil for the first time on 4 February 2022. We will measure again on 3 March.
