Relationships between overstory and understory structure and diversity in semi-natural mixed floodplain forests at Bosco Fontana (Italy)

doi:10.3832/ifor1789-009

Relationships between overstory and understory structure and diversity in semi-natural mixed floodplain forests at Bosco Fontana (Italy)

Francesco Chianucci⁽¹⁾ , Emma Minari⁽²⁾, Most Jannatul Fardusi⁽¹⁾, Paolo Merlini⁽¹⁾, Andrea Cutini⁽¹⁾, Piermaria Corona⁽¹⁾, Franco Mason⁽³⁾

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 9, Issue 6, Pages 919-926 (2016)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor1789-009
Published: Aug 21, 2016 - Copyright © 2016 SISEF

Research Articles

PDF Version

Full Text

Citation

Geo-mapping

The “Bosco Fontana” natural reserve includes the last remaining mixed floodplain forest in northern Italy and one of the most endangered ecosystems in Europe. Its effective management is hindered by the complexity of interactions of mixed-tree species and the influence of environmental factors on understory plant diversity. In this study we analyzed the patterns of natural evolution in semi-natural floodplain forest stands at Bosco Fontana with the aim of better understanding its current natural processes and dynamics. Stand structure, taxonomic and functional diversity, species composition, and leaf area index (LAI) of overstory and understory layers were surveyed in permanent plots over two inventory years (1995, 2005). The influence of environmental factors on understory plant diversity was assessed using Ellenberg’s indices for light, soil moisture, soil nutrient and soil reaction. Results indicated that overstory species composition varies according to the soil moisture, with hornbeam prevailing in xeric sites and deciduous oak species in mesic sites. Xeric sites showed high functional dispersion in both drought and shade tolerant traits, while it was significantly lower in both overstory and understory in the moist site. Functional dispersion of drought tolerance in the overstory and understory layers was positively correlated, while species richness was negatively correlated between the two layers. Diversity in the understory was mainly correlated with soil conditions. Understory LAI was positively correlated with overstory LAI in xeric and mesic plots, while no correlations were found in the moist plot. Overall, our results suggest that site conditions (soil conditions and water availability) are the major drivers of understory and overstory dynamics in the study forest. Hence, local site conditions and the understory should be carefully considered in the management of mixed floodplain forests.

Keywords

Deciduous Forests, Functional Diversity, Diversity Measure, Hemispherical Photography, Leaf Area Index

Authors’ address

(1)

Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria, Forestry Research Center (CREA-SEL), Arezzo (Italy)

(2)

National Forest Service, National Center for the Study and Conservation of Forest Biodiversity “Bosco Fontana” (CNBFVR), str. Mantova 29, I-46045 Marmirolo, MN (Italy)

(3)

National Forest Service, National Center for Study and Conservation of Forest Biodiversity “Bosco Fontana”, National Taxonomic Laboratory for Invertebrates (CNBFVR-LANABIT), v. Tomaso Da Vico 1, I-37123 Verona (Italy)

Corresponding author

Francesco Chianucci
francesco.chianucci@crea.gov.it

Citation

Chianucci F, Minari E, Fardusi MJ, Merlini P, Cutini A, Corona P, Mason F (2016). Relationships between overstory and understory structure and diversity in semi-natural mixed floodplain forests at Bosco Fontana (Italy). iForest 9: 919-926. - doi: 10.3832/ifor1789-009

Academic Editor

Gianluca Piovesan

Paper history

Received: Aug 03, 2015
Accepted: May 06, 2016

First online: Aug 21, 2016
Publication Date: Dec 14, 2016
Publication Time: 3.57 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: 20744
(from publication date up to now)

Breakdown by View Type
HTML Page Views: 15057
Abstract Page Views: 1079
PDF Downloads: 3424
Citation/Reference Downloads: 49
XML Downloads: 1135

Web Metrics
Days since publication: 2802
Overall contacts: 20744
Avg. contacts per week: 51.82

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 2016): 3
Average cites per year: 0.60

(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)

Angelini A, Corona P, Chianucci F, Portoghesi L (2015)
Structural attributes of stand overstory and light under the canopy. Annals of Silvicultural Research 39: 23-31.
Online | Gscholar

