*
 

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry

*

Growth dynamics of the Norway spruce and silver fir understory in continuous cover forestry

Jaroslav Vencurik (1)   , Stanislav Kucbel (1), Milan Saniga (1), Peter Jaloviar (1), Denisa Sedmáková (1), Ján Pittner (1), Zuzana Parobeková (1), Michal Bosela (2)

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 13, Issue 1, Pages 56-64 (2020)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor3183-012
Published: Feb 05, 2020 - Copyright © 2020 SISEF

Research Articles


The conversion to uneven-aged, mixed-species stands represents one possible way to mitigate the consequences of disturbances in Norway spruce forests in Central Europe. A better understanding of the establishment and growth dynamics of the understory can contribute to a more effective conversion process. Here we investigate the structure of understory, light climate and growth of natural regeneration of Norway spruce and silver fir in two forest stands undergoing conversion to continuous cover forestry. Stand-wise forest inventory was conducted in 1993 and 2013. The natural regeneration was surveyed, and the light conditions and inter-tree competition were quantified in 51 sample plots established across the stands in 2013. Our results suggest that the diffuse radiation strongly affects the height growth of fir and spruce natural regeneration. We do not confirm the effect of local sapling density on the regeneration dynamics. The results further show that fir trees grow faster than spruce under less intensity of diffuse light. Most of the spruce and fir trees reached the upper limit of the lower overstory (DBH 12 cm) at approximately 50 years of age. Thus, more substantial reductions in stand density can lead to a well-differentiated structure in less than five decades. To control the prospective representation of spruce and fir in mixed-species forests undergoing the conversion, managing of light conditions is crucial.

  Keywords


Conversion to Selection Forest, Natural Regeneration, Height Growth, Diffuse Light

Authors’ address

(1)
Jaroslav Vencurik
Stanislav Kucbel
Milan Saniga
Peter Jaloviar
Denisa Sedmáková 0000-0001-5556-0839
Ján Pittner
Zuzana Parobeková
Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, Masarykova 24, 960 53 Zvolen (Slovak Republic)
(2)
Michal Bosela 0000-0001-6706-8614
Department of Forest Management and Geodesy, Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, Masarykova 24, 960 53 Zvolen (Slovak Republic)

Corresponding author

 
Jaroslav Vencurik
vencurik@tuzvo.sk

Citation

Vencurik J, Kucbel S, Saniga M, Jaloviar P, Sedmáková D, Pittner J, Parobeková Z, Bosela M (2020). Growth dynamics of the Norway spruce and silver fir understory in continuous cover forestry. iForest 13: 56-64. - doi: 10.3832/ifor3183-012

Academic Editor

Davide Ascoli

Paper history

Received: Jul 03, 2019
Accepted: Nov 28, 2019

First online: Feb 05, 2020
Publication Date: Feb 29, 2020
Publication Time: 2.30 months

Breakdown by View Type

(Waiting for server response...)

Article Usage

Total Article Views: 12278
(from publication date up to now)

Breakdown by View Type
HTML Page Views: 9044
Abstract Page Views: 614
PDF Downloads: 2036
Citation/Reference Downloads: 8
XML Downloads: 576

Web Metrics
Days since publication: 1715
Overall contacts: 12278
Avg. contacts per week: 50.11

Article Citations

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

(No citations were found up to date. Please come back later)


 

