In recent decades, the conservation of biodiversity has become one of the main areas under consideration in managing forests in an ecologically sustainable way. Forest management practices are primary drivers of diversity and may enhance or decrease forest biodiversity, according to the measures applied (thinning options). We have focused on three beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests across a latitudinal gradient in Italy, characterised by different structures resulting from dissimilar management. We tested the short-term effects of differently-based silvicultural intervention vs. stands where no silvicultural practices were applied on biodiversity indicators and related proxies: deadwood amounts, microhabitat density, floristic richness and life form abundance. In each study area, the occurrence of the above indicators and proxies was evaluated before and after the implementation of crop tree thinning (CTT) and thinning from below (LT) methods, comparing them with control areas where no interventions were performed. After two years, the management options resulted in different responses of the investigated parameters. The CTT increased deadwood amounts in comparison with the LT ones, while stumps increased significantly after the LT thinning. Microhabitats increased significantly where intervention was not undertaken. On the contrary, they remained unaltered after the LT treatments. CTT thinning created favourable conditions for the development of microhabitats and their proliferation in the long term. Two years after the application of the CTT thinning treatment, all forest stands demonstrated a significant increase in their floristic richness and herb layer cover. Significant differences were also found in both the frequency and cover of life forms in relation to silvicultural treatment. These findings provide a better understanding of short-term effects of silvicultural treatment useful for maintaining biodiversity in mountain beech forests.
Introduction: Silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) is one of the most valuable conifer wood species in Europe. Among the main opportunistic pathogens that cause root and butt rot on silver fir are Armillaria ostoyae and Heterobasidion abietinum. Due to the different enzymatic pools of these wood-decay fungi, different strategies in metabolizing the phenols were available.Objective: This work explores the changes in phenolic compounds during silver fir wood degradation.Methodology: Phenols were analyzed before and after fungus inoculation in silver fir macerated wood after 2, 4 and 6 months. All samples were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a hybrid quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometer.Results: Thirteen compounds, including simple phenols, alkylphenyl alcohols, hydroxybenzoketones, hydroxycinnamaldehydes, hydroxybenzaldehydes, hydroxyphenylacetic acids, hydroxycinnamic acids, hydroxybenzoic acids and hydroxycoumarins, were detected. Pyrocatechol, coniferyl alcohol, acetovanillone, vanillin, benzoic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and vanillic acid contents decreased during the degradation process. Methyl vanillate, ferulic acid and p-coumaric were initially produced and then degraded. Scopoletin was accumulated. Pyrocatechol, acetovanillone and methyl vanillate were found for the first time in both degrading and non-degrading wood of silver fir.Conclusions: Despite differences in the enzymatic pool, both fungi caused a significant decrease in the amounts of phenolic compounds with the accumulation of the only scopoletin. Principal component analysis revealed an initial differentiation between the degradation activity of the two fungal species during degradation, but similar phenolic contents at the end of wood degradation.
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