Growth Response of Sessile Oak and European Hornbeam to Traditional Coppice-with-Standards Management

Abstract

Research Highlights: The influence of litter raking and livestock grazing on the development of juvenile sessile oak and European hornbeam sprouts as well as on sessile oak standards were studied. Such experiments are very rare, especially in central Europe where these activities have been prohibited for several decades. Little is known on how these ancient management activities affect tree growth. Background and Objectives: Traditional management practices in coppice forests such as grazing and litter raking have been abandoned, but have recently been studied as to whether these practices can substantially contribute to an increase in the species diversity of coppices. The important question is, however, how these practices influence the growth of coppice-with-standards. Therefore, this study focused on the effect of grazing, litter raking, and their combination on both sprouts and adult trees in a coppice-with-standards system one year after harvest. Materials and Methods: The experiment was carried out in the area of the Training Forest Enterprise Masaryk Forest Křtiny, Czech Republic, in a forest stand dominated by sessile oak and European hornbeam. We analyzed 132 oak polycormons, 132 hornbeam polycormons, and 163 oak standards. Results: The number of sprouts per stump was affected by the stump size and management practice: (A) coppice-with-standards, litter raking, and sheep grazing; (B) coppice-with-standards and sheep grazing; (C) coppice-with-standards and litter raking; and (D) coppice-with-standards), but not by tree species. The number of the sprouts as well as their height increased with the stump size. In contrast, grazing resulted in a smaller height of the sprouts while thinner sprouts were found under a combination of grazing and raking. When comparing the species, the oak sprouts were higher and thicker when compared to the hornbeam sprouts. The increment of standards increased after stand harvest. This, however, was not the result of grazing or raking, but the response to the reduction of tree number and thus of competition between neighboring trees. Conclusions: The results showed that there were rather negative impacts from the implemented traditional management practices on the growth of sprouts. This may lead to the question of whether ecological diversity resulting from the traditional practices may prevail their negative effect on the growth of the coppices.

The Impacts of Calamity Logging on the Development of Spruce Wood Prices in Czech Forestry

“…Czech forests are mainly owned by the Czech state, which owns 56% of all Czech forests. Municipalities own just 18% and to private owners remain 26% [1]. The economic impact of declining yields from forestry and logging, decreasing sales of infected wood, and stagnant forestry workers' wages are also contributing to this crisis.…”

“…Today, the calamity is much more extensive. Wood corrupted by biotic factors is much cheaper on the market [1,2,4].…”

Tree rings reveal signs of Europe’s sustainable forest management long before the first historical evidence

“…The length of rotation periods might have been adjusted in response to varying demands for wood, the productivity of a given stand but also considering the sustainable provision of wood. Additionally, there are a variety of historically recorded uses of forest by-products with possible effects on tree growth, from hog feeding 45 , grazing and pollarding 46 to litter raking that might have culminated in soil degradation 47 . In the forests of Weigenheim and Welbhausen, silvopastoral use traditionally did not play a significant role 37 .…”

Effect of tree harvest, silvopastoral practices, and microclimate conditions on forest floor CO2 efflux in a sessile oak (Quercus petraea agg. [Matt.] Liebl.) forest

“…), European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus L.), and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) between 26 and 66 years old and with average representation of 58.0%, 20.3%, and 14.0% of stems, respectively. There is also small admixture of Tilia cordata Mill., Prunus avium (L.) L., Larix decidua Mill., and Pinus sylvestris L. The stand height was around 13 m and standing stock volume 149 (± 32, SD) m 3 ha −1 before harvest (Kadavý et al 2019). Herbaceous vegetation in 2017 (before harvest) was very sparse, and dominant species were Melica uniflora Retz., Carex pilosa Scop., Dentaria bulbifera L., and Carex digitata L. In 2018, vegetation started to develop and consisted mainly of Fallopia dumetorum (L.) Holub, Galium odoratum (L.) Scop., Melica uniflora Retz., C. pilosa, Scrophularia nodosa L., Eupatorium cannabinum L., Rubus idaeus L. In 2019, the vegetation was dominated by Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronq., R. idaeus, Galium aparine L., Hypericum perforatum L., C. pilosa, and M. uniflora.…”