Effects of gap size and within-gap position on seedlings establishment in silver fir stands

doi:10.3832/ifor0448-0010055

Effects of gap size and within-gap position on seedlings establishment in silver fir stands

E Albanesi, OI Gugliotta, I Mercurio, R Mercurio

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 1, Issue 1, Pages 55-59 (2008)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor0448-0010055
Published: Feb 28, 2008 - Copyright © 2008 SISEF

Research Articles

PDF Version

Full Text

Citation

Geo-mapping

The conversion of pure conifer plantations into stands with heterogeneous structure and composition is a current silvicultural challenge in Italy. A silvicultural system aiming to the regeneration of natural forests by means of openings in the canopy cover is considered. The purposes of this study are: I) to evaluate if the creation of gaps is an appropriate way to transform homogeneous man-made stands of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) into naturally regenerated stands; II) to analyse the influence of micro-environmental conditions in gaps of different size on the recruitment and establishment of natural regeneration of forest tree species. After three growing seasons silver fir seedlings recruitment was greater in small gaps and in the central-southern positions where PAR was lower and the shading influence of ground vegetation less relevant. The most suitable gap size for silver fir regeneration, in the southern Apennine, is 200 (300) m², D/H = 0.5 and anyway <0.75. The silvicultural treatment proposed seems to foster natural regeneration of silver fir and other broadleaves, enhancing the development of a multi-layered forest structure and fulfilling timber production objectives without compromising ecosystem management principles.

Keywords

Forest gaps, light, natural regeneration, silvicultural systems, Abies alba, Italy

Authors’ address

(1)

Dipartimento di Gestione dei Sistemi, Agrari e Forestali, Università Mediterranea, loc. Feo di Vito, I-89100 Reggio Calabria (Italy)

Corresponding author

R Mercurio
rmercurio@unirc.it

Citation

Albanesi E, Gugliotta OI, Mercurio I, Mercurio R (2008). Effects of gap size and within-gap position on seedlings establishment in silver fir stands. iForest 1: 55-59. - doi: 10.3832/ifor0448-0010055

Paper history

Received: Apr 27, 2005
Accepted: Nov 07, 2005

First online: Feb 28, 2008
Publication Date: Feb 28, 2008
Publication Time: 28.10 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Breakdown by View Type

(Waiting for server response...)

Article Usage

Total Article Views: 37533
(from publication date up to now)

Breakdown by View Type
HTML Page Views: 29785
Abstract Page Views: 1400
PDF Downloads: 5342
Citation/Reference Downloads: 106
XML Downloads: 900

Web Metrics
Days since publication: 5901
Overall contacts: 37533
Avg. contacts per week: 44.52

Article Citations

Article citations are based on data periodically collected from the Clarivate Web of Science web site
(last update: Nov 2020)

Total number of cites (since 2008): 19
Average cites per year: 1.46

(no Plumx Metrics available for this paper)

Publication Metrics

by Dimensions ^©

Articles citing this article

List of the papers citing this article based on CrossRef Cited-by.

(1)

Attiwill PM (1994)
The disturbance of forest ecosystems: the ecological basis for conservative management. Forest Ecology and Management 63: 247-300.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(2)

Barbagallo C, Brullo S, Furnari S, Longhitano N, Signorello P (1982)
Studio fitosociologico e cartografia della vegetazione (1:25000) del territorio di Serra S. Bruno (Calabria). CNR, Collana del PF “Promozione della qualità dell’ambiente”, AQ/1/227, Roma.
Gscholar

(3)

Brokaw NVL, Scheiner SM (1989)
Species composition in gaps and structure of a tropical forest. Ecology 70 (3): 538-541.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(4)

Brown N (1996)
A gradient of seedling growth from the centre of a tropical rain forest canopy gap. Forest Ecology and Management 82: 239-244.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(5)

Busing RT, White PS (1997)
Species diversity and small-scale disturbance in an old-growth temperate forest: a consideration of gap partitioning concepts. Oikos 78: 562-568.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(6)

Canham CD, Denslow JS, Platt WJ, Runkle JR, Spies TA, White PS (1990)
Light regimes beneath close canopies and tree-fall gaps in temperate and tropical forests. Can. J. For. Res. 20: 620-631.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(7)

Ciancio O, Iovino F, Menguzzato G, Mirabella A (1985)
L’abete (Abies alba Mill.) in Calabria: possibilità e limiti di diffusione e ridiffusione. Annali Istituto Sperimentale per la Selvicoltura Vol. XVI: 5-249.
Gscholar

(8)

Coates KD (2000)
Conifer seedling response to northern temperate forest gaps. Forest Ecology and Management 127: 249-269.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(9)

Coates KD (2002)
Tree recruitment in gaps of various size, clearcuts and undisturbed mixed forest of interior of British Columbia (Canada). Forest Ecology and Management 155: 387-398.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(10)

Coates KD, Burton PJ (1997)
A gap-based approach for development of silvicultural systems to address ecosystem management objectives. Forest Ecology and Management 99: 337-354.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(11)

Cutini A, Gamba C, Mercurio R, Modica G, Piovanelli C, Simoncini S (2004)
Osservazioni ecologiche su tagli a buche nelle abetine del Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi. Annali Istituto Sperimentale per la Selvicoltura Vol. XXXI (2000): 27-38.
Gscholar

(12)

Diaci J (2002)
Regeneration dynamics in a Norway spruce plantation on silver fir-beech forest site in the Slovenian Alps. Forest Ecology and Management 161: 27-38.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(13)

Denslow JS (1987)
Tropical rainforest gaps and tree species diversity. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 18: 431-451.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(14)

Drobyshev I, Nihlgard B (2000)
Growth response of spruce saplings in relation to climatic conditions along a gradient of gap size. Can. J. For. Res. 30: 930-938.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(15)

