Effect of clear-cutting on the understory vegetation, soil and diversity of litter beetles in scots pine-dominated forest

Česonienė, Laima; Daubaras, Remigijus; Tamutis, Vytautas; Kaškonienė, Vilma; Kaškonas, Paulius; Stakėnas, Vidas; Zych, Marcin

doi:10.1080/10549811.2019.1607755

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Also, high, yet not significant, abundances of the ball‐rolling dung beetle, S. schaefferi , were found in topsoil‐removed plots. Patches of bare soil and low vegetation cover are critical for survival of many threatened organisms including plants (Česonienė et al ., 2019), bees (Heneberg et al ., 2016), and spiders (Krause et al ., 2011), as well as ground beetles (Volf et al ., 2018; Růžičková & Hykel, 2019). Our results indicated that bare soil, created by topsoil removal, is important also to some dung‐inhabiting beetles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coppicing and topsoil removal promote diversity of dung‐inhabiting beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Geotrupidae, Staphylinidae) in forests

Ambrožová

Finnberg²,

Feldmann³

et al. 2021

Agri and Forest Entomology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Central European forests experience a substantial loss of open‐forest organisms due to forest management and increasing nitrogen deposition. However, management strategies, removing different levels of nitrogen, have been rarely evaluated simultaneously. We tested the additive effects of coppicing and topsoil removal on communities of dung‐inhabiting beetles compared to closed forests. We sampled 57 021 beetles, using baited pitfall traps exposed on 27 plots. Experimental treatments resulted in significantly different communities by promoting open‐habitat species. While alpha diversity did not differ among treatments, gamma diversity of Geotrupidae and Scarabaeidae and beta diversity of Staphylinidae were higher in coppice than in forest. Functional diversity of rove beetles was higher in both, coppice and topsoil‐removed plots, compared to control plots. This was likely driven by higher habitat heterogeneity in established forest openings. Five dung beetle species and four rove beetle species benefitted from coppicing, one red‐listed dung beetle and two rove beetle species benefitted from topsoil removal. Our results demonstrate that dung‐inhabiting beetles related to open forest patches can be promoted by both, coppicing and additional topsoil removal. A mosaic of coppice and bare‐soil‐rich patches can hence promote landscape‐level gamma diversity of dung and rove beetles within forests.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coppicing and topsoil removal promote diversity of dung‐inhabiting beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Geotrupidae, Staphylinidae) in forests

Ambrožová

Finnberg²,

Feldmann³

et al. 2021

Agri and Forest Entomology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Traditionally, P. sylvestris forests are managed as even-aged by the clear-cutting silvicultural system in Lithuania [ 3 ]. The understory vegetation associated with P. sylvestris varies considerably at an early successional stage following clear-cutting, and the initial effects of clear-cuttings have been recently reported [ 26 , 27 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ground Vegetation in Pinus sylvestris Forests at Different Successional Stages following Clear Cuttings: A Case Study