(2)

Ares A, Neill AR, Puettmann KJ (2010)
Understory abundance, species diversity and functional attribute response to thinning in coniferous stands. Forest Ecology and Management 260: 1104-1113.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(3)

Aubert M, Alard D, Bureau F (2003)
Diversity of plant assemblages in managed temperate forests: a case study in Normandy (France). Forest Ecology and Management 175: 321-337.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(4)

Aubin I, Beaudet M, Messier C (2000)
Light extinction coefficients specific to the understory vegetation of the southern boreal forest, Quebec. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 30 (1): 168-177.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(5)

Augusto L, Dupouey J, Ranger J (2003)
Effects of tree species on understory vegetation and environmental conditions in temperate forests. Annals of Forest Science 60 (8): 823-831.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(6)

Balvanera P, Pfisterer AB, Buchmann N, He JS, Nakashizuka T, Raffaelli D, Schmid B (2006)
Quantifying the evidence for biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning and services. Ecology letters 9: 1146-1156.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(7)

Barbati A, Marchetti M, Chirici G, Corona P (2014)
European forest types and forest Europe SFM indicators: tools for monitoring progress on forest biodiversity conservation. Forest Ecology and Management 321: 145-157.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(8)

Bartha S, Czárán T, Podani J (1998)
Exploring plant community dynamics in abstract coenostate spaces. Abstracta Botanica 22: 49-66. -
Online | Gscholar

(9)

Bocci G (2015)
TR8: an R package for easily retrieving plant species traits. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 6: 347-350.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(10)

Bond-Lamberty B, Wang C, Gower ST, Norman J (2002)
Leaf area dynamics of a boreal black spruce fire chronosequence. Tree Physiology 22: 993-1001.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(11)

Burrascano S, Lombardi F, Marchetti M (2008)
Old-growth forest structure and deadwood: are they indicators of plant species composition? A case study from central Italy. Plant Biosystems 142 (2): 313-323.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(12)

Burrascano S, Sabatini FM, Blasi C (2011)
Testing indicators of sustainable forest management on understorey composition and diversity in southern Italy through variation partitioning. Plant Ecology 212: 829-841.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(13)

Burton JI, Mladenoff DJ, Clayton MK, Forrester JA (2011)
The roles of environmental filtering and colonization in the fine-scale spatial patterning of ground-layer plant communities in north temperate deciduous forests. Journal of Ecology 99: 764-776.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(14)

Butler-Manning D (2008)
Stand structure, gap dynamics and regeneration of a semi-natural mixed beech forest on limestones in central Europe - a case study. Universität Freiburg, Freiburger Forstliche, Forschung, Germany, pp. 38.
Gscholar

(15)

Campanaro A, Hardersen S, Mason F (2007)
Piano di gestione della Riserva Naturale Statale e Sito Natura 2000 “Bosco Fontana” [Management Plan of the State Natural Reserve and Nature 2000 site “Bosco Fontana”]. Quaderni Conservazione Habitat 4, Cierre edizioni, Verona, Italy, pp. 220. [in Italian]
Gscholar

(16)

Campetella G, Canullo R, Bartha S (2004)
Coenostate descriptors and spatial dependence in vegetation-derived variables in monitoring forest dynamics and assembly rules. Community Ecology 5 (1): 105-114.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(17)

Capon J, Chambers LE, Mac Nally R, Naiman RJ, Davies P, Marshall N, Pittock J, Reid M, Capon T, Douglas M, Catford J, Baldwin DS, Stewardson M, Roberts J, Parsons M, Williams SE (2013)
Riparian ecosystems in the 21st century: hotspots for climate change adaptation. Ecosystems 16: 359-381.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(18)

Carter V (1996)
Wetland hydrology, water quality, and associated functions. In: “National water summary on wetland resources” (Fretwell JD, Williams JS, Redman PJ eds). Water-Supply Paper no. 2425, US Geological Survey, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 35-48.
Online | Gscholar

(19)

