Temporal changes in vegetation of a virgin beech woodland remnant: stand-scale stability with intensive fine-scale dynamics governed by stand dynamic events

Abstract

The aim of this resurvey study is to check if herbaceous vegetation on the forest floor exhibits overall stability at the stand-scale in spite of intensive dynamics at the scale of individual plots and stand dynamic events (driven by natural fine scale canopy gap dynamics). In 1996, we sampled a 1.5 ha patch using 0.25 m² plots placed along a 5 m × 5 m grid in the best remnant of central European montane beech woods in Hungary. All species in the herbaceous layer and their cover estimates were recorded. Five patches representing different stand developmental situations (SDS) were selected for resurvey. In 2013, 306 plots were resurveyed by using blocks of four 0.25 m² plots to test the effects of imperfect relocation.We found very intensive fine-scale dynamics in the herbaceous layer with high species turnover and sharp changes in ground layer cover at the local-scale (< 1 m 2 ). A decrease in species richness and herbaceous layer cover, as well as high species turnover, characterized the closing gaps. Colonization events and increasing species richness and herbaceous layer cover prevailed in the two newly created gaps. A pronounced decrease in the total cover, but low species turnover and survival of the majority of the closed forest specialists was detected by the resurvey at the stand-scale. The test aiming at assessing the effect of relocation showed a higher time effect than the effect of imprecise relocation. RESEARCH ARTICLE Launched to accelerate biodiversity conservation A peer-reviewed open-access journalTibor Standovár et al. / Nature Conservation 17: 35-56 (2017) 36The very intensive fine-scale dynamics of the studied beech forest are profoundly determined by natural stand dynamics. Extinction and colonisation episodes even out at the stand-scale, implying an overall compositional stability of the herbaceous vegetation at the given spatial and temporal scale. We argue that fine-scale gap dynamics, driven by natural processes or applied as a management method, can warrant the survival of many closed forest specialist species in the long-run.Nomenclature: Flora Europaea (Tutin et al. 2010) for vascular plants; Soó 1968Soó -1980 for syntaxa

Exposure matters: Forest dynamics reveal an early Holocene conifer refugium on a north facing slope in Central Europe

“…The Mátra Mountains (Figure 1) is one of the highest mountain ranges in Hungary, with the highest peak of the country (Kékes, 1014 m a.s.l.). The climate of the region is continental temperate (Standovár et al, 2017) with a mean annual temperature of 5.7°C, while the mean monthly temperature is 15.5°C in July and −4.4°C in January (Ódor, 2000). The annual precipitation is 784 mm at the Kékes meteorological station, the number of snow covered days is 112 (Ódor, 2000).…”

“…The bedrock is andesite that is covered by shallow lessivated brown forest soils (Dávid, 1992;Láng et al, 2013). The slope above our coring site is covered by the last primary forests of Hungary, and therefore it is a well-studied and strictly protected area (Kékes Forest Reserve, see in Czájlik, 2009;Standovár et al, 2017). The area below our site has been heavily impacted by human activities: the first evidence of clearings dates back to AD 1856 (see Supplementary Figure 1), when a ca.…”

Joining of the historical research and future prediction as a support tool for the assessment of management strategy for European beech-dominated forests in protected areas

“…For example, most parts of the Kékes Forest Reserve (which protects 63 ha of primeval European beech montane forest ecosystem in Hungary) show the characteristic fine-scale mosaic of forest developmental stages sensu Korpel (1995). Standovár ( et al 2017) found the very intensive fine-scale dynamics of the beech forest, determined by natural stand dynamics in this strict forest reserve. The above mentioned authors proved that extinction and colonisation episodes even out at the stand-scale, implying an overall compositional stability of the herbaceous vegetation at the stand-scale after 17 years (whereas the abundance of vegetation changed considerably in relation to the partial closure of the canopy).…”

“…Preserved segments of European beech-dominated forests represent valuable natural laboratories (Schultze et al 2014, Standovár et al 2017) that are often incorporated into national ecological networks (Jongman 1995) and international systems of conservation areas, such as the Natura 2000 network (Miko 2012). The high environmental value of these conservation areas requires a multidisciplinary approach to develop and assess forest management plans and policy instruments (Brukas and Sallnäs 2012), to evaluate management regimes (Torres-Rojo et al 2014) and to seek specific forest management alternatives (Götmark 2013).…”

Status and development of old-growth elements and biodiversity during secondary succession of unmanaged temperate forests

“…Unmanaged and primary old-growth forests commonly exhibit strong dominance of the closed-canopy developmental stages, with associated low species richness of very specific shade-tolerant and vernal species (Petzold et al, 2018) but with swift development to high abundances of gap-dwelling species in natural disturbance gaps (Naaf & Wulf, 2007;Kelemen et al, 2012). Standovár et al (2017) studied the dynamics of the vegetation in a primary old-growth beech forest in Hungary, focusing on vegetation development in recent and three year old closing gaps. Colonization events and increasing species richness and herbaceous layer cover prevailed in the newly created gaps, but a swift decrease in species richness and herbaceous layer cover, as well as high species turnover, characterized the closing gaps.…”