Castile and Leon LIFE BACCATA Project coordination actions meeting
28-01-2019
Castile and Leon partners involved in the LIFE BACCATA Project (Castile and Leon Regional Government and CESEFOR Foundation) met last Tuesday, January 15th, in Cervera de Pisuerga Park (Palencia) in order to analyse the implementation state of the Project in the region.
The applying actions for 2019 were scheduled during this new meeting. These actions, which had been previously designed for A2 Action (Technical Planning of Conservation Actions), included, among others, silviculture treatments to improve the 9580* Habitat (C2 Action), the plantation of featuring species in this habitat (C3 Action), some herbivore control measures (C4 Action: Excluding enclosures to protect the regenerated yew tree, etc.), protection against non-natural conditions (C5 Action), creation of three arboretums (included in the C6 Action), etc.
ZEC ‵Fuentes Carrionas and Fuente Cobre-Palencia Mountains′, the venue chosen for the meeting, allowed visiting two yew tree stands which were characterized in the A1 Action of this Project. An ‵excluding plot‛ was created in one of them by a hunting enclosure to prevent large herbivores such as deer from accessing as they usually browse yew tree seedlings and as a result its further development is hindered. The results obtained are very positive; actually the plot contains a large amount of regenerated yew and holly trees. Individually protecting elements were installed as well to protect isolated yew tree seedlings.
Image 1. Details of the enclosure installed on the stand to protect the regenerated yew trees from herbivores (especially from deer).
Clearly there is a difference between the regenerated trees found outside and inside the plot. Only first-year yew seedlings are found outside the excluding plot. Meanwhile, this year’s seedlings and further-developed seedlings are found inside the plot since they are not under the herbivore pressure the outside seedlings are and therefore they have the chance to thrive.
Image 2. Regenerated yew tree inside the stand excluding plot.
Another action taking place in this very same stand has been the opening of the beech canopy cover with the aim of facilitating the entry of sun light into the lower canopy cover that shapes the yew forest.
For the other visited stand, conservation actions were considered on site.
The applying actions for 2019 were scheduled during this new meeting. These actions, which had been previously designed for A2 Action (Technical Planning of Conservation Actions), included, among others, silviculture treatments to improve the 9580* Habitat (C2 Action), the plantation of featuring species in this habitat (C3 Action), some herbivore control measures (C4 Action: Excluding enclosures to protect the regenerated yew tree, etc.), protection against non-natural conditions (C5 Action), creation of three arboretums (included in the C6 Action), etc.
ZEC ‵Fuentes Carrionas and Fuente Cobre-Palencia Mountains′, the venue chosen for the meeting, allowed visiting two yew tree stands which were characterized in the A1 Action of this Project. An ‵excluding plot‛ was created in one of them by a hunting enclosure to prevent large herbivores such as deer from accessing as they usually browse yew tree seedlings and as a result its further development is hindered. The results obtained are very positive; actually the plot contains a large amount of regenerated yew and holly trees. Individually protecting elements were installed as well to protect isolated yew tree seedlings.
Image 1. Details of the enclosure installed on the stand to protect the regenerated yew trees from herbivores (especially from deer). Clearly there is a difference between the regenerated trees found outside and inside the plot. Only first-year yew seedlings are found outside the excluding plot. Meanwhile, this year’s seedlings and further-developed seedlings are found inside the plot since they are not under the herbivore pressure the outside seedlings are and therefore they have the chance to thrive.
Image 2. Regenerated yew tree inside the stand excluding plot.
Another action taking place in this very same stand has been the opening of the beech canopy cover with the aim of facilitating the entry of sun light into the lower canopy cover that shapes the yew forest.
For the other visited stand, conservation actions were considered on site.