Respuesta de Quercus coccifera a la herbivoría en un ambiente de enriquecimiento de CO2 atmosférico

In the last century, human activities are precipitously increasing atmospheric CO 2 concentration. In this future scenario of change, the objective of this work was to study the response of Quercus coccifera the combined effect of grazing and atmospheric CO 2 enrichment. To examine the effects of partial consumption on seedling growth, three levels of grazing (null, moderate and high) and two atmospheric CO 2 concentrations (380 µmol mol -1 and 700 µmol mol -1 ) were simulated. The results showed that the degree of simulated grazing was the main factor that could restrict the growth of seedlings of Q. coccifera; in both CO 2 environments, plants with moderate grazing showed a significantly higher development than intact and high grazing plants. This study is a first approach on the Mediterranean scrub tolerance to grazing and enrichment atmospheric CO 2 concentrations, but future studies are required that should shed light on many of the natural stress situations (abiotic and biotic).