Temporal changes in the ground vegetation in spruce forests in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) — bryophytes are better indicators of the impact of liming and of sulphur and nitrogen deposition than the herb layer

Abstract

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Long-term changes in bryophyte diversity of central European managed forests depending on site environmental features

“…The lack of significant variations in bryophyte species richness in Polish forests seems at first to supports the results by Dittrich et al (2016), reporting no trends in overall species richness over a century, and to contrast with those by Becker-Scarpitta et al (2017), who observed an increase in species richness over a 30-year time span, as well as with those by the above mentioned study by Baumann et al (2021), also reporting a diversity increase in ground bryophytes. However, in our study we pooled and examined together both coniferous and broadleaved forests, while Dittrich et al (2016) andBecker-Scarpitta et al (2017) examined just broadleaved forests and Baumann et al (2021) just coniferous ones.…”

“…However, as in the case of forest management practices, the pollution drop was not enough to ultimately determine an increase of bryophyte diversity. Meanwhile, Baumann et al (2021) ascribed the observed increase in bryophyte species richness and cover in the spruce forests of eastern Germany just to the sharp decline in S deposition. These contrasting conclusions may be accounted for by the difference in the scale of observation.…”

“…These contrasting conclusions may be accounted for by the difference in the scale of observation. The study by Baumann et al (2021) examined a limited area of just a few square kilometres, while our study encompassed the whole Poland, and the effects of the S deposition drop are expected to be less obvious at a larger geographical scale, given the increased variability of environmental factors involved in the response of biological communities to changes in disturbance regimes. So, in the end, the net effect of a moderate impact of climate changes, the improvement in forestry practices and a strong pollution decrease, as the three more likely drivers of bryophyte diversity variations, was a lack of trends.…”

“…However, these changes were monitored at just one forest site. Lastly, Baumann et al (2021) monitored changes in ground bryophytes over three decades, but they also focused only on one forest type, i.e. spruce forests.…”

Restoration and management of plant communities in Applied Vegetation Science

“…Some articles published in 2021 focused on traditional species‐level analyses of vegetation change (e.g. Baumann et al, 2021), but others also conducted phylogenetic analyses of vegetation change, such as Santo‐Silva et al (2021), who found phylogenetic homogenization of tree assemblages in isolated forest patches in the Amazon.…”