Field maple and hornbeam populations along a 4-m elevation gradient in an alluvial forest

Tree species composition of Central European alluvial hardwood forests has changed with the arrival of flood-intolerant and mesic species. Within this group of tree species, a dominant role is played by field maple (Acer campestre) and European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus). This study was performed in the Lanzhot natural forests at the confluence of the Morava and the Dyje Rivers, which are considered to be one of the most natural alluvial hardwood forests in Central Europe and where the absence of the direct influence by humans for 75 years has allowed spontaneous development. Our basic research questions were as follows: (1) does the mutual proportion and structure of field maple and hornbeam populations change along an elevation gradient of 4 m in an alluvial forest and (2) does the tree spatial pattern of field maple and hornbeam change along this gradient? The study found significant differences in the development of hornbeam and field maple populations with increasing elevation in an alluvial hardwood forest. While the strength of the hornbeam population clearly increases with increasing elevation, the field maple population does not. Compared to hornbeam, field maple is closer to the r-strategy side of the K-r continuum on alluvial sites. Our study reveals that field maple and hornbeam are mainly distributed in clusters on alluvial sites. Both species are concentrated at places with lower flooding intensity, i.e. to higher elevation sites. The study shows that tree spatial patterns could change dynamically along a short elevation gradient in alluvial hardwood forest.     

Tree layer dynamics of the Cahnov–Soutok near-natural floodplain forest after 33 years (1973–2006)

The paper deals with the issue of the spontaneous development of Central-European floodplain forests. The research object was the Cahnov–Soutok National Nature Reserve situated on the confluence of Dyje R. and Morava R. in the Czecho–Slovak-Austrian borderland area. This locality has been left to spontaneous development since the beginning of the 1930s. In the years 1973, 1994 and 2006, the surveyed site was subjected to the measurement of standing and lying, live and dead trees reaching a diameter at breast height of 10 cm and the whole area regeneration of woody species. The work objective is to describe the most pronounced trends in tree layer changes having occurred in the period of study and to capture changes in the total tree volume and production of dendromass during the disintegration of the old grazing oak layer. The survey into the near-natural floodplain forest of Cahnov–Soutok showed that (1) the most significant trend is a decreased representation of Quercus robur in all monitored indicators and conversely an expanding representation of Acer campestre, Carpinus betulus and Tilia cordata and (2) that the floodplain forest ecosystem demonstrates a high-level stability in the total volume of tree biomass with an essential change in the tree species composition, spatial structure and average stem volume of individual trees.     

The colonization of decaying logs by vascular plants and the consequences of fallen logs for herb layer diversity in a lowland alluvial forest

The presence of coarse woody debris in forests is an important naturalness criterion as well as a biodiversity indicator. Decaying logs provide habitat for many organisms including vascular plants. The aims of this study are to describe the colonization of decaying logs by vascular plants in a lowland alluvial forest and to assess the impact of fallen logs on the biodiversity of the herb layer. We investigated 493 logs in the Ranšpurk National Nature Reserve in southern Moravia. For each log, we recorded species of vascular plants rooting on its surface. Decaying logs were characterized by their dimensions, woody species and decay class. Vascular plants rooted on 279 surveyed logs. Decaying logs were colonized by 79 species of vascular plants. Terrain relief was found to be a significant factor for colonizing species. Our study did not find any significant spatial pattern of colonized logs with regard to the distribution of vascular plants, intensity of colonization or the ecological demands of colonizers. The colonization of lying logs by vascular plants was significantly influenced by the species of logs, their surface area and decay class. Species composition of vascular plants on decaying logs and that on mineral soil were significantly different. Demonstrably higher frequencies of Dryopteris carthusiana and Impatiens parviflora were found on decaying logs. The presence of decaying logs and the microsites they create is important for total forest biodiversity including the diversity of vascular plants. We recommend increasing the proportion of decaying logs even in commercial forests.

     

Tree spatial patterns of Abies alba and Fagus sylvatica in the Western Carpathians over 30 years

The decline of Abies alba (fir) in natural fir–beech forests in Europe has fascinated scientists for over a century. During this period, Fagus sylvatica (beech) became the dominant species in this forest type. We hypothesised that (1) the success of beech over fir is significantly connected with the fact that beech suffers less than fir from the presence of conspecific neighbours; that (2) shade tolerance is not a factor which favours beech over fir; and that (3) this is due to a significantly reduced proportion of litter treethrow mounds with suitable conditions for the successful regeneration of fir. We investigated these hypotheses by means of tree spatial pattern analysis. Eight rectangular plots (2–8 ha) were analysed in mountain fir–beech forests of the Outer Western Carpathians, Czech Republic. Various types of the pair correlation function and L function were used to describe the tree density variability of trees with DBH ≥10 cm. The analyses were carried out on datasets from the 1970s, 1990s and 2000s. Our results suggest that negative density dependence is not responsible for the current decline of fir. It seems that a higher shade tolerance of the advanced regeneration could be one of the factors which favour beech over fir. It is evident that fir trees have a markedly stronger positive association to mounds than beech trees.     

Local variability of stand structural features in beech dominated natural forests of Central Europe: Implications for sampling

Current knowledge of the within-site variability of major stand structural features in beech dominated natural forests is limited. Numerous studies have used just several small plots for characterizations of natural stands, but this may lead to generalizations based on unreliable results. This study shows how major stand structural features vary at the local scale, and how suitable sampling may reflect this variability. Stem position maps of three natural forests in the Czech Republic (Zofin 71 ha, Salajka 19 ha and Zakova hora 17 ha) were used. Each vector stem position map representing all live and dead trees with DBH ≥ 10 cm was intensively analyzed using square sample plots of different sizes (10 × 10 m; 20 × 20 m; 30 × 30 m; 50 × 50 m; 100 × 100 m; 140 × 140 m and 200 × 200 m). Basic statistics (mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, min., and max.) were calculated for every plot size and each of six major stand features: density, basal area and volume of living trees, volume of course woody debris, total volume and proportion of course woody debris in total volume.