{"title":"Increasing the intensity of regeneration treatments decreased beta diversity of temperate hardwood forest understory 20 years after disturbance","authors":"Romain Jaeger, Sylvain Delagrange, Isabelle Aubin, Gilles Joanisse, Patricia Raymond, David Rivest","doi":"10.1186/s13595-022-01152-w","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Context</h3><p>In temperate hardwood forests, increased intensity of soil and canopy disturbances tends to increase species richness due to the establishment of numerous early-successional plant species. However, while competitive pioneer species from early stages of succession can become recalcitrant and alter patterns of natural regeneration, very few studies have examined longer-term effects of these treatments on plant biodiversity.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Aims</h3><p>In this study, we investigated mid-term (ca. 20 years) effects of different regeneration treatments with varying soil and canopy disturbance intensities. We compared understory plant communities in temperate hardwood forests from all the South of Quebec (Canada).</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Methods</h3><p>Using circular experimental plots of 1962.5 m<sup>2</sup> (radius = 25 m), we measured taxonomic and functional diversity indices and soil properties using four levels of disturbance intensity in six temperate hardwood forests of Quebec distributed along a longitudinal gradient. Reference forests, i.e. control forests with no silvicultural treatment known for ≥ 80 years, were compared to 20-year-old single-tree selection cuts, group-selection cuts and group-selection cuts with soil scarification.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Results</h3><p>Species richness in both group-selection treatments was higher than that in reference forests. Plant equitability and beta diversity among sites in both group-selection treatments were lower than in single-tree selection cuts and control forests. More intense treatments contributed to the mid-term persistence of recalcitrant competitor species (e.g. <i>Rubus idaeus</i> L., <i>Prunus pensylvanica</i> L.f.) whereas soil scarification appears to have negative sustained effects on species known to be sensitive to regeneration treatments (e.g. <i>Monotropa uniflora</i> L., <i>Dryopteris spinulosa</i> Kuhn).</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Conclusions</h3><p>In temperate hardwood forests of Southern Quebec, silvicultural treatments of higher intensities resulted in detrimental effects on soil properties, especially in the surface horizon, 20 years after disturbance. This legacy, in turn, affected the composition and diversity of understory plant communities. The more intense silvicultural treatments contributed to the persistence of pioneer species better adapted to a wider range of environmental conditions and resulted in a decrease in understory plant community heterogeneity among sites. Conversely, single-tree selection cutting appeared to be the most appropriate silvicultural treatment for maintaining soil functions and heterogeneity of understory plant communities after 20 years; composition and structure being similar to long-undisturbed forests.</p>","PeriodicalId":7994,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Forest Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annals of Forest Science","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13595-022-01152-w","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"FORESTRY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Context
In temperate hardwood forests, increased intensity of soil and canopy disturbances tends to increase species richness due to the establishment of numerous early-successional plant species. However, while competitive pioneer species from early stages of succession can become recalcitrant and alter patterns of natural regeneration, very few studies have examined longer-term effects of these treatments on plant biodiversity.
Aims
In this study, we investigated mid-term (ca. 20 years) effects of different regeneration treatments with varying soil and canopy disturbance intensities. We compared understory plant communities in temperate hardwood forests from all the South of Quebec (Canada).
Methods
Using circular experimental plots of 1962.5 m2 (radius = 25 m), we measured taxonomic and functional diversity indices and soil properties using four levels of disturbance intensity in six temperate hardwood forests of Quebec distributed along a longitudinal gradient. Reference forests, i.e. control forests with no silvicultural treatment known for ≥ 80 years, were compared to 20-year-old single-tree selection cuts, group-selection cuts and group-selection cuts with soil scarification.
Results
Species richness in both group-selection treatments was higher than that in reference forests. Plant equitability and beta diversity among sites in both group-selection treatments were lower than in single-tree selection cuts and control forests. More intense treatments contributed to the mid-term persistence of recalcitrant competitor species (e.g. Rubus idaeus L., Prunus pensylvanica L.f.) whereas soil scarification appears to have negative sustained effects on species known to be sensitive to regeneration treatments (e.g. Monotropa uniflora L., Dryopteris spinulosa Kuhn).
Conclusions
In temperate hardwood forests of Southern Quebec, silvicultural treatments of higher intensities resulted in detrimental effects on soil properties, especially in the surface horizon, 20 years after disturbance. This legacy, in turn, affected the composition and diversity of understory plant communities. The more intense silvicultural treatments contributed to the persistence of pioneer species better adapted to a wider range of environmental conditions and resulted in a decrease in understory plant community heterogeneity among sites. Conversely, single-tree selection cutting appeared to be the most appropriate silvicultural treatment for maintaining soil functions and heterogeneity of understory plant communities after 20 years; composition and structure being similar to long-undisturbed forests.
期刊介绍:
Annals of Forest Science is an official publication of the French National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE)
-Up-to-date coverage of current developments and trends in forest research and forestry
Topics include ecology and ecophysiology, genetics and improvement, tree physiology, wood quality, and silviculture
-Formerly known as Annales des Sciences Forestières
-Biology of trees and associated organisms (symbionts, pathogens, pests)
-Forest dynamics and ecosystem processes under environmental or management drivers (ecology, genetics)
-Risks and disturbances affecting forest ecosystems (biology, ecology, economics)
-Forestry wood chain (tree breeding, forest management and productivity, ecosystem services, silviculture and plantation management)
-Wood sciences (relationships between wood structure and tree functions, and between forest management or environment and wood properties)