When nature meets the divine: effect of prohibition regimes on the structure and tree species composition of sacred forests in northern Greece

IF 2.3 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Web Ecology Pub Date : 2020-08-07 DOI:10.5194/we-20-53-2020

V. Marini Govigli, J. Healey, J. Wong, K. Stara, R. Tsiakiris, J. Halley

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引用次数: 6

Abstract

Abstract. Sacred forests are an integral component of the mountainous cultural landscape of northern Greece, hypothesized to be the result of both ecological processes and site-specific forest management regimes through strict religious prohibition. These practices acted as constraints on natural forest development by suppressing understory growth, while prohibition of woodcutting has preserved large trees. The aim of this study was to investigate the relative effects of physical site environment and management regimes on the structure and composition of woody plant groups in six such forests. Species rank–abundance curves, dissimilarity indices and cluster analyses were used to assess variation within and amongst the woody plant groups of the sites. Species abundance was found to be highly variable amongst the sites, with notable variation between canopy and understory layers indicating dynamic change in floristics and structure. Cluster analysis revealed four main woody plant groups statistically associated with environmental variables (aspect) and forest management (different forest prohibition regimes, and presence or absence of infrastructure). Our results indicate that tree composition is significantly associated with different prohibition regimes linked to the forests' sacred status, as well as the inherent environmental variation amongst sites. Exploring further the role of traditional management systems in shaping sacred forest structure is a relevant research path for designing effective conservation practices tailored to sacred natural sites facing cultural abandonment.

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当自然遇到神圣:禁止制度对希腊北部神圣森林结构和树种组成的影响

摘要神圣森林是希腊北部山区文化景观的一个组成部分，它被认为是生态过程和特定地点的森林管理制度通过严格的宗教禁止的结果。这些做法抑制了林下植被的生长，限制了非自然森林的发展，而禁止砍伐则保护了大片树木。本研究的目的是探讨自然立地环境和管理制度对6个此类森林中木本植物类群结构和组成的相对影响。采用物种等级-丰度曲线、差异指数和聚类分析等方法评价了样地木本植物类群内和类群间的变异。物种丰富度在各样地间差异较大，冠层和林下的差异显著，反映了植物区系和结构的动态变化。聚类分析揭示了四个主要的木本植物类群与环境变量(方面)和森林管理(不同的禁林制度和有无基础设施)有统计学相关性。我们的研究结果表明，树木组成与森林神圣地位相关的不同禁止制度以及遗址之间固有的环境变化显著相关。进一步探索传统管理制度在塑造神林结构中的作用，是设计针对面临文化遗弃的神圣自然遗址的有效保护实践的相关研究路径。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Web Ecology Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

17 weeks

期刊介绍： Web Ecology (WE) is an open-access journal issued by the European Ecological Federation (EEF) representing the ecological societies within Europe and associated members. Its special value is to serve as a publication forum for national ecological societies that do not maintain their own society journal. Web Ecology publishes papers from all fields of ecology without any geographic restriction. It is a forum to communicate results of experimental, theoretical, and descriptive studies of general interest to an international audience. Original contributions, short communications, and reviews on ecological research on all kinds of organisms and ecosystems are welcome as well as papers that express emerging ideas and concepts with a sound scientific background.