Initial understory response to experimental silvicultural treatments in a temperate oak-dominated forest

Abstract

response to experimental silvicultural treatments in a temperate oak-dominated forest.

Evaluating Short-Term Impacts of Forest Management and Microsite Conditions on Understory Vegetation in Temperate Fir-Beech Forests: Floristic, Ecological, and Trait-Based Perspective

“…With respect to functional traits, CWMs for plant height increased significantly in the disturbed plots, suggesting that taller herbaceous species occupied the newly created canopy gaps, which is in corroboration of the study of [64]. The influx of tall ruderal herbs and grasses in the canopy gaps has been observed before (e.g., [13]).…”

“…Forest management determines ecological differences between managed and unmanaged forests that strongly affect plant species diversity and composition [31]. An increase of ground-layer diversity metrics (species richness, cover) along the cutting intensity gradient has been documented in many studies (e.g., [3,63]), and this is usually the result of newly colonized species joining the community and the initial persistence of resident species [64]. A slight increase in tree species richness in canopy gaps suggest that silvicultural objectives were met; canopy gaps created (micro)sites for the establishment of pioneer tree species that were not present in stands under the closed canopy.…”

“…Mean EIV-F significantly decreased in canopy gaps (Figure 5d), indicating that some plant species that were more adapted to drier soil conditions colonized the gaps. However, according to the studies of [64] and [69], the amount of available soil moisture in gaps normally increase owing to the lower overstory interception of precipitation and reduced water uptake of remaining vegetation, that is, mature trees-as the most demanding consumers-were cut down. It is also important to note that management had a significant effect on EIV-L and EIV-T, whereas EIVs indicating soil conditions (EIV-F, EIV-R, EIV-N) were more influenced by within-sinkhole position.…”

Unfolding the effects of different forestry treatments on microclimate in oak forests: results of a 4‐yr experiment

“…We demonstrated that retention tree groups in the size of one tree height can mediate the thermal extremes and drying capacity of the ambient air but not their mean values, which are a definite aim in creating aggregated retention trees (Vanha‐Majamaa and Jalonen ). However, we found that minimum T air remains similar in retention tree groups, gap‐cuts, and preparation cuts.…”

“…Moreover, this trend was also detected for dT soil IQR in the retention tree groups and for maxima in the gap-and preparation cuts. The recovery is presumably based on the natural regeneration of the herb and shrub layer that were considerably different among the treatments (Tinya et al 2019). Before the treatments, understory vegetation was scarce and quasihomogeneous.…”