Long‐term seed bank dynamics in a temperate forest under conversion from coppice‐with‐standards to high forest management

Abstract

Questions: How do changes in forest management, i.e. in disturbance type and frequency, influence species diversity, abundance and composition of the seed bank? How does the relationship between seed bank and vegetation change? What are the implications for seed bank dynamics? Location: An ancient Quercus petraea — Carpinus betulus forest in conversion from coppice‐with‐standards to regular Quercus high forest near Montargis, France. Methods: Seed bank and vegetation were sampled in six replicated stand types, forming a chronosequence along the conversion pathway. The stand types represented mid‐successional stages of stands in transition from coppice‐with‐standards (to high forest (16 plots) and early‐ and mid‐successional high forest stands (32 plots). Results: Seed bank density and species richness decreased with time since last disturbance. Adjusting for seed density effects obscured species richness differences between stand types, but species of later seres were nested subsets of earlier seres, implying concomitant shifts in species richness and composition with time since disturbance. Later seres were characterized by species with low seed weight and high seed longevity. Seed banks of early seres were more similar to vegetation than to later seres. Conclusions: Abandonment of the coppice‐with‐standards regime altered the seed bank characteristics, as well as its relationship with vegetation. Longer management cycles under high forest yield impoverished seed banks. For their persistence, seed bank species will increasingly rely on management of permanently open areas in the forest landscape. Thus, revegetation at the beginning of new high‐forest cycles may increasingly depend on inflow from seed sources.

Response of diameter and height increment to thinning in oak-hornbeam coppice in the southeastern part of the Czech Republic

“…Nowadays, special significance of coppices for nature conservation is acknowledged. Re-introduction of a traditional system of coppice management is the best way of maintaining valuable and attractive mixtures of herbs (Buckley 1992;Brunet et al 1996;Konvička et al 2006;van Calster et al 2008;Vild et al 2013).…”

Predicted occurrence of ancient coppice woodlands in the Czech Republic

“…Brown & Oosterhuis (1981) used the term "ancient coppice woods" to describe woodlands that had been continuously coppiced since at least the year 1800 AD. Similarly, the appearance of coppices with standards (Van Calster et al 2008) was documented as first occurring in Germany in 600 AD and in France in the Middle Ages, and there are records from the 12 th century from England (Morhart et al 2014). In Eastern European countries, the system was also well known since the Middle Ages (Machar 2009).…”

Gross value yield potential of coppice, high forest and model conversion of high forest to coppice on best sites

“…Among the particularly stressed advantages of the so-called open forests are their higher biodiversity (Ash, Barkham 1976;Mason, MacDonald 2002;Gondard, Romane 2005;Van Calster et al 2008;Valbuena-Carabana et al 2008) and higher production of firewood in short rotation periods (Proe et al 1999). The global economic crisis, constantly increasing prices of fossil energy sources, as well as the support which the EU states channel to energy production from renewable resources have significantly boosted the interest in coppices (Jansen, Kuiper 2004).…”