Fenner M (1985)
Seed Ecology. Chapman & Hall, London.
Online | Gscholar

(16)

Führer E (2000)
Forest functions, ecosystem stability and management. Forest Ecology and Management 132: 29-38.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(17)

Gagnon JL, Jokela EJ, Moser WK, Huber DA (2003)
Dynamics of artificial regeneration in gaps within a longleaf pine flatwoods ecosystem. Forest Ecology and Management 172: 133-144.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(18)

Grassi G, Bagnaresi U (2001)
Foliar morphological and physiological plasticity in Picea abies and Abies alba saplings along a natural light gradient. Tree Physiology 21: 959-967.
Gscholar

(19)

Gray AN, Spies TA (1996)
Gap size, within-gap position and canopy structure effects on conifer seedling establishment. Journal of Ecology 84: 635-645.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(20)

Gray AN, Spies TA (1997)
Microsite controls on tree seedling establishment in conifer forest canopy gaps. Ecology 78: 2458-2473.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(21)

Gray AN, Spies TA, Easter MJ (2002)
Microclimatic and soil moisture responses to gap formation in coastal Douglas-fir forests. Can. J. For. Res. 32: 332-343.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(22)

Hunziker U, Brang P (2005)
Microsite patterns of conifer seedling establishment and growth in a mixed stand in the southern Alps. Forest Ecology and Management 210: 67-79.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(23)

Lieffers VJ, Messier C, Stadt KJ, Gendron F, Comeau PG (1999)
Predicting and managing light in the understory of boreal forests. Can. J. For. Res. 29: 796-811.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(24)

Livingston NJ, Black TA (1988)
The growth and water use of three species of conifer seedlings planted on a high elevation south-facing clear-cut. Can. J. For. Res. 18: 1234-1242.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(25)

Magini E (1967)
Ricerche sui fattori della rinnovazione naturale dell’abete bianco sull’Appennino. L’Italia Forestale e Montana 22 (6): 261-270.
Gscholar

(26)

Malcom DC, Mason WL, Clarke GC (2001)
The transformation of conifer forests in Britain - regeneration, gap size and silvicultural systems. Forest Ecology and Management 151: 7-23.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(27)

McGuire JP, Mitchell RJ, Moser EB, Pecot SD, Gjerstad DH, Hedman CW (2001)
Gaps in a gappy forest: plant resources, longleaf pine regeneration, and understory response to tree removal in longleaf pine savannas. Can. J. For. Res. 31: 765-778.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(28)

Mercurio R (1994)
Esperienze sul trattamento delle abetine nelle foreste casentinesi. Annali Istituto Sperimentale per la Selvicoltura Vol. XXII (1991): 95-116.
Gscholar

(29)

Mercurio R (2000)
Esperienze e prospettive sull’applicazione del taglio a buche nelle abetine del Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi. L’Italia Forestale e Montana, 55 (4): 219-230.
Gscholar

(30)

O’Hara KL (2001)
The silviculture of transformation - a commentary. Forest Ecology and Management 151: 81-86.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(31)

Paci M (2004)
Ecologia Forestale. Edagricole.
Gscholar

(32)

Paluch JW (2005)
The influence of the spatial pattern of trees on forest floor vegetation and silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) regeneration in uneven-aged forests. Forest Ecology and Management 205: 283-298.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(33)

Pickett STA, White PS (1985)
The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and Patch Dynamics. Academic Press, New York.
Online | Gscholar

(34)

Pierce LJ, Running SW (1988)
Rapid estimation of coniferous forest leaf area index using portable integrating radiometer. Ecology 69 (6): 1762-1767.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(35)

Platt WJ, Strong DR (1989)
Special feature. Gaps in forest ecology. Ecology 70: 535-575.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(36)

Poulson TL, Platt WJ (1989)
Gap light regimes influence canopy tree diversity. Ecology 70: 553-555.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(37)

Runkle JR (1982)
Patterns of disturbances in some old-growth mesic forests of eastern North America. Ecology 63: 1533-1546.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(38)

Ritter E, Dalsgaard L, Einhorn KS (2005)
Light, temperature and soil moisture regimes following gap formation in a semi-natural beech-dominated forest in Denmark. Forest Ecology and Management 206: 15-33.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(39)

Robakowski P, Wyka T, Samardakiewicz S, Kierzkowki D (2004)
Growth, photosynthesis, and needle structure of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) seedlings under different canopies. Forest Ecology and Management 201: 211-227.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(40)

Van Der Meer PJ, Dignan P, Savenh AG (1999)
Effect of gap size on seedling establishment, growth and survival at three years in mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans F. Muell.) forest in Victoria, Australia. Forest Ecology and Management 117: 33-42.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(41)

USDA-NRCS (1998)
Keys of Soil Taxonomy. Eight Edition. USDA.
Gscholar

(42)

Watt AS (1947)
Pattern and process in the plant community. Journal of Ecology 35: 1-22.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(43)

Whitmore TC (1989)
Canopy gaps and the two major groups of forest trees. Ecology 70: 536-538.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(44)

Zhu J, Matsuzaki T, Lee F, Gonda Y (2003)
Effect of gap size created by thinning on seedling emergency, survival and establishment in a coastal pine forest. Forest Ecology and Management 182: 339-354.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(45)

Zirlewagen D, von Wilpert K (2001)
Modelling water and ion fluxes in a highly structured, mixed-species stand. Forest Ecology and Management 143: 27-37.
CrossRef | Gscholar

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry

Contents

Search

Journal Info

Journal Subjects and Fields

For Authors

For Reviewers

For Readers

SISEF Publishing

Search iForest Contents