Cavalli R, Mason F (2003)
Techniques for reestablishment of dead wood for saproxylic fauna conservation. LIFE Nature project NAT/IT/ 99/6245 “Bosco della Fontana” (Mantova, Italy). Scientific Reports 2, Centro Nazionale per lo Studio e la Conservazione della Biodiversità Forestale di Verona - Bosco della Fontana, Gianluigi Arcari Editore, Mantova, Italy, pp. 112.
Gscholar

(20)

Chianucci F, Cutini A (2013)
Estimation of canopy properties in deciduous forests with digital hemispherical and cover photography. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 168: 130-139.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(21)

Chianucci F, Puletti N, Venturi E, Cutini A, Chiavetta U (2014)
Photographic assessment of overstory and understory leaf area index in beech forests under different management regimes in Central Italy. Forestry Studies 61: 27-34.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(22)

Constabel AJ, Lieffers VJ (1996)
Seasonal patterns of light transmission through boreal mixedwood canopies. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 26 (6): 1008-1014.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(23)

Corona P, Marchetti M (2007)
Outlining multi-purpose forest inventories to assess the ecosystem approach in forestry. Plant Biosystems 2: 243-251.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(24)

Corona P (2016)
Consolidating new paradigms in large-scale monitoring and assessment of forest ecosystems. Environmental Research 144: 8-14.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(25)

Cutini A, Chianucci F, Giannini T, Manetti MC, Salvati L (2015)
Is anticipated seed cutting an effective option to accelerate transition to high forest in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) coppice stands? Annals of Forest Sciences 72: 631-640.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(26)

Dalponte M, Gianelle D, Bruzzone L (2007)
Use of hyperspectral and LiDAR data for classification of complex forest areas. In: “Canopy analysis and dynamics of a floodplain forest”. Rapporti scientifici 3: 25-37.
Gscholar

(27)

Decocq G, Aubert M, Dupont F, Alard D, Saguez R, Wattez-Franger A, De Foucault B, Delelis-Dusollier A, Bardat J (2004)
Plant diversity in a managed temperate deciduous forest: understorey response to two silvicultural systems. Journal of Applied Ecology 41: 1065-1079.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(28)

Díaz S, Cabido M (2001)
Vive la différence: plant functional diversity matters to ecosystem processes. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 16 (11): 646-655.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(29)

Emborg J, Christensenb M, Heilmann-Clausen J (2000)
The structural dynamics of Suserup Skov, a near-natural temperate deciduous forest in Denmark. Forest Ecology and Management 126: 173-189.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(30)

Falinski JB (1989)
Succession, regeneration and fluctuation in the Bialowieza Forest (NE Poland). In: “Temporal and Spatial Patterns of Vegetation Dynamics”. Springer, Netherlands, pp. 115-128.
Gscholar

(31)

Frelich LE, Reich PB (2003)
Perspectives on development of definitions and values related to old-growth forests. Environmental Review 11: 9-22.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(32)

Gamfeldt L, Snäll T, Bagchi R, Jonsson M, Gustafsson L, Kjellander P, Ruiz-Jaen MC, Fröberg M, Stendahl J, Philipson CD, Mikusinski G, Andersson E, Westerlund B, Andrén H, Moberg F, Moen J, Bengtsson J (2013)
Higher levels of multiple ecosystem services are found in forests with more tree species. Nature Communications 4: 1340.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(33)

Gholz HL (1982)
Environmental limits on aboveground net primary production, leaf area, and biomass in vegetation zones of the Pacific northwest. Ecology 63: 469-481.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(34)

Gilliam FS (2007)
The ecological significance of the herbaceous layer in temperate forest ecosystems. BioScience 57: 845-858.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(35)

Gosselink JG, Lee LC, Muir TA (1990)
Ecological processes and cumulative impacts. Mich. Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, UK, pp. 708.
Gscholar

(36)

Klimo E, Hager H (2001)
The floodplain forest in Europe: current and perspectives. European Forest Institute Research Report 10, Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, Netherlands, pp. 268.
Gscholar

(37)

Kodar A, Lang M, Arumäe T, Eenmäe A, Nilson T (2011)
Leaf area index mapping with airborne lidar, satellite images and ground measurements in Järvselja Valeri test site. Forestry Studies 55: 11-32.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(38)

Koop H (1989)
Forest dynamics: SILVI-STAR, a comprehensive monitoring system. Springer-Verlag, Wageningen, Netherlands, pp. 229.
Gscholar

