Effects of Gap Size and Cardinal Directions on Natural Regeneration, Growth Dynamics of Trees outside the Gaps and Soil Properties in European Beech Forests of Southern Italy

Abstract

The present study was focused on how cardinal directions inside gaps of different sizes (small, 200 m2; medium, 400 m2; and large, 600 m2) can affect soil characteristics and tree regeneration. Additionally, the effects of gap size on the growth dynamics of trees outside the gaps were evaluated. The study was carried out in a European beech stand located in Aspromonte National Park (Southern Apennines, Calabria, Italy). Microclimatic variables, physical, chemical, and biochemical soil properties, natural regeneration density, and growth trees outside the gaps density of natural regeneration were assessed. This study provided evidence for an important effect of cardinal points on micro-environmental parameter variability, nutrient cycle, physic-chemical soil properties, water availability, and biological processes such as trees growth and regeneration. The European beech natural regeneration was most abundant in the south part of the gaps. Thus, we can state that cardinal points affect the trees natural regeneration in a species-specific manner. The new microclimatic conditions due to the gap opening had positive effects on the tree growth located along the gap edge, especially in the trees sampled on the edges of the medium gaps. On the contrary, the trees located in the forest recorded a productivity coherent with the period prior the gap opening. In medium-sized gaps, the combination and interaction of microclimatic and soil parameters (humification and mineralization process and microbial activity) created the best conditions for beech natural regeneration and favored an increase in the productivity of the trees at the edge of the gaps.

A matter of size and shape: Microclimatic changes induced by experimental gap openings in a sessile oak–hornbeam forest

“…(For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.) was suggested already by Canham et al (1990), and has been proven in temperate forests by several case studies (Bagnato et al, 2021;Gálhidy et al, 2006;Reuling et al, 2019;Vilhar et al, 2015).…”

Competitive Hierarchy Processes Support Mixed Species Regeneration in Strip-Cuts in the British Columbia Interior

“…However, group selection, patch-cut or strip-cut methods could be a possible solution [3][4][5]. In these systems, a small clear-cut is created in the canopy which leads to the creation of a light gradient inside the opening, with the southern edge receiving a higher proportion of diffuse light than the center or northern portion of the gaps, which typically receive a greater portion of direct sunlight in northern forests [6,7].…”