20.500.12556/DiRROS-10453
Evaluating short-term impacts of forest management and microsite conditions on understory vegetation in temperate fir-beech forests : floristic, ecological, and trait-based perspective
Forest understory vegetation is largely influenced by disturbances and given local abiotic conditions. Our research focuses on the early response of understory vegetation to various forest management intensities in Dinaric fir-beech forests in Slovenia: (i) control, (ii) 50% cut of stand growing stock, and (iii) 100% cut of stand growing stock. Apart from identifying overstory removal effects, we were interested in fine-scale variation of understory vegetation and environmental determinants of its species composition. Vegetation was sampled within 27 karst sinkholes, which represent a dominant landform in studied forests. Within each sinkhole, five sampling plots, varying in slope aspect (centre, north, east, south, west), were established (135 in total), where pre-treatment (in 2012) and post-treatment (in 2014) floristic surveys were conducted. The sampled understory species were characterized in terms of Ellenberg's indicator values (EIVs) and plant functional traits (plant height, seed mass, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content). Diversity metrics (species richness, total cover, Shannon index) increased in plots where the silvicultural measures were applied. Tree species richness also increased in 100% cutting. A redundancy analysis revealed that species composition was related to environmental variables, which are directly influenced by management interventions (overstory canopy cover, microclimate maximum daily temperature, soil properties thickness of organic soil layer) as well as by topographic factors (slope inclination and surface rockiness). EIVs for light were significantly affected by treatment intensity, whereas soil-related EIVs (moisture, reaction, nutrients) depended more on the within-sinkhole position. Canopy gaps, compared with uncut control plots, hosted a higher number of colonizing species with a higher plant height and smaller seeds, while leaf traits did not show a clear response. We found a negative correlation between pre-treatment species (functional) richness and post-treatment shifts in floristic (functional) composition. Plots with higher richness exhibited smaller changes compared with species-poor communities. Incorporating different perspectives, the results of this study offer valuable insights into patterns of understory vegetation response to forest management in fir-beech forests.
canopy gap
microsite environment
Ellenberg indicator values
plant functional traits
compositional resistance
karst topography
fir-beech forest
sestojna vrzel
mikrorastiščne razmere
Ellenbergove fitoindikacijske vrednosti
rastlinski funkcionalni znaki
odpornost vrstne sestave
kraški relief
jelovo-bukovi gozdovi
true
false
true
Angleški jezik
Ni določen
Neznano
2019-12-06 12:18:57
2019-12-06 12:18:58
2022-08-16 03:33:41
0000-00-00 00:00:00
2019
0
0
Nasl. iz nasl. zaslona;
Opis vira z dne 3. 12. 2019;
22 str.
iss. 10
article 909
2019
0000-00-00
Zaloznikova
Objavljeno
NiDoloceno
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
630*228:630*18(045)
1999-4907
10.3390/f10100909
5572262
3872166
RAZ_Kermavnar_Janez_i2019.pdf
RAZ_Kermavnar_Janez_i2019.pdf
1
DE8BC1A06C6134BA7EF54CF55B51DECF
6b31e635186e77949a556e1b4211124ae6567a9fa5fbd16599264773b4bf4f9c
c6efbdc4-17b5-11ed-b6b8-001a4af901a5
https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=12553
https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/10/10/909
1
https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=12552
Gozdarski inštitut Slovenije
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