(39)

Laliberté E, Legendre P (2010)
A distance-based framework for measuring functional diversity from multiple traits. Ecology 91: 299-305.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(40)

Lambers H, Chapin FS, Pons TL (1998)
Plant physiological ecology. Springer-Verlag, New York, USA, pp. 540.
Gscholar

(41)

Lang ARG, Xiang Y (1986)
Estimation of leaf area index from transmission of direct sunlight in discontinuous canopies. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 37: 229-243.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(42)

Larsson TB (2001)
Biodiversity evaluation tools for European forests. EFI Proceedings no. 38, EFI, Joensuu, Finland, pp. 75-81.
Online | Gscholar

(43)

Light HM, Darst MR, Lewis LJ, Howell DA (2002)
Hydrology, vegetation, and soils of riverine and tidal floodplain forests of the lower Suwannee River, Florida, and potential impacts of flow reductions. Professional Paper 1656-A, US Geological Survey, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 124.
Online | Gscholar

(44)

Lugo AE, Brinson M, Brown S (1990)
Ecosystems of the world. Forested Wetlands. Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands, vol. 15, pp. 527.
Gscholar

(45)

Macfarlane C, Ogden GN (2012)
Automated estimation of foliage cover in forest understorey from digital nadir images. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 3 (2): 405-415.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(46)

Macfarlane C, Lardner T, Patterson K, Grigg AH (2010)
A new model for predicting understorey leaf area from biomass in eucalypt forest to test the ecohydrological equilibrium theory. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 1: 371-379.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(47)

Marchetti M (2004)
Monitoring and indicators of forest biodiversity in Europe - From ideas to operationality. EFI Proceeding no. 51, European Forest Institute, Joensuu, Finland, pp. 526.
Gscholar

(48)

Mason F (2002)
Problems of conservation and management. In: “Woodlands of the Po Plain” (Ruffo S ed). Friuli Museum of Natural History, Italian Ministry of the Environment and Territory Protection, Rome, Italy, pp. 91-137.
Gscholar

(49)

Mason F (2003)
Guidelines and aims of the project Life NAT/IT/99/006245 - Bosco della Fontana: urgent actions on relict habitat. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium “Dead wood: a key to biodiversity” (Mason F, Nardi G, Tisato M eds). Mantova (Italy) 29-31 May 2003. Sherwood 95 (2): 41-43.
Gscholar

(50)

Mason F (2004)
Dinamica di una foresta della Pianura Padana. Bosco della Fontana. Seconda edizione con linee di gestione forestale [Dynamics of a floodplain forest in the Po valley. Bosco Fontana. Second edition, with forest management guidelines]. Ministero per le Politiche Agricole e Forestali-Corpo Forestale dello Stato - Centro Nazionale per lo Studio e la Conservazione della Biodiversità Forestale, Arcari Editore, Mantova, Italy, pp. 226. [in Italian]
Gscholar

(51)

Meyer P, Tabaku V, Lüpke BV (2003)
Die Struktur albanischer Rotbuchen Urwälder Ableitungen für eine naturnahe Buchenwirtschaft [Structural characteristics of Albanian beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) virgin forests - deductions for semi-natural forestry]. Forstw. Cbl 122: 47-58. [in German]
CrossRef | Gscholar

(52)

Mondoni A, Probert R, Rossi G, Hay F (2009)
Habitat-related germination behaviour and emergence phenology in the woodland geophyte Anemone ranunculoides L. (Ranunculaceae) from northern Italy. Seed Science Research 19 (03): 137-144.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(53)

Mosner E, Weber A, Carambia M, Nilson E, Schmitz U, Zelle B, Donath T, Horchler P (2015)
Climate change and floodplain vegetation - future prospects for riparian habitat availability along the Rhine River. Ecological Engineering 82: 493-511.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(54)

Newton AC (2007)
Forest ecology and conservation. A handbook of techniques. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, pp. 454.
Online | Gscholar

(55)

Niinemets U, Valladares F (2006)
Tolerance to shade, drought and waterlogging of temperate Northern Hemisphere trees and shrubs. Ecological monographs 76 (4): 521-547.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(56)

