Farmland abandonment in Mediterranean mid‐mountain areas can lead to the degradation or recovery of soil properties. Typically, after abandonment, fields are covered with shrubs, which hinders livestock grazing and constitutes high wildfire risk. To avoid these negative effects, shrubs are cleared in selected areas. The main objective of this study is to evaluate whether shrub clearing can improve soil quality and enhance carbon sequestration. A case study was conducted in the Leza Valley (La Rioja, Spain), examining five different land uses/management practices in both acid and alkaline soil environments. These included shrubland (control), three shrub clearing sites (managed <5, 15, and 25 years ago), and control pasture (reference). Soil replicates at different depths (0–40 cm) were collected, and physico‐chemical properties were analysed. A theoretical map of potential shrub clearing areas was created, and the potential to accumulate carbon was evaluated. Results showed that shrub clearing increases soil organic carbon and nitrogen, specially in 25‐year clearings. The increases were greater and significant on alkaline environments. The cartographical analysis reveals that 3388 ha can be still cleared in the Leza Valley, which could increase soil organic carbon accumulation by up to 31.6% in 25‐year period. We propose shrub‐clearing as a strategy for enhancing carbon sequestration in Mediterranean mountain areas.

中文翻译：

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提高废弃土地土壤质量和土壤有机碳储量的策略：通过灌木清理实现牧场再生

地中海中山区的农田废弃可能导致土壤性质的退化或恢复。通常，废弃后的田地会被灌木覆盖，这阻碍了牲畜放牧，并构成很高的野火风险。为了避免这些负面影响，我们在选定区域清除了灌木丛。本研究的主要目的是评估灌木清除是否可以改善土壤质量并增强碳固存。在莱萨山谷（西班牙拉里奥哈）进行了一项案例研究，研究了酸性和碱性土壤环境中五种不同的土地利用/管理实践。其中包括灌木丛（对照）、三个灌木清理场地（<5、15 和 25 年前管理）和对照牧场（参考）。收集不同深度（0-40厘米）的土壤样本，并分析理化性质。创建了潜在灌木清理区域的理论地图，并评估了碳积累的潜力。结果表明，灌木清除增加了土壤有机碳和氮，特别是在 25 年的清除中。在碱性环境中，增加幅度更大且显着。地图分析显示，莱萨河谷仍有3388公顷的土地可被砍伐，这将使土壤有机碳积累在25年期间增加高达31.6%。我们建议将灌木清理作为加强地中海山区碳固存的一项策略。