Effects of changes in traditional management on height and radial growth patterns in a Juniperus thurifera L. woodland J.M. Olano a, * , V. Rozas b , D. Bartolome ´ c , D. Sanz c a Laboratorio de Bota ´nica, EUI Agrarias, Los Pajaritos s/n, 42003 Soria, Spain b Departamento de Ecologı ´a, CIFA de Louriza ´n, Apdo. 127, 36080 Pontevedra, Spain c Cesefor, Polı ´gono Industrial Las Casas, Calle C, Parcela 4, 42005 Soria, Spain Received 11 December 2006; received in revised form 12 June 2007; accepted 5 September 2007 Abstract In order to understand the effects of changes in traditional forest management on Spanish juniper (Juniperus thurifera L.) forest dynamics, height and radial growth patterns were studied in 107 juniper trees in Cabrejas del Pinar (Soria, Central Spain). Suppressions in height and radial growth were common until the second half of XIXth century. These suppressions occurred at relatively low tree heights, and affected 30% of the sampled trees. The individual suppressions ended abruptly with a sharp increase in height and radial growth. These results fit well into the browsing cessation model, suggesting that an intense browsing pressure shaped this forest. The timing in the reduction of the browsing pressure matches the regional decrease in transhumant livestock that occurred in Spain during the second half of XIXth century. No difference in height-growth rate between suppressed and non-suppressed trees was observed for post-suppression period, indicating a high recovery capacity for J. thurifera. We observed a high variability in height-growth rate during post-suppression periods. This variability was poorly related to site factors (competition, landform), being related to tree life (age and presence of past suppression events). Traditional logging based solely on trees morphological traits may be partially responsible of this pattern. # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Juniperus thurifera; Dendroecology; Browsing; Selective logging; Spain 1. Introduction Juniperus species are widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere (Adams, 2004). Their ability to inhabit areas with continental climates and poorly developed soil allows them to be a major component of xeric forests. In Europe, Juniperus was a major component of landscape during glacial periods (Reille and Andrieu, 1995; Magny et al., 2003), but under more humid and warm post-glacial conditions their presence has concentrated mostly in Mediterranean environ- ments (Jime ´nez et al., 2003). Spanish juniper (Juniperus thurifera L.) is endemic to the western Mediterranean basin, with the most important populations growing under continental and cold climatic conditions in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa (Blanco et al., 1997; Charco, 1999). It forms open woodlands that have been traditionally managed in a wood–pasture system, where the understorey is grazed by sheep and goats and scattered trees are used both as a source of wood and fodder (Blanco et al., 1997). Until recently this management practices were main- tained for the whole distribution area of Juniperus forests. However, during last century social transformations have resulted in divergent management practices between Europe and North Africa. In Europe, depopulation of rural areas has caused a progressive abandonment of traditional management practices (Thompson, 2005), leading to an increase in recruitment of junipers (Blanco et al., 1997), shrub encroach- ment, decrease in the quality of pastures and potential Juniperus displacement by other tree species (Gauquelin et al., 1999). Simultaneously, in North Africa traditional forest structure or management practices have been maintained, but overpopulation is leading to an intensification of the pressure over Juniperus woodlands, with overgrazing and branch cutting for fuel being the main threats for the species (Charco, 1999; Gauquelin et al., 1999). www.elsevier.com/locate/foreco Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Forest Ecology and Management 255 (2008) 506–512 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 975129485; fax: +34 975129401. E-mail addresses: jmolano@agro.uva.es (J.M. Olano), vrozas.cifal@siam-cma.org (V. Rozas), coloquio_juniperus@cesefor.com (D. Bartolome ´), dsanzc@cesefor.com (D. Sanz). 0378-1127/$ – see front matter # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2007.09.015