Palik B, Engstrom RT (1999)
Species composition. In: “Maintaining Biodiversity in Forest Ecosystems” (Hunter MJ ed). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 65-94.
Gscholar

(57)

Petritan AM, Biris IA, Merce O, Turcu DO, Petritan IC (2012)
Structure and diversity of a natural temperate sessile oak (Quercus petraea L.) - European Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forest. Forest Ecology and Management 280: 140-149.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(58)

Pignatti S, Menegoni P, Pietrosanti S (2005)
Bioindicazione attraverso le piante vascolari. Valori di indicazione secondo Ellenberg (Zeigerwerte) per le specie della Flora d’Italia [Using vascular plants as bioindicators. Ellenberg’s values for the species of the Italian flora]. Braun-Blanquetia 39: 1-97. [in Italian]
Gscholar

(59)

Pivovaroff A, Sharifi R, Scoffoni C, Sack L, Rundel P (2014)
Making the best of the worst of times: traits underlying combined shade and drought tolerance of Ruscus aculeatus and Ruscus microglossum (Asparagaceae). Functional Plant Biology 41 (1): 11-24.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(60)

Rao CR (1982)
Diversity and dissimilarity coefficients: a unified approach. Theoretical Population Biology 21 (1): 24-43.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(61)

Reich PB, Frelich L (2002)
Temperate deciduous forests. In: “Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change (Vol. 2)” (Munn T, Mooney HA, Canedell JG). John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, USA, pp. 565-569.
Online | Gscholar

(62)

Roberts MR, Gilliam FS (1995)
Patterns and mechanisms of plant diversity in forested ecosystems: implications for forest management. Ecological Applications 5 (4): 969-977.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(63)

Sabatini FM, Burton JI, Scheller RM, Amatangelo KL, Mladenoff DJ (2013)
Functional diversity of ground-layer plant communities in old-growth and managed northern hardwood forests. Applied Vegetation Science 17: 398-407.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(64)

Scheller RM, Mladenoff DJ (2002)
Understory species patterns and diversity in old-growth and managed northern hardwood forests. Ecological Applications 12: 1329-1343.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(65)

Schlaghamersky J (2000)
The saproxylic beetles (Coleoptera) and ants (Formicidae) of Central European hardwood floodplain forests. Folia Facultatis Scientarium Naturalium Universitatis Masarykianae Brunensis, pp. 103.
Gscholar

(66)

Sobolewska D, Podolak I, Makowska-Was J (2013)
Allium ursinum: botanical, phytochemical and pharmacological overview. Phytochemistry Reviews 14: 81-97.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(67)

Swanson ME, Franklin JF, Beschta RL, Crisafulli CM, Della Sala DA, Hutto RL, Lindenmayer DB, Swanson FJ (2010)
The forgotten stage of forest succession: early-successional ecosystems on forest sites. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 9 (2): 117-125.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(68)

Ter Braak CJF, Wiertz J (1994)
On the statistical analysis of vegetation change: a wetland affected by water extraction and soil acidification. Journal of Vegetation Science 5: 361-372.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(69)

Vandekerkhove K, De Keersmaeker L, Menke N, Meyer P, Verschelde P (2009)
When nature takes over from man: dead wood accumulation in previously managed oak and beech woodlands on North-western and Central Europe. Forest Ecology and Management 258: 425-435.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(70)

Ward V, Tockner K, Schiemer F (1999)
Biodiversity of floodplain river ecosystems: ecotones and connectivity. Regulated Rivers: Research and Management 15: 125-139.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(71)

Wright IJ, Reich PB, Westoby M, Ackerly DD, Baruch Z, Bongers F, Cavender-Bares J, Chapin T, Villar R (2004)
The worldwide leaf economics spectrum. Nature 428: 821-827.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(72)

Wright JS (2002)
Plant diversity in tropical forests: a review of mechanisms of species coexistence. Oecologia 130 (1): 1-14.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(73)

Zapponi L, Minari E, Longo L, Toni I, Mason F, Campanaro A (2014)
The habitat trees experiment: using exotic tree species as new microhabitats for the native fauna. iForest 8: 464-470.
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