Effects of flood interruption on species richness, diversity and floristic composition of woody regeneration in the Upper Rhine alluvial hardwood forest

Abstract

Regulation works in the Upper Rhine carried out since the 19th century have drastically modified the floodplain forest ecosystem in the Alsace Plain. These works have disconnected the largest part of the riparian forest from the river and interrupted the flooding. This study aims at assessing the effects of the flood interruption on woody regeneration in three hardwood stands: one still liable to flooding, the second one unflooded for 30 years and the third one unflooded for 130 years. Fieldwork was carried out to determine the species richness of seed rain, seed bank and extant vegetation of the regeneration understorey. The potential species richness was calculated using the first-order jackknife estimator. In addition, floristic composition and diversity indices of extant vegetation were calculated. Results show that species richness of the seed bank is lower than seed rain and extant vegetation. The species richness of the extant vegetation increases with the duration of interruption of the floods in the Rhine forest as a result of introduction of flood-intolerant species in the unflooded forest. Although species richness of the extant vegetation was the lowest in the flooded site, Shannon -Weaver diversity and equitability were found to be the highest, because the disturbance caused by floods allows a more equal coexistence of several species. Conversely, in the unflooded sites, a small number of species represent most of the woody individuals of the regeneration phase. Implications of flood restoration on species richness and diversity of the regeneration compartment are discussed.

Impacts of large dams on riparian vegetation: applying global experience to the case of China’s Three Gorges Dam

“…This can alter local climate through the "lake eVect", result in new sedimentation processes leading to changing landforms, aVect the nutrient composition of both aquatic and terrestrial environments and create island habitats and habitat fragmentation. Damming results in signiWcant changes in shoreline vegetation through aVecting diversity and composition of plant communities as well as altering structural patterns (Obat 1986;Nilsson and Jansson 1995;Jansson et al 2000;Deiller et al 2001;Ali 2006;Wintle and Kirkpatrick 2007). However, it remains diYcult to predict the precise impacts of damming since rivers all exhibit individual Xow patterns and have diVerent surrounding environments.…”

Soil seed banks of two montane riparian areas: implications for restoration

“…Many buried seeds have long viability, and those that are not killed by pathogens or granivores, or removed by physical forces such as flood waters, remain dormant until the development of suitable germination conditions in terms of water, temperature, and light (Baskin and Baskin 1998). Seed bank replenishment processes vary between ecoregions and stream types, as do the fraction of species that rely on the seed bank versus other regeneration sources such as on-going seed rain (Deiller et al 2001). Soil seed banks are likely to be larger, and to be a primary source of regeneration source for vegetation, where disturbance is frequent (Holzel and Otte 2001).…”

Evaluating the Competition of Lignocellulose Raw Materials for their Use in Particleboard Production, Thermal Energy Recovery, and Pulp- and Papermaking

“…(Bray 1963;Kramer et al 1988;Paavilainen and Torgilsson 1994;Syrjanen et al 1994;Nurmi 1997;Lässig and Močalov 2000;Schulze et al 2002;Stener and Hedenberg 2003;Matthews and Mackie 2006;Wagenführ 2007;Kaltschmitt et al 2009;Sernek et al 2010;Günther et al 2012;Karl 2012;Viöl et al 2012;EngineeringToolBox 2013;PaperonWeb 2013) Alnus glutinosa (Kramer et al 1988;Nurmi 1997;Johansson 2000;Schulze et al 2002;Mohammed-Ziegler et al 2004;Wagenführ 2007;Kaltschmitt et al 2009;Kiaei and Samariha 2011;Karl 2012) Populus spp. (Boehme and Hora 1996;Diamantidis and Koukios 2000;Barsoum 2001;Deiller et al 2001;Benetka et al 2002;Laureysens et al 2003;Helle and Schleser 2004;Matthews and Mackie 2006;Rutz et al 2006;Wagenführ 2007;Trnka et al 2008;Kaltschmitt et al 2009;Petrič et al 2009;Sernek et al 2010;Ráhel' et al 2011;Karampinis et al 2012;Karl 2012;...…”

“…(Wilén et al 1996;Labrecque et al 1997;Bungart et al 2000;Diamantidis and Koukios 2000;Lässig and Močalov 2000;Barsoum 2001;Deiller et al 2001;Rutz et al 2006;Wagenführ 2007;Wilkinson et al 2007;Bridgeman et al 2008;Woods 2008;Kaltschmitt et al 2009;Kord and Kord 2011;Buček et al 2012;Karampinis et al 2012;Karl 2012;EngineeringToolBox 2013) Fraxinus excelsior (Bray 1963;Kramer et al 1988;Neirynck et al 2000;Deiller et al 2001;Mohammed-Ziegler et al 2004;Ritter et al 2005;Matthews and Mackie 2006;Petritan et al 2007;Wagenführ 2007;Kaltschmitt et al 2009;Vitasse et al 2009;Kiaei and Samariha 2011;Karl 2012) Fagus sylvatica (Bray 1963;Kramer et al 1988;Hasler et al 1994;Boehme and Hora 1996;Neirynck et al 2000;Helle and Schleser 2004;Ritter et al 2005;Petritan et al 2007;Wagenführ 2007;Kaltschmitt et al 2009;Vitasse et al 2009;Karl 2012 Ac...…”