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Excluding Large Wild Herbivores Reduced Norway Spruce Dominance and Supported Tree Species Richness in a Young, Naturally Regenerated Stand
Forests ( IF 2.9 ) Pub Date : 2021-06-04 , DOI: 10.3390/f12060737
Bohdan Konôpka , Vladimír Šebeň , Jozef Pajtík , Lisa A. Shipley

Large wild herbivores are important and natural components of forest ecosystems, but through their browsing activities have the potential to influence the structure and composition of forest communities, thus timber production and ecosystem dynamics. To examine the effects of browsing by wild herbivores on a young post-disturbance forest in the Kysuce region of northwestern Slovakia, we established two sets of 2 m radius plots, 15 within a fenced area (5.12 ha) that excluded large wild herbivores, and 15 within an adjacent unfenced area. In each plot, we recorded the species, tree height, stem base diameter, and mutual geographic positions of trees. When we compared tree community characteristics between the unfenced and fenced plots, we found fewer and smaller broadleaved tree species, except silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) in the unfenced plots. Although common rowan (Sorbus aucuparia L.) was the dominant species within fenced plots, where some individuals were over 6.0 m tall, this species was rare outside the fenced area and usually did not exceed 1.5 m. In contrast, Norway spruce (Picea abies Karts L.) was more abundant and taller within the unfenced area, likely released from competition by suppression of broadleaved trees by herbivores. In addition, fenced plots also showed twice the tree species richness (Shannon index) of unfenced ones. Despite changes in tree communities, total aboveground biomass stock was only slightly but significantly lower in the unfenced than the fenced plots (29.6 kg per 10 m2 vs. 33.5 kg per 10 m2). Our study suggested that browsing pressure by large wild herbivores that focused on most broadleaved trees weakened interspecies competition and allowed the expansion of Norway spruce. As a consequence, converting spruce monocultures to mixed species stands is likely unrealistic when faced with heavy browsing pressure by wild large herbivores.

中文翻译:

排除大型野生食草动物会降低自然再生的年轻林分中挪威云杉的优势和支持的树种丰富度

大型野生食草动物是森林生态系统的重要自然组成部分,但通过它们的浏览活动有可能影响森林群落的结构和组成,从而影响木材生产和生态系统动态。为了检查野生食草动物浏览对斯洛伐克西北部 Kysuce 地区年轻的后扰动森林的影响,我们建立了两组半径为 2 m 的地块,15 个位于围栏区域(5.12 公顷)内,排除大型野生食草动物,以及15 在相邻的无围栏区域内。在每个地块中,我们记录了树木的种类、树高、茎基直径和相互的地理位置。当我们比较无围栏和围栏样地之间的树木群落特征时,我们发现除了银桦(Betula pendulaRoth.)在无围栏的地块中。虽然普通花楸 ( Sorbus aucuparia L.) 是围栏内的优势种,有些个体的身高超过 6.0 m,但该种在围栏外很少见,通常不超过 1.5 m。相比之下,挪威云杉 ( Picea abies Karts L.) 在无围栏区域内数量更多、更高,可能是由于食草动物对阔叶树的压制而从竞争中释放出来的。此外,围栏地块的树种丰富度(香农指数)是未围栏地块的两倍。尽管树木群落发生了变化,未围栏地块的地上生物量总储量仅略低于围栏地块(29.6 kg/10 m 2 vs. 33.5 kg/10 m 2))。我们的研究表明,大型野生食草动物对大多数阔叶树的浏览压力削弱了种间竞争,并允许挪威云杉的扩张。因此,当面临野生大型食草动物的沉重浏览压力时,将云杉单一栽培转变为混合物种林分可能是不现实的。
更新日期:2021-06-04
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