{"title":"How important is Forest Age in explaining the species composition of Near-natural Spruce Forests?","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122170","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Multiple ecological drivers, along with forest age, determine the species composition of boreal forest ecosystems. However, the role of age in successional changes in forests cannot be understood without taking site conditions, the disturbance regime and forest structure into account. In this study, we ask two research questions: 1. What is the relationship between forest age and overall species composition in older near-natural spruce forests, i.e. forests of age beyond harvest maturity? 2. Do species associated with different forest habitats respond similarly to variation in forest age? Data were collected in 257 Norway spruce dominated 0.25 ha plots from three study areas in Southeastern and Central Norway. Species inventories were conducted for lichens and bryophytes on trees and rocks, vascular plants on the forest floor, and for deadwood-associated bryophytes and polypore fungi. Although NMDS ordination analyses of the total species composition identified a main axis related to the age of the oldest trees in two of the study areas, variation partitioning analyses showed that age explained a small fraction of variation of the species composition compared to site conditions, logging history, forest structure, and differences between the sites in all habitats. The unique variation explained by forest age species was, however, significant for all habitats. The fraction of variation in species composition explained by forest age was the largest for lichens and bryophytes on trees, and for deadwood-associated bryophytes and polypore fungi. Our results suggest that practical mapping of near-natural forests for management purposes inventories should include site conditions, forest structure and between site differences in addition to forest age.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112724004821/pdfft?md5=f3e628603223cc6001c14691b0933262&pid=1-s2.0-S0378112724004821-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Forest Ecology and Management","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112724004821","RegionNum":2,"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: 0
Abstract
Multiple ecological drivers, along with forest age, determine the species composition of boreal forest ecosystems. However, the role of age in successional changes in forests cannot be understood without taking site conditions, the disturbance regime and forest structure into account. In this study, we ask two research questions: 1. What is the relationship between forest age and overall species composition in older near-natural spruce forests, i.e. forests of age beyond harvest maturity? 2. Do species associated with different forest habitats respond similarly to variation in forest age? Data were collected in 257 Norway spruce dominated 0.25 ha plots from three study areas in Southeastern and Central Norway. Species inventories were conducted for lichens and bryophytes on trees and rocks, vascular plants on the forest floor, and for deadwood-associated bryophytes and polypore fungi. Although NMDS ordination analyses of the total species composition identified a main axis related to the age of the oldest trees in two of the study areas, variation partitioning analyses showed that age explained a small fraction of variation of the species composition compared to site conditions, logging history, forest structure, and differences between the sites in all habitats. The unique variation explained by forest age species was, however, significant for all habitats. The fraction of variation in species composition explained by forest age was the largest for lichens and bryophytes on trees, and for deadwood-associated bryophytes and polypore fungi. Our results suggest that practical mapping of near-natural forests for management purposes inventories should include site conditions, forest structure and between site differences in addition to forest age.
期刊介绍：
Forest Ecology and Management publishes scientific articles linking forest ecology with forest management, focusing on the application of biological, ecological and social knowledge to the management and conservation of plantations and natural forests. The scope of the journal includes all forest ecosystems of the world.
A peer-review process ensures the quality and international interest of the manuscripts accepted for publication. The journal encourages communication between scientists in disparate fields who share a common interest in ecology and forest management, bridging the gap between research workers and forest managers.
We encourage submission of papers that will have the strongest interest and value to the Journal''s international readership. Some key features of papers with strong interest include:
1. Clear connections between the ecology and management of forests;
2. Novel ideas or approaches to important challenges in forest ecology and management;
3. Studies that address a population of interest beyond the scale of single research sites, Three key points in the design of forest experiments, Forest Ecology and Management 255 (2008) 2022-2023);
4. Review Articles on timely, important topics. Authors are welcome to contact one of the editors to discuss the suitability of a potential review manuscript.
The Journal encourages proposals for special issues examining important areas of forest ecology and management. Potential guest editors should contact any of the Editors to begin discussions about topics, potential papers, and other details.
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