Ground vegetation composition and diversity in drained Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stands 50 years after whole-tree harvesting management: case study in Latvia

Abstract

The long-term (50 years) effect of whole-tree harvesting (stump harvesting) on ground vegetation in experimental drained Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stands was studied. We used a chronosequence approach to assess the long-term impact of whole-tree harvesting (WTH) on stands’ ground vegetation. WTH stands were compared with four control stands with different age and with the same forest type: young stand (15 years), middle-aged stand (45 years), mature stand (110 years) and over-mature stand (140 years). Species richness was similar between the WTH stand and middle-aged stand (61 and 60 species, respectively). Shannon-Wiener diversity indices in the WTH and middle-aged stand (3.40 and 3.19, respectively) indicated that the stands were similar to each other. A community similarity analysis showed that the composition of vegetation was similar between the WTH and middle-aged stand, although some species like Lycopodium clavatum and Diphasiastrum complanatum occurred only in the WTH stand. The study showed that a period of 50 years is sufficient for ground vegetation of a typical drained spruce forest to recover after WTH management.

Post fire ground vegetation development over 25 years

“…Frequency of fires has increased as a result of global warming (Flannigan et al, 2006). Habitat recover after fire disturbance differs from that of any other severe disturbance (Wang & Kemball, 2005) due to influence to recovery of trees as defining element of forest ecosystem (Mara Kitenberga et al, 2020), as well as effect on organic matter and thus disruption of nutrient supply differing from any other severe humaninduced or natural disturbance (Čakšs et al, 2018;Jansons et al, 2016;Samariks et al, 2020Samariks et al, , 2021. The development of burned biotope depends on how quickly the fire is extinguished and what is done with the stand after the fire, for example, whether salvage logging is carried out or left for natural regeneration (Kārkliņa et al, 2020).…”

Medium-term impact of stump harvesting on general soil parameters in hylocomiosa site type

“…While several studies conclude that stump harvest negatively affects species richness of understorey plants and reduces moss cover (e.g., Andersson, 2012; Kataja-aho, Fritze, & Haimi, 2011), Rudolphi & Strengbom (2016) report no significant long-term effect of this forestry practice on understorey and bryophytes. In Latvia, several studies have been conducted highlighting possible indirect long-term impact of stump harvest (Jansons et al, 2016;Čakšs et al, 2018). The aim of this study was to analyse the changes of general soil parameters six years after stump extraction in three mesotrophic sites in Latvia, comparing two types of treatments -whole-tree harvesting with only above-ground biomass removed and whole-tree harvesting with both above-and below-ground biomass removed.…”