Abiotic disturbances in Bulgarian mountain coniferous forests – An overview

Panayotov, Momchil; Gogushev, Georgi; Tsavkov, Evgeni; Vasileva, Pepa; Tsvetanov, Nickolay; Kulakowski, Dominik; Bebi, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2016.10.034

Cited by 14 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…The possibility of understanding past variability and applying it to contemporary management depends in part on past and current forest conditions. Fairly extensive areas of natural or primary forests exist in eastern, southeastern and northern Europe (Holeksa et al, 2017; Janda et al, 2017; Panayotov et al, 2017; Nagel et al, 2017; Kuuluvainen et al, 2017). But for forest ecosystems that exist in areas that have been intensively managed or unforested for centuries, such as in parts of central and western Europe, one might question whether a range of variability can be established at all, and if so, whether it is relevant for understanding and managing these regions.…”

Section: Concepts Of Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, well-preserved and well-studied sites are not necessarily representative of the larger landscape. Nevertheless, studies in remnant old-growth forests provide the best available view into long-term dynamics and important insights can be derived from retrospective studies of old, remnant patches of unmanaged forests, even while recognizing that these studies represent a conservative estimate of the importance of disturbances (e.g., Janda et al, 2017; Panayotov et al, 2017; Nagel et al, 2017).…”

Section: Disturbances In European Mountain Forestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here we synthesize aspects of this Special Issue on the ecology of mountain forest ecosystems in Europe in the context of other relevant literature to present a new perspective on European mountain forests and their natural disturbance regimes. We especially focus on mountain forests of the Balkan Peninsula (Panayotov et al, 2017; Nagel et al, 2017), the Apennines (Vacchiano et al, 2017), the Alps (Bebi et al, 2017; Conedera et al, 2017; Seidl et al, 2017), Bavaria (Thorn et al, 2017), the Carpathians (Holeksa et al, 2017; Janda et al, 2017), and the North Fennoscandian Mountains (Kuuluvainen et al, 2017) (Fig. 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some areas, such as those of the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, intensive agriculture, grazing, and logging were widespread also at high elevations until the mid-19th century, which reduced forest extent and forest density below topographically and climatically-determined limits (e.g., Bebi et al, 2017; Vacchiano et al, 2017). In contrast, land use history has been shorter and less intense in the forests of eastern Europe (Kaplan et al, 2009), including the Carpathian Mountains (Janda et al, 2017; Holeksa et al, 2017), southeastern Europe, including the Balkan Peninsula (Nagel et al, 2017; Panayotov et al, 2017), and northern Europe, including the North Fennoscandian Mountains (Kuuluvainen et al, 2017). Since the onset of industrialization in the mid-19th century, reduced agriculture, and secondarily reduced demand for wood, active reforestation, and active afforestation, have resulted in expanded forest cover in many regions across Europe (Table 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A walk on the wild side: Disturbance dynamics and the conservation and management of European mountain forest ecosystems

Kulakowski

Seidl

Holeksa

et al. 2017

Forest Ecology and Management

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Mountain forests are among the most important ecosystems in Europe as they support numerous ecological, hydrological, climatic, social, and economic functions. They are unique relatively natural ecosystems consisting of long-lived species in an otherwise densely populated human landscape. Despite this, centuries of intensive forest management in many of these forests have eclipsed evidence of natural processes, especially the role of disturbances in long-term forest dynamics. Recent trends of land abandonment and establishment of protected forests have coincided with a growing interest in managing forests in more natural states. At the same time, the importance of past disturbances highlighted in an emerging body of literature, and recent increasing disturbances due to climate change are challenging long-held views of dynamics in these ecosystems. Here, we synthesize aspects of this Special Issue on the ecology of mountain forest ecosystems in Europe in the context of broader discussions in the field, to present a new perspective on these ecosystems and their natural disturbance regimes. Most mountain forests in Europe, for which long-term data are available, show a strong and long-term effect of not only human land use but also of natural disturbances that vary by orders of magnitude in size and Europe PMC Funders Author ManuscriptsEurope PMC Funders Author Manuscripts frequency. Although these disturbances may kill many trees, the forests themselves have not been threatened. The relative importance of natural disturbances, land use, and climate change for ecosystem dynamics varies across space and time. Across the continent, changing climate and land use are altering forest cover, forest structure, tree demography, and natural disturbances, including fires, insect outbreaks, avalanches, and wind disturbances. Projected continued increases in forest area and biomass along with continued warming are likely to further promote forest disturbances. Episodic disturbances may foster ecosystem adaptation to the effects of ongoing and future climatic change. Increasing disturbances, along with trends of less intense land use, will promote further increases in coarse woody debris, with cascading positive effects on biodiversity, edaphic conditions, biogeochemical cycles, and increased heterogeneity across a range of spatial scales. Together, this may translate to disturbance-mediated resilience of forest landscapes and increased biodiversity, as long as climate and disturbance regimes remain within the tolerance of relevant species. Understanding ecological variability, even imperfectly, is integral to anticipating vulnerabilities and promoting ecological resilience, especially under growing uncertainty. Allowing some forests to be shaped by natural processes may be congruent with multiple goals of forest management, even in densely settled and developed countries.

