Differences in plant-species composition, richness and community structure in ancient and post-agricultural pine forests in central Poland

Species diversity, biomass accumulation and carbon sequestration in the understorey of post-agricultural Scots pine forests

“…The high proportion of non-forest species is also evident (Tolunay 2009;Woziwoda and Ambrożkiewicz 2011). The dominance of grasses lasting for years after planting the trees, reported by Uotila et al (2005) and Matuszkiewicz et al (2013), is characteristic of sites with more humid and more fertile soils than in this study. The growth of grasses in Scots pine plantations is likely prevented by strong closure of the canopy of trees in initial stages of stand development (Bernadzki et al 1999), which effectively excludes also non-forest species (Olaczek 1972).…”

“…The gradual pre-commercial and commercial thinning favours the development of the moss ground cover (Bernadzki et al 1999). Species which are characteristic of forest ecosystems occur successively along with the ageing of woodlands (Góras and Orczewska 2009;Matuszkiewicz et al 2013). The understorey plant species composition differs significantly in the studied 41-60, 61-80 and over 80-year-old forests.…”

“…Every modification of forest canopy changes the microclimate within a forest and affects the soil properties (Messier et al 1998;Augusto et al 2002;Jandl et al 2007;Jonczak and Parzych 2012), which in turn, strongly influence the ground vegetation (Kolström 1999;Dzwonko 2001;Graae et al 2004;Bruelheide and Undelhoven 2005). In the case of post-agricultural forests, the community structure and composition have been also affected for many years by the site history (Hermy and Stieperaere 1981;Hermy et al 1993;Flinn and Vellend 2005;Góras and Orczewska 2007;Hermy and Verheyen 2007;Matuszkiewicz et al 2013;Ouyang et al 2013). The moss, understorey vascular plant and shrub layers of secondary forests consist of both species which are resistant to an agricultural land use and species characteristic of forest communities (Dzwonko and Gawroński 1994;Dzwonko and Loster 1997;Majchrowska and Woziwoda 2009).…”

Forest Restoration Paradigms

“…Whether or not this idealized state exists now or within the last 25,000 yr is debatable (Denevan, 1992;Ellis et al, 2013). Certainly old forests with minimal human interference exist that provide examples of more natural conditions than intensively managed or secondary forests (Matuszkiewicz, Kowalska, Kozłowska, Roo-Zielińska, & Solon, 2013). Therefore, the defining characteristics of "naturalness" are the lack of major human interference for all or most of the lifespan of the oldest trees; complex vegetative structures; native species composition; and historical fidelity in terms of disturbance regimes and proportion in the landscape (Hunter, 1996).…”

Regeneration-degeneration processes in the inland dune forests in protected areas of central Poland (Kampinos National Park)

“…Forest persistence over time is the most important factor in community regeneration (Matuszkiewicz et al 2013a). The floristic composition of recent, usually postagricultural forests is very different from that of ancient forests (Peterken 1977;Rackham 1980;Dzwonko & Gawroński 1994;Wulf 2003;Matuszkiewicz et al 2013b), because forest species' recovery is very slow. Forest floor plants have specific biological traits (including shade tolerance, low dispersal capacity, limited mobility outside the forest environment, and the requirement of specific soil conditions) and lack the ability to compete with common species with wider ecological amplitude (Brunet & von Oheimb 1998;Dzwonko & Loster 2001;Hermy & Verheyen 2007).…”