Monitoring spatiotemporal changes in global change drivers and their effects on semiarid woodlands and forests - fieldwork protocol

<ns3:p> Training schools play a vital role in COST actions, particularly for young researchers, as they provide opportunities to visit international laboratories and learn new methodologies. In May 2024, CLEANFOREST organized its first training school, <ns3:italic>Monitoring Spatiotemporal Changes in Global Change Drivers and Their Effects on Semiarid Woodlands and Forests</ns3:italic> , held at the Faculty of Science of the Universidade de Lisboa. The training school included a field trip designed to explore global change drivers and their impacts on semiarid woodlands and forests. Participants engaged in hands-on activities to understand how forest ecosystems interact with key global change factors such as air quality and climate change. They were introduced to various monitoring techniques and parameters for assessing forest health, including ecosystem fluxes, tree physiology, mortality, and regeneration. Additionally, participants examined plant biodiversity and functional ecology, focusing on lichens and their connection to air quality. Soil-related topics, such as the characterization of forest soils and their physico-chemical properties, were also addressed. Participants applied these methodologies in real-world scenarios, conducting measurements in different grazing management settings to assess their effects on tree growth, biodiversity, and soil properties. They then processed and analyzed the collected data, synthesizing their results to develop recommendations for sustainable forest management in the context of global change. This paper presents the field trip protocol used at Companhia das Lezírias, where simplified versions of established methodologies for sampling various ecosystem components were employed. The protocol provides a valuable reference for replicating similar studies, ensuring consistency in methodologies for future training and monitoring efforts. </ns3:p>