Do abandoned tree plantations resemble natural riparian forests? A case study from northeast Greece

Vasilopoulos, Grigorios; Tsiripidis, Ioannis; Karagiannakidou, V.

doi:10.1007/s00035-007-0796-9

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Our results also supported the decreasing dominance of ruderal, short‐lived, wetland and light‐demanding species on natural riparian sites along the biogeomorphic succession (Corenblit et al 2015 b ). Consistently with findings by Vasilopoulos et al (), many of the indicator species of the riparian sites were wetland species. With little hope that the Garonne River will recover, even partially, the hydrogeomophic dynamism necessary for the conversion of abandoned poplar plantations to riparian sites, novel transitional riparian‐upland forests like those found on abandoned and on a sub‐set of harvested sites with high resprouting of hybrid poplars may be seen as a positive management outcome.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Poplar plantations along regulated rivers may resemble riparian forests after abandonment: a comparison of passive restoration approaches

Masip

Tabacchi

2016

Restoration Ecology

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Abandoning hybrid poplar plantations may be an alternative strategy for enlarging natural riparian corridors along regulated rivers where forest regeneration no longer takes place. Despite the generally high local diversity of plants in poplar plantations, their capacity to converge towards riparian forests following abandonment remains largely untested and uncertain, because maintenance-related disturbance of plantations favors ruderal, not strictly riparian specialists. We assessed the spontaneous recolonization of vegetation in abandoned hybrid poplar plantations following two management strategies: harvesting or simple abandonment of standing trees. The floristic composition in four chronosequences of 10 active (1-15 years), 17 harvested (1-15 years), and 10 abandoned (8-20 years) hybrid poplar plantations, as well as 10 riparian sites established at gravel bars that appeared following the cessation of in-channel gravel mining (8-25 years) along the highly regulated Garonne River (SW France) was assessed in the framework of ecological disturbance theory. Both harvested and abandoned sites still resembled active plantations more than riparian forests. When poplar resprouting was low after harvesting, sites were dominated by light-demanding, nitrophilous herbs, sub-shrubs, and vines showing both competitive and ruderal traits, and vegetation composition remained stable over time. Abandoned and harvested sites with high poplar resprouting developed forest communities in which competitive species that tolerate and generate shade dominated, and tree species recruitment was higher. Riparian sites hosted the highest number of indicator species, mainly wetland and exotic. Simple passive restoration strategies like abandonment of plantations can help create valuable ecosystems, although ones that diverge from riparian forests colonizing new fluvial landforms.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Poplar plantations along regulated rivers may resemble riparian forests after abandonment: a comparison of passive restoration approaches

Masip

Tabacchi

2016

Restoration Ecology

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“…Chelidonium majus and Urtica dioica ). In riparian areas of Greece, false acacia stands showed a species composition which is clearly distinct from natural forests (Vasilopoulos, Tsiripidis & Karagiannakidou ).…”

