December 5, 2024 – The University of Santiago de Compostela is participating in the Barbanza Ecosocial Laboratory project through the UXAFORES research group (Unit for Sustainable Environmental and Forest Management), which is responsible for developing Action 4. This action aims to improve soil fertility through dressings based on waste or byproducts abundant in the area, as well as to increase carbon stocks and biodiversity in the Rianxo common land comunities. The Plataforma pola Defensa do Monte and the Baroña Common Land Community are participating in this action as partners and collaborators (respectively) of the Laboratory.

The Laboratory’s Action 4 received €224,881.03 in funding from the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan (PRTR), funded by the European Union (NextGenerationEU). Esperanza Álvarez, professor in the Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry at the Lugo Campus and coordinator of the UXAFORES group, indicates that “improving forest management in the common land is another key challenge. With this work, we seek to optimize sustainability and profitability for local comunities.”

Throughout this year, UXAFORES has conducted intensive sampling and analysis of the physical, chemical, and biological fertility of soils at various locations in the Rianxo Common Land Communities: the Leiro, Taragoña, Isorna, Ferreira-Campelo, Paradelo, and Araño CMVMCs, as well as the Baroña CMVMC.

In the woodlands of these communities, soil samples were collected from plots located at the upper reaches, mid-slope, and lower reaches. In each of these areas, the plots were selected based on various criteria, such as the vegetation present (differentiating between pine, eucalyptus, hardwood, and scrubland), the age of the forests (young and mature plantations), the type of management (unmanaged or under some type of management), and the degree of fire exposure (not affected by fires, plots that burned in the last 2 years, between 3 and 10 years, and more than 10 years).

Soil samples were also taken from plots where the ‘comunidades de montes’ have implemented some form of management to prevent fires and seek alternative uses for the ‘monte’: 1) introduction of livestock; 2) removal of acacia trees; 3) removal of eucalyptus trees. All collected soil samples are analyzed for their physical, chemical, and biological properties, such as cation exchange capacity, soil depth, texture, moisture, bulk density, organic matter content, pH, available nutrients, microbial activity, among others. Once soil fertility is determined, the next step will be to implement dressings using different types of residues from forestry (such as logging debris and sawdust), agricultural (manure) and culinary (mussel shells) activity, as well as algae. The following are determined for each residue: pH, organic matter content, C, N, C/N, macro- and micronutrients.

Based on the results and taking into account the nutritional status of the soils, different treatments will be developed and applied to test plots with more severe fertility problems. First, test will be conducted in isolated pots to determine the behavior of individual residues and the prepared waste mixtures. These residues will then be applied to the ‘monte’ plots in a trial with four plots for each treatment applied. Six (and later twelve) months after the trial began, soil sampling and a vegetation inventory will be conducted to verify the effectiveness of the treatments.

In parallel with this work, part of Action 4 of the project is to disseminate the acquired knowledge. “The active participation of local communities in natural resource management is crucial for long-term success,” says Ana Barreiro, a research professor and member of the UXAFORES research group. An example of this is the workshop held on November 19 at the Xosé María Brea Segade Primary School in Rianxo, where the Soil Science team gave a talk to students about the work they are doing in the surrounding common lands.