Responses in young Quercus petraea: coppices and standards under favourable and drought conditions

Abstract

Assimilation and photosynthetic efficiency (maximal quantum yield) of young oaks were compared in coppice and standard sessile oak stands of comparable age (100 years) under different light intensity categories: under minimum light -ISF < 20%, low light -20%<ISF<25%, medium light -25%<ISF<30% and in the open, without mature canopy cover -ISF >30% during favourable and drought conditions. Measurements of maximal assimilation rates were performed at a constant temperature of the measurement block (20°C), a CO 2 concentration of 400 µmol/l, flow 500 µmol/s and different light intensities: 0, 50, 250, 600, 1200 and 1800 µmol/m 2 s during three consecutive growing seasons (2012, 2013 and 2014). In every category at least 8 young naturally regenerated seedlings and sprouts of different coppice stools were measured. The quantum yield in optimal conditions in standards was highest in the category of closed canopy, while in coppices in medium light category. During severe drought in 2013 the drop in efficiency of standards was evident in all categories, while in coppices no differences in efficiency were observed between favourable 2012 and 2013 with expressed drought stress, proving the advantage of young coppices over standards in this particular light category. However, the beneficial effects of restoration coppicing are not guaranteed. It is our belief that in time such advantage might decrease; it would be therefore interesting to compare responses in time and define, when response abilities of both studied systems become equal.

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

“…Management-induced growth patterns might furthermore influence the climatic signal within historical oak samples 59 , 60 . It is therefore crucial to overcome these patterns in paleoclimate reconstructions with sufficient sample replication 61 .…”

Comparison of Economic Efficiency of Management Systems with Prevailing Representation of Sessile Oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.) in the Territory of Křivoklátsko Forest Park (Czech Republic)

“…Results of studies (e.g., References [21][22][23][24]) suggest that coppice is a promising forest management adaptation alternative with a better adaptation strategy at extreme localities, mainly in conditions with limited availability of water. However, the observed advantage probably lasts only during the first two decades and then gradually declines [21].…”

“…Although the results of this study show that it is economically beneficial for the area of LP Křivoklátsko to manage the oak stands in the form of coppices or over-mature coppices, several facts should be pointed out. Recently, several studies concentrating on the relation between the growth of high oak stands and the climate were carried out in central Europe (e.g., References [49][50][51]), as well as studies pointing out coppice forests as a promising adaptation alternative for extreme localities, namely in the areas with limited availability of water, as can be supported by several authors (e.g., References [21][22][23][24]). On the other hand, there are also studies which call the advantageousness of coppices as an adaptation alternative into question concerning its long-term functioning [21] and studies which rather favor high oak forests to over-mature coppices because of the changing climatic conditions [24].…”

How do social status and tree architecture influence radial growth, wood density and drought response in spontaneously established oak forests?

“…Differences were also found for growth between architectures for each of the sampling designs (Pemán et al 2017;Stojanović et al 2017). Higher BAI values for dominant coppiced holm oak trees are probably associated to lower water limitation of multistemmed oaks to face drought conditions, owing to the benefits of a larger and deeper pre-established root system (Pemán et al 2017;Stojanović et al 2017), although the advantage of coppiced vs high forests might decrease with time as the multiple stemsgrow up (Stojanović et al 2016). Thus, the decrease of BAI in dominant multi-stemmed trees can be associated to the progressive increase inintra-individualcompetitionamongstemsandthereplenishment of belowground structures after the resources spent in the resprouting process (Espelta et al 1999;Cotillas et al 2016).…”

“…One such trigger is their architecture and associated root-to-shoot ratio. Tree growth in coppiced oaks (with several stems that resprouted from the stump) has been shown to be less influenced by soil water deficit than non-coppiced oaks (with a single stem; Stojanović et al 2016Stojanović et al , 2017; but see Fedorová et al 2018), although these positive effects may be transient in time (Cotillas et al 2009; Sanchez-Humanes and Espelta 2011). On the other hand, the social status of a tree within the canopy layer can also influence its growth and resistance to soil water deficit.…”