Moderate- to High-Severity Disturbances Shaped the Structure of Primary Picea Abies (L.) Karst. Forest in the Southern Carpathians
| Autor: | Vojtěch Čada, Ion Cătălin Petrițan, Martin Mikoláš, Ondřej Vostarek, Andreea P. Spînu, Miroslav Svoboda, Pavel Janda |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
forest dynamics
0106 biological sciences dendroecology 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Forest management forest management 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Forest ecology Temperate climate 0105 earth and related environmental sciences geography.geographical_feature_category biology Forest dynamics Ecology natural disturbance Forestry Picea abies lcsh:QK900-989 Old-growth forest biology.organism_classification Geography Disturbance (ecology) Norway spruce lcsh:Plant ecology Salvage logging |
| Zdroj: | Forests, Vol 11, Iss 1315, p 1315 (2020) Forests Volume 11 Issue 12 |
| ISSN: | 1999-4907 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/f11121315 |
| Popis: | Research Highlights: Past disturbances occurred naturally in primary forests in the Southern Carpathians. High- and moderate-severity disturbances shaped the present structure of these ecosystems, which regenerated successfully without forestry interventions. Background and Objectives: Windstorms and bark beetle outbreaks have recently affected large forest areas across the globe, causing concerns that these disturbances lie outside the range of natural variability of forest ecosystems. This often led to salvage logging inside protected areas, one of the main reasons for primary forest loss in Eastern Europe. Although more than two-thirds of temperate primary forests in Europe are located in the Carpathian region of Eastern Europe, knowledge about how natural disturbances shape the forest dynamics in this region is highly essential for future management decisions. Material and Methods: We established our study in a primary forest valley situated in the centre of the largest temperate primary forest landscape in Europe (Făgăraș Mountains). A dendrochronological investigation was carried out to reconstruct the natural disturbance history and relate it to the present forest structure. Results: The dendrochronological analysis revealed high temporal variability in the disturbance patterns both at the patch and stand level. Moderate severity disturbance events were most common (20&ndash 40% of canopy disturbed in 60% of the plots) but high severity events did also occur (33% of the plots). Regeneration was spruce-dominated and 71% of the seedlings were found on deadwood microsites. Conclusions: We conclude that the current structure of the studied area is a consequence of the past moderate-severity disturbances and sporadic high-severity events. The peak in disturbances (1880&ndash 1910) followed by reduced disturbance rates may contribute to a recent and future increase in disturbances in the Făgăraș Mts. Our findings show that these disturbance types are within the range of natural variability of mountain spruce forests in the Southern Carpathians and should not be a reason for salvage logging in primary forests from this area. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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