Section: Economic Value and Conservationmentioning

confidence: 94%

Biological Flora of the British Isles: Robinia pseudoacacia

et al. 2013

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Summary1. This account presents information on all aspects of the biology of Robinia pseudoacacia L. that are relevant to understanding its ecological characteristics and behaviour. The main topics are presented within the standard framework of the Biological Flora of the British Isles: distribution, habitat, communities, responses to biotic factors, responses to environment, structure and physiology, phenology, floral and seed characters, herbivores and disease, and history and conservation. 2. Robinia pseudoacacia, false acacia or black locust, is a deciduous, broad-leaved tree native to North America. The medium-sized, fast-growing tree is armed with spines, and extensively suckering. It has become naturalized in grassland, semi-natural woodlands and urban habitats. The tree is common in the south of the British Isles and in many other regions of Europe. 3. Robinia pseudoacacia is a light-demanding pioneer species, which occurs primarily in disturbed sites on fertile to poor soils. The tree does not tolerate wet or compacted soils. In contrast to its native range, where it rapidly colonizes forest gaps and is replaced after 15-30 years by more competitive tree species, populations in the secondary range can persist for a longer time, probably due to release from natural enemies. 4. Robinia pseudoacacia reproduces sexually, and asexually by underground runners. Disturbance favours clonal growth and leads to an increase in the number of ramets. Mechanical stem damage and fires also lead to increased clonal recruitment. 5. The tree benefits from di-nitrogen fixation associated with symbiotic rhizobia in root nodules. Estimated symbiotic nitrogen fixation rates range widely from 23 to 300 kg ha À1 year À1 . The nitrogen becomes available to other plants mainly by the rapid decay of nitrogen-rich leaves. 6. Robinia pseudoacacia is host to a wide range of fungi both in the native and introduced ranges. Megaherbivores are of minor significance in Europe but browsing by ungulates occurs in the native range. Among insects, the North American black locust gall midge (Obolodiplosis robiniae) is specific to Robinia and is spreading rapidly throughout Europe. 7. In parts of Europe, Robinia pseudoacacia is considered an invasive non-indigenous plant and the tree is controlled. Negative impacts include shading and changes of soil conditions as a result of nitrogen fixation.Key-words: climatic limitation, ecophysiology, geographical and altitudinal distribution, germination, invasive, mycorrhiza, nitrogen fixation, parasites and diseases, reproductive biology, soilsFalse acacia, black locust. Fabaceae, tribe Robinieae. Robinia pseudoacacia L. is a deciduous, strongly suckering, broadleaved tree, up to 20 m high but, occasionally taller. Bark *Nomenclature of vascular plants follows Stace (2010) and, for nonBritish species, Flora Europaea.

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“…Direct impacts of grazing, fire regime modification, cultivated agriculture and plantations, and urbanization may reduce riparian cover, influence floristic composition (Vasilopoulos et al, 2007;Dimitriou & Zacharias, 2010), and/or facilitate increased nonnative species frequency and cover (Meek et al, 2010). Land conversion and other activities are usually associated with reductions in riparian zone extent, community complexity, dispersal, and function (Katibah et al, 1984;González et al, 2010), although these impacts can be difficult to separate from other environmental variables.…”

Section: Human Impactsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Riparian vegetation research in Mediterranean-climate regions: common patterns, ecological processes, and considerations for management

et al. 2012

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Riparian corridors in Mediterranean-climate regions (med-regions) are resource-rich habitats within water-limited, larger landscapes. However, little is known about how their plant communities compare functionally and compositionally across medregions. In recent decades, research on these ecosystems has expanded in both geographic scope and disciplinary depth. We reviewed 286 riparian-vegetation studies across the five med-regions, and identified common themes, including: (1) high levels of plant biodiversity, structural complexity, and cross-region species introductions; (2) strong physical controls on plant demographics and community structure; and (3) intensive human impacts. European and Californian ecosystems were the most represented among the studies reviewed, but Australia, South Africa, and Chile had the greatest proportional increases in articles published since 2000. All med-regions support distinct riparian flora, although many genera have invaded across regions. Plant species in all regions are adapted to multiple abiotic stressors, including dynamic flooding and sediment regimes, seasonal water shortage, and fire. The most severe human impacts are from land-use conversion to agriculture, streamflow regulation, nutrient enrichment, and climate change. Current knowledge gaps and subjects for future research include cumulative impacts to small, ephemeral streams and large, regulated rivers, as well as understudied ecosystems in North Africa, the western Mediterranean basin, and Chile.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

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Do abandoned tree plantations resemble natural riparian forests? A case study from northeast Greece

Cited by 13 publications

References 27 publications

Poplar plantations along regulated rivers may resemble riparian forests after abandonment: a comparison of passive restoration approaches

Poplar plantations along regulated rivers may resemble riparian forests after abandonment: a comparison of passive restoration approaches

Biological Flora of the British Isles: Robinia pseudoacacia

Riparian vegetation research in Mediterranean-climate regions: common patterns, ecological processes, and considerations for management

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