Understory succession in post-agricultural oak plantations: Habitat fragmentation affects forest specialists and generalists differently
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Standard
Understory succession in post-agricultural oak plantations : Habitat fragmentation affects forest specialists and generalists differently. / Brunet, Jörg; Valtinat, Karin ; Mayr, Marian Lajos; Felton, Adam ; Lindbladh, Matts ; Bruun, Hans Henrik.
In: Forest Ecology and Management, Vol. 262, No. 9, 2011, p. 1863-1871.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Author
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Understory succession in post-agricultural oak plantations
T2 - Habitat fragmentation affects forest specialists and generalists differently
AU - Brunet, Jörg
AU - Valtinat, Karin
AU - Mayr, Marian Lajos
AU - Felton, Adam
AU - Lindbladh, Matts
AU - Bruun, Hans Henrik
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - The herbaceous understory forms the richest stratum in temperate broadleaved forests in terms of plant diversity. Understanding the process of understory succession is thus of critical importance for the development of management guidelines for biodiversity restoration in post-agricultural plantation forests.We studied effects of stand age, forest fragmentation, and soil and canopy conditions on species richness and abundance of four species groups in the understory of post-arable oak plantations in southern Sweden: herbaceous forest specialists, habitat generalists and open land species, and woody species.The group of forest specialists may approach the richness of continuously forested sites after 60-80 years in non-fragmented plantations, but many forest species were sensitive to habitat fragmentation. Open-land species richness decreased during succession, while the richness of woody species and of generalists remained stable, and were not affected by fragmentation. Abundance of generalists gradually decreased in non-fragmented plantations, probably due to competition from colonizing forest specialists. Soil pH in post-arable stands remained consistently higher than in continuously forested stands, which maintained differences in species composition. The development of a shrub layer seemed to imply a competitive advantage for forest specialists compared to generalist species. For successful recovery of a rich understory, we suggest that post-arable plantations should be established on loamy soils of intermediate to high pH proximate to older forest with source populations, and that a continuous overstory canopy cover of 70-80% is maintained by regular light thinnings and promotion of a shrub layer.
AB - The herbaceous understory forms the richest stratum in temperate broadleaved forests in terms of plant diversity. Understanding the process of understory succession is thus of critical importance for the development of management guidelines for biodiversity restoration in post-agricultural plantation forests.We studied effects of stand age, forest fragmentation, and soil and canopy conditions on species richness and abundance of four species groups in the understory of post-arable oak plantations in southern Sweden: herbaceous forest specialists, habitat generalists and open land species, and woody species.The group of forest specialists may approach the richness of continuously forested sites after 60-80 years in non-fragmented plantations, but many forest species were sensitive to habitat fragmentation. Open-land species richness decreased during succession, while the richness of woody species and of generalists remained stable, and were not affected by fragmentation. Abundance of generalists gradually decreased in non-fragmented plantations, probably due to competition from colonizing forest specialists. Soil pH in post-arable stands remained consistently higher than in continuously forested stands, which maintained differences in species composition. The development of a shrub layer seemed to imply a competitive advantage for forest specialists compared to generalist species. For successful recovery of a rich understory, we suggest that post-arable plantations should be established on loamy soils of intermediate to high pH proximate to older forest with source populations, and that a continuous overstory canopy cover of 70-80% is maintained by regular light thinnings and promotion of a shrub layer.
U2 - 10.1016/j.foreco.2011.08.007
DO - 10.1016/j.foreco.2011.08.007
M3 - Journal article
VL - 262
SP - 1863
EP - 1871
JO - Forest Ecology and Management
JF - Forest Ecology and Management
SN - 0378-1127
IS - 9
ER -
ID: 37819049