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Section: Concepts Of Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Disturbances In European Mountain Forestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A walk on the wild side: Disturbance dynamics and the conservation and management of European mountain forest ecosystems

Kulakowski

Seidl

Holeksa

et al. 2017

Forest Ecology and Management

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195

110

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“…A 15-year rotation of disturbance lies in the interval of recurrence of large-scale disturbance (e.g. windstorms) estimated for highly disturbed European mountain forests (Zielonka et al, 2010;Svoboda et al, 2014;Holeksa et al, 2017;Panayotov et al, 2017). However, the frequency of disturbances is expected to increase in the future (Seidl et al, 2017), and thus the effect of mechanical disturbances on transpiration via modifications of wood anatomical structure will increase in lowland forests as well.…”

Section: Disturbance Effect On Specific Hydraulic Conductivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Disentangling the effects of disturbance, climate and tree age on xylem hydraulic conductivity of Betula pendula

Tumajer

Treml

2018

Annals of Botany

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• Background and Aims The increasing frequency of disturbances in temperate forests is responsible for the greater numbers of trees with mechanically damaged cambial zones. Adjustment of wood anatomical structure to balance between safe and efficient water conductivity is one mechanism trees employ to cope with mechanical damage. The relative role of disturbances, tree age and climate in shaping xylem conduits and affecting xylem hydraulic conductivity remains unknown. • Methods We performed an experiment with five different mechanical treatments simulating natural disturbances of juvenile Betula pendula trees (stem scarring, tilting, decapitation, root exposure and stem-base burial). After 3 years, trees were cut down, conduit size and density were measured, and specific hydraulic conductivity of each tree ring was calculated. Between-tree and between-year variability in xylem conductivity was decomposed into effects of tree age, climate and disturbances using linear mixed-effects models. • Key Results Xylem-specific hydraulic conductivity decreased significantly after treatment in decapitated, tilted and scarred trees. In the last treatment, wood anatomical adjustment was restricted to the area next to the callus tissue zone; in contrast, specific hydraulic conductivity declined over the entire stem circumference after tilting or decapitation. The response of trees with buried stems and exposed roots was generally weak. The overall effect of disturbances on inter-annual variability of wood anatomical structure was greater than the contribution of tree age and climate. • Conclusions The results indicate that disturbances are important drivers of xylem hydraulic conductivity. Expected increases in the frequency and intensity of disturbances may alter the theoretical capacity of forest stands for water conductance with a feedback to climate.

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Wildfire severity: Environmental effects revealed by soil magnetic properties

Jordanova

Barrón

2019

Land Degrad Dev

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Strong wildfires pose significant damage to all soil qualities and lead to land degradation. The complex nature and properties of fire‐derived materials require multidisciplinary efforts for their reliable characterization. The main objective of our study was to evaluate the suitability of magnetic properties of fire‐affected soils as proxy parameters for wildfire severity and to relate magnetic signature of burnt soils to carbon and nitrogen contents as influenced by wildfires. We present mineral magnetic investigation of 22 sites with wildfire‐affected soils and 17 nonburnt soils from nearby locations. We employed measurements of magnetic susceptibility and anhysteretic remanence in combination with scanning and transmission electron microscopy observations on magnetic particles from burnt soils and ashes. Bulk soil and vegetation ash analyses of total carbon and nitrogen, organic carbon, and elemental content were carried out as well. We show that pyrogenic magnetic enhancement is restricted to the uppermost 0‐ to 2‐cm soil depth and can be used as a proxy for wildfire severity. Strong wildfires lead to the production of nanometer‐sized superparamagnetic magnetite and/or maghemite particles and smaller amount of single‐domain fraction. These strongly magnetic minerals have typical characteristics of high‐temperature combustion products with spherical shape and diameters between 0.1 and 2 μm. Fire‐affected soils show relative enrichment with phosphorous, manganese, and heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Co, and As) calculated with respect to soils from nonburnt nearby localities. Our results demonstrate the potential of environmental magnetic methods as an additional tool for assessment of wildfire severity and the content of main soil nutrients.

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Abiotic disturbances in Bulgarian mountain coniferous forests – An overview

Cited by 14 publications

References 78 publications

A walk on the wild side: Disturbance dynamics and the conservation and management of European mountain forest ecosystems

A walk on the wild side: Disturbance dynamics and the conservation and management of European mountain forest ecosystems

Disentangling the effects of disturbance, climate and tree age on xylem hydraulic conductivity of Betula pendula

Wildfire severity: Environmental effects revealed by soil magnetic properties

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