Publication Metrics

by Dimensions ©

Articles citing this article

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

 
(1)
Augusto L, Ranger J, Binkley D, Rothe A (2002)
Impact of several common tree species of European temperate forests on soil fertility. Annals of Forest Science 59: 233-253.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(2)
Boden S, Kahle HP, Wilpert K, Spiecker H (2014)
Resilience of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) growth to changing climatic conditions in Southwest Germany. Forest Ecology and Management 315: 12-21.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(3)
Boncina A, Diaci J, Cencic L (2002)
Comparison of the two main types of selection forests in Slovenia: distribution, site conditions, stand structure, regeneration and management. Forestry 75: 365-373.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(4)
Bošela M, Sedmák R, Sedmáková D, Marušák R, Kulla L (2014)
Temporal shifts of climate-growth relationships of Norway spruce as an indicator of health decline in the Beskids, Slovakia. Forest Ecology and Management 325: 108-117.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(5)
Brang P, Spathelf P, Larsen JB, Bauhus J, Bončina A, Chauvin C, Drössler L, Güemes CG, Heiri C, Kerr G, Lexer MJ, Mason B, Mohren F, Mühlethaler U, Nocentini S, Svoboda M (2014)
Suitability of close-to-nature silviculture for adapting temperate European forests to climate change. Forestry 87: 492-503.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(6)
Burschel P, Huss J (1997)
Grundriß des Waldbaus [Silviculture]. Parey Buchverlag, Berlin, Germany, pp. 487. [in German]
Gscholar
(7)
Cameron AD, Hands MOR (2010)
Developing a sustainable irregular structure: an evaluation of three inventories at 6-year intervals in an irregular mixed-species stand in Scotland. Forestry 83: 469-475.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(8)
Carmean WH (1972)
Site index curves for upland oaks in the Central States. Forest Science 18: 102-120.
Online | Gscholar
(9)
Cavlović J, Bozić M, Boncina A (2006)
Stand structure of an uneven-aged fir-beech forest with an irregular diameter structure: modeling the development of the Belevine forest, Croatia. European Journal of Forest Research 125: 325-333.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(10)
Cescatti A (1996)
Selective cutting radiative regime and natural regeneration in a mixed coniferous forest. In: “Modelling Regeneration Success and Early Growth of Forest Stands” (Skovsgaard JP, Johannsen P eds). Danish Forest and Landscape Research Institute, Horsholm, Denmark, pp. 474-483.
Gscholar
(11)
Cook ER, Kairiukstis LA (1990)
Methods of dendrochronology: applications in the environmental sciences. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands, pp. 394.
Gscholar
(12)
Danescu A, Kohnle U, Bauhus J, Weiskittel A, Albrecht AT (2018)
Long-term development of natural regeneration in irregular, mixed stands of silver fir and Norway spruce. Forest Ecology and Management 430: 105-116.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(13)
Dengler A (1980)
Waldbau [Silviculture]. Verlag Paul Parey, Hamburg, Berlin, Germany, pp. 350. [in German]
Gscholar
(14)
Diaci J, Pisek R, Boncina A (2005)
Regeneration in experimental gaps of subalpine Picea abies forest in the Slovenian Alps. European Journal of Forest Research 124: 29-36.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(15)
Diaci J, Firm D (2011)
Long-term dynamics of a mixed conifer stand in Slovenia managed with a farmer selection system. Forest Ecology and Management 262: 931-939.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(16)
Diaci J, Rozenbergar D, Anic I, Mikac S, Saniga M, Kucbel S, Visnjic C, Ballian D (2011)
Structural dynamics and synchronous silver fir decline in mixed old-growth mountain forests in Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Forestry 84: 479-491.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(17)
Duc P (1991)
Investigations on recruitment dynamics in Emmental selection forest plots. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Forstwesen 142: 299-319. [in German]
Gscholar
(18)
Duchesneau R, Lesage I, Messier C, Morin H (2001)
Effects of light and intraspecific competition on growth and crown morphology of two size classes of understory balsam fir saplings. Forest Ecology and Management 140: 215-225.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(19)
Dvorak L, Bachmann P, Mandallaz D (2001)
Sturmschäden in ungleichförmigen Beständen [Storm damage in irregular stands]. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Forstwesen 152: 445-452. [in German]
