A comparison of structural characteristics and ecological factors between forest reserves and managed silver fir – Norway spruce forests in Slovenia

2011 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Marinšek ◽  
J. Diaci
Keyword(s):  
Norway Spruce ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Silver Fir ◽  
Forest Reserves ◽  
Spruce Forests

scholarly journals Sind Naturwaldreservate naturnäher als der Schweizer Wald?

2012 ◽  
Vol 163 (6) ◽  
pp. 210-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Heiri ◽  
Urs-Beat Brändli ◽  
Harald Bugmann ◽  
Peter Brang
Keyword(s):  
Norway Spruce ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Structural Data ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
National Forest Inventory ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Silver Fir ◽  
Forest Reserves ◽  
Growing Stock ◽  
Long Run

Do strict forest reserves feature more naturalness than the Swiss forest? In natural forest reserves (NFR), forests develop in the absence of direct human interference, primarily management. This increases their naturalness and should – in the long run – allow forests to regain primeval attributes. Based on stand structural data from the third National Forest Inventory (NFI) and 25 NFR in Switzerland, we investigate 1) whether NFR feature more naturalness than managed forests, 2) whether the naturalness of Swiss forests increases with the time elapsed since the cessation of management, and 3) to what extent NFR differ from Swiss forests that have not been managed during several decades. Thereby, we focus on the four main forest types beech, silver fir-beech, silver fir-Norway spruce and Norway spruce forests, and furthermore group the data according to the time since the last intervention (0–20, 21–50 and > 50 years.). The structural features investigated differ only slightly between NFR and managed forest (0–20 years). NFR feature a higher abundance of “giant” trees (dbh ≥ 80 cm), higher stem numbers and greater basal area, and thus a higher growing stock. The abundance of snags, however, is indistinguishable between the two types of forests. Naturalness in Swiss forests increases only slightly with time since the last intervention, indicated by a higher abundance of small snags and a slightly higher number of giant trees. By contrast, clear differences can be seen between NFR in which no intervention has taken place for at least 50 years, and other forests abandoned for a similarly long time, with NFR showing lower stem numbers, greater basal area and higher numbers of giant trees. Many of the investigated reserves are still affected by former management and are – from the point of view of primeval forest dynamics – still quite “young”. According to their naturalness, the NFR range between managed and primeval forests, although to date they are still closer to the former. Nevertheless, the differences found in our study indicate a steady development of the NFR towards stand structures that are characteristic of primeval forests.

scholarly journals Growth resistance and resilience of mixed silver fir and Norway spruce forests in central Europe: Contrasting responses to mild and severe droughts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Bottero ◽  
David I. Forrester ◽  
Maxime Cailleret ◽  
Ulrich Kohnle ◽  
Arthur Gessler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Norway Spruce ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Silver Fir ◽  
Spruce Forests

The disturbance regime of Norway spruce forests in Bulgaria

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 1143-1153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Momchil Panayotov ◽  
Peter Bebi ◽  
Nickolay Tsvetanov ◽  
Neno Alexandrov ◽  
Lucinda Laranjeiro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Norway Spruce ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Natural Disturbance ◽  
Disturbance Regime ◽  
Forest Reserves ◽  
Spruce Forests ◽  
The Past ◽  
Natural Range ◽  
Old Trees

Natural disturbances are among the most important factors that shape forest dynamics and forest landscapes. However, the natural disturbance regime of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) forests in Europe is not well understood. We studied the disturbance regimes in three forest reserves in Bulgaria (Parangalitsa, Bistrishko branishte, and Beglika), which are representative of the range of conditions typical for P. abies ecosystems in central and southern Europe. Our data indicated that large-scale disturbances were most numerous in forests that were between 120 and 160 years old, those with unimodal diameter at breast height (DBH) distributions, and especially those located in vulnerable topographic settings. Wind disturbances ranged up to 60 ha, followed in one case by a 200 ha Ips typographus (Linnaeus, 1758) outbreak. Older forests and those with more complex structures (i.e., reverse-J DBH) were characterized by numerous small gaps but were also affected by a few larger disturbances. In some old-growth forests at highly productive sites, gaps could be so numerous that the long-term existence of old trees may become an exception. Over the past centuries, the natural range of variability of these Norway spruce forests in Bulgaria appears to have been shaped mostly by wind and bark beetle disturbances of various sizes.

scholarly journals Biotic and Abiotic Determinants of Soil Organic Matter Stock and Fine Root Biomass in Mountain Area Temperate Forests—Examples from Cambisols under European Beech, Norway Spruce and Silver Fir (Carpathians, Central Europe)

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 823
Author(s):  
Anna Zielonka ◽  
Marek Drewnik ◽  
Łukasz Musielok ◽  
Marcin K. Dyderski ◽  
Dariusz Struzik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Norway Spruce ◽  
Root Biomass ◽  
Fine Root ◽  
Stand Density ◽  
European Beech ◽  
Fine Root Biomass ◽  
Silver Fir ◽  
Beech Forests

