The PASTUS database compiles a collection of ecological samples on grasslands and other ecosystems related to the agro-pastoral cycle, the latter including cut meadows and legume-based sown swards, as well as shrublands and forests developed on abandoned pastures. It contains a large amount of contemporary and historical environmental information collected through monitoring surveys.
The database covers a wide range of geographical locations including mostly high-altitude grasslands in the Pyrenees (Catalonia mainly, Aragon and Navarra in Spain; Languedoc-Roussillon and Aquitaine in France); but also Mediterranean and semi-arid grasslands and rangelands in the North-Eastern (Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia) and Western (Salamanca) regions in the Iberian Peninsula.
The Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Global Change (ECOFUN) has integrated a wealth of data including location, positioning, climate, physiography, management, soil, plant diversity, productivity and vegetation variables.
The main sponsors and projects involved in the development of the database are: EU program INTERREG III-A (FP6/2002-2006) I3A-4-147-E Project; Spanish Science Foundation through the projects CARBOPAS(REN2002-04300-C02-02), CARBOAGROPAS (CGL2006-13555-C03-03) and CAPAS (CGL2010-22378-C03-01); INIA with the project CARBOCLUS (SUM2006-0002-C02-01); several agencies of the Catalan Government, Generalitat de Catalunya, including the project CARBOCAT; the EU projects CARBOMONT (EVK2-CT2001-00125, FP6/2002-2006) and CarboEurope (GOCE-CT-2003-505572, FP7/2007-2013); and the EU Programme POCTEFA EFA 34/08 (INTERREG IV-A, FLUXPYR project).
The skills in environmental information management and data analysis of the ECOFUN Lab enable this database to be used for many lines of research: grassland, rangeland and forest ecology and management; productivity, quality and management of legume-based swards and cut meadows; biodiversity assessment and conservation; climate and land use changes; biogeochemical cycling; soil-plant interactions; soil-microorganisms-plant-invertebrates-livestock system.
Selected publications
- Rodríguez, A., Canals, R.M., Plaixats, J., Albanell, E., Debouk, H., Garcia-Pausas, J., San Emeterio, L., Jimenez, J.J., Sebastià, M.-T., 2020. Interactions between biogeochemical and management factors explain soil organic carbon in Pyrenean grasslands. Biogeosciences.
- Rodríguez, A., de Lamo, X., Sebastià, M.T., 2018. Interactions between global change components drive plant species richness patterns within communities in mountain grasslands independently of topography. J. Veg. Sci. 29, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12683
- Sebastià, M.-T.; Palero, N.; de Bello, F. 2011. Changes in management modify agro-diversity in sainfoin swards in the Eastern Pyrenees. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 31: 533-540.
- de Bello F.; Thuiller W.; Lepš J.; Choler P.; Clement J. C.; Macek P.; Sebastià M.-T. & Lavorel S., 2009. Partitioning of functional diversity reveals the scale and extent of trait convergence and divergence. Journal of Vegetation Science, 20: 475-486.
- Sebastià, M.-T.; de Bello, F.; Puig, L. & Taull, M. 2008. Grazing as a factor structuring grasslands in the Pyrenees. Applied Vegetation Science, 11: 215-222.
- de Bello, F., Lepš, J., Sebastià, M.T. 2007. Grazing effects on the species-area relationship: Variation along a climatic gradient in NE Spain. Journal of Vegetation Science 18: 25-34.
- de Bello, F.; Lepš, J. & Sebastià, M.-T. 2006. Variations in species and functional plant diversity along climatic and grazing gradients. Ecography, 29: 801-810.
- de Lamo, X. and Sebastià, M.T. (2006). Role of biogeographical, ecological and management factors on plant diversity in grasslands. Grassland Sciences In Europe, 11: 832?834.
- de Bello, F.; Lepš, J.; Sebastià, M.-T. 2005. Predictive value of plant traits to grazing along a climatic gradient in the Mediterranean. J. Appl. Ecol. 42: 824–833.