CrossRef | Gscholar
(20)
Filipiak M, Iszkulo G, Korybo J (2005)
Relation between photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) and growth of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) seedlings in a forest stand dominated by spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] in the Sudety Mts (SW Poland). Polish Journal of Ecology 53: 177-184.
Online | Gscholar
(21)
Fox J, Weisberg S (2011)
An R companion to applied regresion (2nd edn). Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, pp. 608.
Online | Gscholar
(22)
Gamborg C, Larsen JB (2003)
“Back to nature” - a sustainable future for forestry? Forest Ecology and Management 179: 559-571.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(23)
Givnish TJ (1988)
Adaptation to sun and shade: a whole-plant perspective. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 15: 63-92.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(24)
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.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(25)
Grassi G, Minotta G, Tonon G, Bagnaresi U (2004)
Dynamics of Norway spruce and silver fir natural regeneration in a mixed stand under uneven-aged management. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 34: 141-149.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(26)
Grassi G, Giannini R (2005)
Influence of light and competition on crown and shoot morphological parameters of Norway spruce and silver fir saplings. Annals of Forest Science 62: 269-274.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(27)
Heuze P, Schnitzler A, Klein F (2005)
Is browsing the major factor of silver fir decline in the Vosges Mountains of France? Forest Ecology and Management 430: 219-228.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(28)
Jaworski A (1995)
Silvicultural characteristic of forest trees. Gutenberg, Kraków, Poland, pp. 237. [in Polish]
Gscholar
(29)
Klinka K, Wang Q, Kayahara GJ, Carter RE, Blackwell BA (1992)
Light-growth response relationships in Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa). Canadian Journal of Forest Research 70: 1919-1930.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(30)
Klopcic M, Jerina K, Boncina A (2010)
Long-term changes of structure and tree species composition in Dinaric uneven-aged forests: are red deer an important factor? European Journal of Forest Research 129: 277-288.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(31)
Lin CJ, Laiho O, Lähde E (2012)
Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) regeneration and growth of understory trees under single-tree selection silviculture in Finland. European Journal of Forest Research 131: 683-691.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(32)
Mezei P, Grodzki W, Blaenec M, Jakuš R (2014)
Factors influencing the wind-bark beetles’ disturbance system in the course of an Ips typographus outbreak in the Tatra Mountains. Forest Ecology and Management 312: 67-77.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(33)
Oliver CD, Larson BC (1996)
Forest stand dynamics. John Wiley, New York, USA, pp. 520.
Gscholar
(34)
Paluch J (2005)
Spatial distribution of regeneration in West-Carpathian uneven-aged silver fir forests. European Journal of Forest Research 124: 47-54.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(35)
Parent S, Messier C (1995)
Effets d’un gradient de lumière sur la croissance en hauteur et la morphologie de la cime du sapin baumier régénéré naturellement [Effects of a light gradient on height growth and the morphology of the crown of naturally regenerated balsam fir]. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 25: 878-885. [in French]
CrossRef | Gscholar
(36)
Pawlowski B, Sokolowski M, Wallisch K (1928)
Die Pflanzenassoziationen des Tatra-Gebirges. Teil 7. Die Pflanzenassoziationen und die Flora des Morskie Oko-Tales [Plant associations of the Tatra Mountains. Part 7. Plant associations and flora of the Morskie Oko Valley]. Extrait de Bullettin de l’Academie Polonaise des Sciences et des Lettres 2: 205-272. [in German]
Gscholar
(37)
Prpić B, Seletković Z (2001)
Ecological constitution of the silver fir. In: “Silver Fir in Croatia” (Matić S, Vukelić J, Prpić B, Vidaković M, Klepac D, Glavaš M, Ljuljka B, Figurić M, Jakovac H eds). Tiskara Meić, Zagreb, Croatia, pp. 269-276.
Gscholar
(38)
R Development Core Team (2018)
R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria.
Online | Gscholar
(39)
Robakowski P, Wyka T, Samardakiewicz S, Kierzkowski 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)