Forest ecosystems significantly contribute to the global organic carbon (OC) pool, exhibiting high spatial heterogeneity in this respect. Some of the components of the OC pool in a forest (woody aboveground biomass (wAGB), coarse root biomass (CRB)) can be relatively easily estimated using readily available data from land observation and forest inventories, while some of the components of the OC pool are very difficult to determine (fine root biomass (FRB) and soil organic matter (SOM) stock). The main objectives of our study were to: (1) estimate the SOM stock; (2) estimate FRB; and (3) assess the relationship between both biotic (wAGB, forest age, foliage, stand density) and abiotic factors (climatic conditions, relief, soil properties) and SOM stocks and FRB in temperate forests in the Western Carpathians consisting of European beech, Norway spruce, and silver fir (32 forest inventory plots in total). We uncovered the highest wAGB in beech forests and highest SOM stocks under beech forest. FRB was the highest under fir forest. We noted a considerable impact of stand density on SOM stocks, particularly in beech and spruce forests. FRB content was mostly impacted by stand density only in beech forests without any discernible effects on other forest characteristics. We discovered significant impacts of relief-dependent factors and SOM stocks at all the studied sites. Our biomass and carbon models informed by more detailed environmental data led to reduce the uncertainty in over- and underestimation in Cambisols under beech, spruce, and fir forests for mountain temperate forest carbon pools.

scholarly journals Assessing the resilience of Norway spruce forests through a model-based reanalysis of thinning trials

2017 ◽  
Vol 388 ◽  
pp. 3-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rupert Seidl ◽  
Friedrich Vigl ◽  
Günter Rössler ◽  
Markus Neumann ◽  
Werner Rammer
Keyword(s):  
Norway Spruce ◽  
Spruce Forests ◽  
Model Based

Root strength and density decay after felling in a Silver Fir-Norway Spruce stand in the Italian Alps

2013 ◽  
Vol 377 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 63-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Vergani ◽  
E. A. Chiaradia ◽  
C. Bassanelli ◽  
G. B. Bischetti
Keyword(s):  
Norway Spruce ◽  
Silver Fir ◽  
Italian Alps ◽  
Root Strength

Conversion of Norway spruce forests will reduce organic carbon pools in the mountain soils of SW Poland

Geoderma ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 213 ◽  
pp. 287-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Galka ◽  
Beata Labaz ◽  
Adam Bogacz ◽  
Oskar Bojko ◽  
Cezary Kabala
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Norway Spruce ◽  
Carbon Pools ◽  
Mountain Soils ◽  
Spruce Forests ◽  
Sw Poland

Influence of disturbances and climate on high-mountain Norway spruce forests in the Low Tatra Mts., Slovakia

2016 ◽  
Vol 380 ◽  
pp. 128-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuzana Parobeková ◽  
Denisa Sedmáková ◽  
Stanislav Kucbel ◽  
Ján Pittner ◽  
Peter Jaloviar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Norway Spruce ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Spruce Forests ◽  
Tatra Mts

Mismatch between the optimal ages for ecosystem productivity and net CO2 sequestration in Norway spruce forests

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junbin Zhao ◽  
Holger Lange ◽  
Helge Meissner
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Primary Production ◽  
Norway Spruce ◽  
Ecosystem Respiration ◽  
Gross Primary Production ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Sink Strength ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Ecosystem Productivity ◽  
Spruce Forests

<p>Forests have climate change mitigation potential since they sequester carbon. However, their carbon sink strength might depend on management. As a result of the balance between CO<sub>2</sub> uptake and emission, forest net ecosystem exchange (NEE) reaches optimal values (maximum sink strength) at young stand ages, followed by a gradual NEE decline over many years. Traditionally, this peak of NEE is believed to be concurrent with the peak of primary production (e.g., gross primary production, GPP); however, in theory, this concurrence may potentially vary depending on tree species, site conditions and the patterns of ecosystem respiration (R<sub>eco</sub>). In this study, we used eddy-covariance (EC)-based CO<sub>2</sub> flux measurements from 8 forest sites that are dominated by Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) and built machine learning models to find the optimal age of ecosystem productivity and that of CO<sub>2</sub> sequestration. We found that the net CO<sub>2</sub> uptake of Norway spruce forests peaked at ages of 30-40 yrs. Surprisingly, this NEE peak did not overlap with the peak of GPP, which appeared later at ages of 60-90 yrs. The mismatch between NEE and GPP was a result of the R<sub>eco</sub> increase that lagged behind the GPP increase associated with the tree growth at early age. Moreover, we also found that newly planted Norway spruce stands had a high probability (up to 90%) of being a C source in the first year, while, at an age as young as 5 yrs, they were likely to be a sink already. Further, using common climate change scenarios, our model results suggest that net CO<sub>2</sub> uptake of Norway spruce forests will increase under the future climate with young stands in the high latitude areas being more beneficial. Overall, the results suggest that forest management practices should consider NEE and forest productivity separately and harvests should be performed only after the optimal ages of both the CO<sub>2</sub> sequestration and productivity to gain full ecological and economic benefits.</p>

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