Recover the Mediterranean Diversity

Manual of good practices for Quercus restoration projects in Mediterranean environments.
This manual presents a methodology to help Mediterranean restoration projects to find solutions to make possible the direct seeding of acorns with guarantees and success. We also provide our

What's cooking in the Seedlab ( literally)
We are adjusting one of the protocols for measuring the dry weight of the seeds. For this we use a modified oven to achieve a constant temperature of 103º for 17h, so that the humidity goes away, and so we can weigh the difference.
This

As we have explained in previous publications, the acorns have passed the montanera, and at the end of August the acorns start to grow.
If, by this time, they have hardly emerged from the dome as in the picture, these fruits have little chance of thriving, which indicates water

In this graph you can see the results of the tests we described in the previous post on wild olive seed germination. All of them have been handled in a range of temperatures around 13º and different cuts have been made in the stone.
With these results we hope to continue improving

The germination of the wild olive tree is quite complex, it has taken us several years to find the key, because if the seed is harvested when ripe (at the same time as the traditional olive harvest) it does not work. When it is ripe but somewhat green, it is viable.
This year we

There is also extensive long-term work to be done to obtain methodologies for priming seeds with stronger dormancy, or even requiring a year of cold and heat, such as hawthorn and wild rose.
This way we could have varieties ready for germination in a couple of weeks instead of a

We have designed an experiment to improve pre-germinative treatments.
Usually the acorns are soaked for a couple of days, or cold stratification is done, but this must be done with sand, mixing the acorns in 3 times their volume in humid substrate at 4 degrees in refrigerators. In

The images are from the tests carried out in September in relation to the sowings between the piornos that we mentioned.
In the first one, we can see the holm oak growing, which has not had the pleasure of meeting the wild boars.
The next photo is of a test with another protector

We would like to show you the results of the sowings of February 2023 in the plot known as "Olías 1", of less than 1 hectare at an altitude of 1000 metres in Sierra Lújar.
It is fenced in by an electric shepherd to deter wild boars. The sowings were also carried out with protection

Three members of Semillistas were on the summit of Sierra Lújar planting Pinus nigra (with and without priming treatment) and acorns with protectors.
Just before it rained, and they also wanted to continue with the study of how long the sowing schedules can be extended for different

Preparations for sowing at the summit of Sierra Lújar.
Here we see different protection systems. We want to experiment with options that are compostable (do not leave residues) such as pressed cellulose and non-woven textiles.
We are also testing a seed-shelter, the result of a

Now that sowing campaign is finished, we have time to show other things that we do. That is from last Autumn/Winter, and it’s about after the seed harvesting, the processing for storage and use.
When sowing, it's not all acorns. Since the local ecosystem is to be encouraged to regenerate,

We show you a pic of our sister project Bosques de Agua in Argentina, which is also part of this Tree Nation platform. Here we see them harvesting "tabaquillo" seeds in different degrees of maturity.
After a crowdfunding campaign they got funding to implement a laboratory similar