Gustienė

Varnagirytė–Kabašinskiene

Stakėnas

2022

Plants

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The impact of intensive forestry on various components of ecosystems has become the main subject of public and scientific debate in many regions in recent years. Forest ground vegetation is considered one of the most consistent and biodiversity-rich indicators of a certain stage of successional forest development. Therefore, changes in this forest component can potentially show the risks of forest damage due to clear-cutting and recovery trends. This study was carried out to identify the ground vegetation species diversity, including species composition and cover, also ground vegetation species relations with organic layer (forest floor) and upper mineral soil parameters at the different successional stages of the Pinus sylvestris L. stand development, including 1–2-year-old clear-cuts, and 6–130 years old stands. This study identified that the herb and dwarf shrub species were more light-demanding in the 2-year-old clear-cuts, as well as in the 6-year and 10-year old P.sylvestris stands compared to the middle-aged and mature forest stands. The dominant ground vegetation species, characteristic for the Pinetum vaccinio-myrtillosum forest type, were negatively dependent on the forest floor mass; they also had negative correlations with the concentrations of total P, K, Ca, and Mg in the forest floor and upper mineral soil but had positive correlations with the soil pH values and total N. The developed regression models of the percentage cover of mosses, herbs and dwarf shrubs according to the P.sylvestris stand age highlight the stabilization of the increase in the moss cover about 30 years after clear-cutting, with no clear trend for vascular species. The herbs and dwarf shrub species were highly variable during the stand rotation due to the species-specific characteristics and random factors rather than due to the influence of stand age. In this study, relatively short-term changes in ground vegetation species composition and percentage cover were determined after clear-cutting, but an important aspect is that new ground vegetation species appeared in the open areas, creating the potential for increasing species diversity. The clear-cutting system supports different species and numbers of herbs and mosses at different stages of stand development, which potentially increases the overall vegetation species diversity of the ecosystem.

show abstract

“…The mean mass of forest floor vegetation was negatively related to the richness of ground vegetation species. Forest floor pH and cover, soil organic matter (SOC) and nutrient imbalances in the forest floor and in the mineral soil (Gundersen et al 2006;Armolaitis et al 2008Armolaitis et al , 2018Nave et al 2010;Česonienė et al 2019). Until plant communities again reach the pre-harvest level, the specific forest structural elements and functions (vegetation response, soil chemistry.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It can be argued hypothetically that differences from the mature stand should continue for a limited time. If changes in ground vegetation indices could be detected soon after clear-cutting (Česonienė et al 2019;Stefańska-Krzaczek et al 2019;Ilintsev et al 2020), changes in the soil could be less noticeable. An exception is a post-harvest peak in nitrate concentrations in runoff water which is caused by more intensive mineralization of organic matter in the clearcuttings (Bergholm et al 2015;Armolaitis et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to clarify the processes that occur in clear-cuttings of forest stands, both short-term and long-term studies are carried out to monitor nutrient changes and the risk of mobile compounds leaching to groundwater (Gundersen et al 2006;Armolaitis et al 2008Armolaitis et al , 2018Laudon et al 2009;Löfgren et al 2009;Palviainen et al 2014;Česonienė et al 2019). In line with the changing climate, the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions and SOC stocks in forests and logging sites has also received particular attention (Schulze and Freibauer 2005;Nave et al 2010;Schelker et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Ground vegetation, forest floor and mineral topsoil in a clear-cutting and reforested Scots pine stands of different ages: a case study

Gustienė

Varnagirytė–Kabašinskiene

Stakėnas

2021

J. For. Res.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

consequently decreased with stand age. Higher SOC levels were in the mature stand. In the mineral topsoil layers, total SOC and total nitrogen were in the upper 10-cm layer in the 30-year-old stand. A post-harvest peak in mineral N concentration was observed and other nutrients, especially mobile P 2 O 5 , K 2 O, Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ , increased the clear-cuttings and in the 10-year-old stand compared to the mature stand. KeywordsPinus sylvestris • Species cover • Richness • Soil organic carbon • Soil nutrients • Mature stand Project funding The project was funded by Ph.D. project "Peculiarities of reforestation in clear cuttings of Scots pine stands on nutrient poor sites" (2017-2023), implemented by the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry.

show abstract

Effect of clear-cutting on the understory vegetation, soil and diversity of litter beetles in scots pine-dominated forest

Cited by 11 publications

References 31 publications

Coppicing and topsoil removal promote diversity of dung‐inhabiting beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Geotrupidae, Staphylinidae) in forests

Coppicing and topsoil removal promote diversity of dung‐inhabiting beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Geotrupidae, Staphylinidae) in forests

Ground Vegetation in Pinus sylvestris Forests at Different Successional Stages following Clear Cuttings: A Case Study

Ground vegetation, forest floor and mineral topsoil in a clear-cutting and reforested Scots pine stands of different ages: a case study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About