Research trends on ecology and management of Quercus species

Abstract

Marañón, T., Padilla Díaz, C. M., Pérez Ramos, I. M., Villar, R. (2014). Research trends on ecology and management of Quercus species. Ecosistemas 23(2): 124-129. Doi.: 10.7818/ECOS.2014.23-2.16

The genus Quercus includes some of the most relevant tree species within the forests of the Northern Hemisphere, because of their wide geographical distribution and also their ecological and economic importance. Some Quercus species have been and still are the central research topic of many scientific studies related with forest ecology and management. The main objectives of this study are: 1) to know the evolution of the number of papers related with Quercus, together with the countries and authors with more scientific production in this field, 2) to identify the main research topics dealing with Quercus in Spain and 3) to discuss the knowledge gaps and to propose some future lines of research to be supported. A total of 13 469 publications related with Quercus species have resulted from the search in the ISI Web of Science, showing an exponential growth with time. Spain ranks as the second country (11.6 % of the publications), only after USA. The number of authors publishing about Quercus is 24 090; among the 20 authors with highest production of papers five come from Spain. The holm oak (Q. ilex, with 46.5 % of the papers) is the oak species in Spain receiving a major interest. According to the frequency of key words, Spanish researchers have focused their attention to the effects of climate change, oak regeneration, effects of drought stress, disturbances and species richness. The main knowledge gaps are also defined and discussed. The proposed lines of research are related with global change, demography and ecophysiology, biotic interactions, and management.