Question: How does the vegetation of boreal forests respond to harvesting and scarification?
Location: 650 m a.s.l., central Sweden (61°38’ N).
Methods: The response of boreal forest vegetation to cutting and scarification was studied in a field trial, which consisted of three treatments plus conventional harvesting as a control in a complete block design with four replicates. The cutting was done 14 years prior to vegetation inventory and scarification and planting were conducted the first or second years after cutting.
Results: The species most abundant at higher cutting intensities were crustose lichens, Cladonia spp., Cladina arbuscula, Polytrichum spp. and pioneer mosses, the grass Deschampsia flexuosa, and the tree Betula pubescens, A few species had substantially lower abundance in treatments with higher cutting intensity, notably Hylocomium splendens and Vaccinium myrtillus. Scarification had a strong effect that was different from the one created by cutting. In scarification treatments, Polytrichum spp. were the only species with high abundance; most species had low abundance, i.e. Barbilophozia lycopodioides, Vaccinium vitis‐idaea, Pleurozium schreberi, Carex globularis, Empetrum nigrum, Cladina arbuscula, Sphagnum spp.
Conclusions: Our results elaborate on the details of the well‐known effect of cutting on ground‐layer flora, and also give support for the profound and long‐lasting effect that soil scarification has on forest vegetation.
Silviculture, S-903 83 Umeå, Sweden). Survival after planting without soil preparation for pine and spruce seedlings protected from Hylobius abietis by physical and chemical shelters. ReceivedIn a series of 21 field experiments, established during 3 yrs between latitudes 56° and 64° N, seedlings without shelter and with four different types of shelters (one chemical, Permethrin, and three physical, Strumpan, Bema and Struten) were compared. These seedlings (Pinus sylvestris L. and Picea abies (L.) Karst.) were planted in the first spring after clear cutting without prior removal of the humus layer. The seedlings were observed continuously during one to four growing seasons after planting. It was shown that the pine weevil (Hylobius abietis L.) was the major cause of mortality during the first two growing seasons within the whole area. In all but one experiment the sheltered seedlings survived much better than the unsheltered ones. With a model based on the field observations, the survival for unsheltered and sheltered seedlings was predicted to 28% and 77%, respectively, at the end of the fourth growing season. From a practical point of view, all the shelters gave satisfactory protection and there were no significant differences between them. The silvicultural method used in these experiments shortened the rotation age and it was simple because planting was done directly after logging and heavy equipment for soil preparation was not used. In areas where nature conservation and multiple use of forests is important, such a regeneration method could be of great value.
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