Saniga M, Vencurik J (2007)
Dynamics of structure and regeneration processes of the forests in various phases of the conversion to a selection forest in forest management unit Korytnica. Vydavatelstvo Technickej univerzity, Zvolen, Slovakia, pp. 82. [in Slovak]
Gscholar
(41)
Schütz JP (2001a)
Opportunities and strategies of transforming regular forests to irregular forests. Forest Ecology and Management 151: 87-94.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(42)
Schütz JP (2001b)
Der Plenterwald und weitere Formen strukturierter und gemischter Wälder [Selection forest and other forms of structured and mixed forests]. Parey Buchverlag, Berlin, Germany, pp. 220. [in German]
Gscholar
(43)
Schütz JP (2006)
Modelling the demographic sustainability of pure beech plenter forests in Eastern Germany. Annals of Forest Science 63: 93-100.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(44)
Schütz JP, Götz M, Schmid W, Mandallaz D (2006)
Vulnerability of spruce (Picea abies) and beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest stands to storms and consequences for silviculture. European Journal of Forest Research 125: 291-302.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(45)
Seidl R, Thom D, Kautz M, Martin-Benito D, Peltoniemi M, Vacchiano G, Wild J, Ascoli D, Petr M, Honkaniemi J, Lexer MJ, Trotsiuk V, Mairota P, Svoboda M, Fabrika M, Nagel TA, Reyer CPO (2017)
Forest disturbances under climate change. Nature Climate Change 7: 395-402.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(46)
Simard MJ, Bergeron Y, Sirois L (1998)
Conifer seedling recruitment in a southwestern Canadian boreal forests: the importance of substrate. Journal of Vegetation Science 9: 575-582.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(47)
Stancioiu PT, O’Hara KL (2006)
Regeneration growth in different light environments of mixed species, multiaged, mountainous forests of Romania. European Journal of Forest Research 125: 151-162.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(48)
StatSoft Inc. (2010)
Electronic statistics textbook. Tulsa, OK, USA.
Online | Gscholar
(49)
Sterba H, Zingg A (2001)
Target diameter harvesting - a strategy to convert even-aged forests. Forest Ecology and Management 151: 95-105.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(50)
Szymura TH (2005)
Silver fir saplings bank in seminatural stand: individuals architecture and vitality. Forest Ecology and Management 212: 101-108.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(51)
Szymura TH, Dunajski A, Aman I, Makowski M, Szymura M (2007)
The spatial pattern and microsites requirements of Abies alba natural regeneration in the Karkonosze Mountains. Dendrobiology 58: 51-57.
Online | Gscholar
(52)
Van Der Maaten-Theunissen M, Kahle HP, Van Der Maaten E (2013)
Drought sensitivity of Norway spruce is higher than that of silver fir along an altitudinal gradient in southwestern Germany. Annals of Forest Science 70: 185-193.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(53)
Vencurik J, Kucbel S, Saniga M, Jaloviar P (2016)
Structure and height growth of natural regeneration in selection forests with different Norway spruce proportion in Slovakia. Technical university, Zvolen, Slovakia, pp. 64. [in Slovak]
Gscholar
(54)
Vitali V, Büntgen U, Bauhus J (2018)
Seasonality matters - The effects of past and projected seasonal climate change on the growth of native and exotic conifer species in Central Europe. Dendrochronologia 48: 1-9.
CrossRef | Gscholar
(55)
Von Lüpke B, Ammer C, Bruciamacchie M, Brunner A, Ceitel J, Collet C, Deuleuze C, Placido JD, Huss J, Jankovič J, Kantor P, Larsen JB, Lexer M, Löf M, Longauer R, Madsen P, Modrzynski J, Mosandl R, Pampe A, Pommering A, Tesar V, Thompson R, Zientarski J (2004)
Silvicultural strategies for conversion. In: “Norway spruce conversion: options and consequences” (Spiecker H, Hansen J, Klimo E, Skovsgaard JP, Sterba H, von Teuffel K eds). Brill, Leiden, Netherlands, pp. 121-164.
Gscholar
(56)
Wickham H (2016)
ggplot2: Elegant graphics for data analysis. Springer Verlag, New York, USA, pp. 276.
Online | Gscholar
(57)
Zar JH (1999)
Biostatistical analysis. Prentice Hall, New Jersey, USA, pp. 663.
Gscholar
(58)
Zhang L, Gove JH, Liu C, Leak WB (2001)
A finite mixture of two Weibull distributions for modeling the diameter distributions of rotated-sigmoid, uneven-aged stands. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 31 (9): 1654-1659.
CrossRef | Gscholar
 

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. More info