Effects of soil surface disturbances after logging on plant 
functional types

Gondard, Hélène; Deconchat, Marc

doi:10.1051/forest:2003066

Cited by 16 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Moreover, plant functional traits may be more important than abiotic factors to determine the species dynamics of the herbaceous community. A similar finding was obtained by Gondard and Deconchat [24].…”

Section: Species Richness and Species Profilesupporting

confidence: 77%

“…The functional traits may also be helpful to understand and predict the distribution and abundance of plant species in forest habitat [26,65]. Moreover some authors demonstrated a relation between functional traits and disturbance or management practices and assumed that there is a pattern of response according to the species traits [15,24,34]. Therefore the functional and compositional parts of the diversity are crucial for conservation purposes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Life traits and functional ecology have recently received attention [14,24,33,34,60,65]. The study of functional diversity in different ecosystems has to be emphasized because it plays an important role in ecosystem processes [15,60].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gaps promote plant diversity in beech forests (Luzulo-Fagetum), North Vosges, France

2005

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-Windstorms are major disturbance factors in temperate forests of Western Europe. With climatic changes those events are likely to become more frequent. The study of their impacts on plant communities is essential. Therefore our objective was to evaluate the differences of the plant community after the 1999 windstorm that blew down approximately 968 000 ha across France. This study took place in the North Vosges (36 800 ha destroyed). The differences in species diversity, resource requirements and functional plant traits were analysed, with floristic surveys, between undisturbed forest (10 plots) and gaps ranging from 250 m 2 and 1.8 ha (65 plots). The results showed a higher plant diversity in the gaps. This increase was mainly due to the presence of more light-requiring forest species and more species with high dispersal abilities (anemochorous or long-term persistent seedbank species). On the contrary, species with greater competitive abilities increased their cover and decreased the diversity. The other resource requirements were not modified in the gaps. This short-term study showed that functional traits and their interactions play a major role to determine the species composition in gaps, especially compared to the species requirements for the resources, except light. forest gaps / vegetation changes / species diversity / functional traits / Ellenberg indicator valuesRésumé -Les trouées favorisent la diversité végétale en hêtraie (Luzulo-Fagetum), dans les Vosges du Nord, France. Les tempêtes sont un facteur perturbateur principal des forêts tempérées d'Europe de l'Ouest. Suite aux changements climatiques, celles-ci deviennent de plus en plus fréquentes. Il apparaît essentiel de mieux comprendre leurs impacts sur les communautés végétales. Notre objectif était donc d'étudier les variations de la communauté végétale, en terme de diversité spécifique, d'exigences écologiques et de traits de vie des espèces. Cette étude fait suite à la tempête de 1999 ayant ravagé la France et provoqué des chablis massifs de l'ordre de 968 000 ha, dont 36 800 ha dans les Vosges du Nord. Des relevés de végétation ont été réalisés, dans une hêtraie des Vosges du Nord, dans 65 placettes au sein de trouées de 250 m 2 à 1,8 ha et dans 10 placettes sous forêt non perturbée. Les résultats ont mis en évidence une plus grande diversité végétale au sein des trouées. Cette augmentation résultait essentiellement d'une augmentation du nombre d'espèces forestières héliophiles (telles que les espèces de lisières) et d'espèces à grande capacité de dissémination (espèces anemochores ou à banque de graines permanente). Par contre, le recouvrement des espèces à plus grande capacité compétitrice augmente, ce qui provoque une diminution de la diversité. Les autres caractéristiques écologiques de la communauté végétale ont été peu modifiées par l'apparition des trouées. Cette étude à court terme a mis en évidence que la composition spécifique des trouées résulte essentiellement des traits fonctionnels et leur interaction, surtout en comp...

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Section: Species Richness and Species Profilesupporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gaps promote plant diversity in beech forests (Luzulo-Fagetum), North Vosges, France

2005

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“…In managed forests, harvesting as well as soil disturbance and compaction due to heavy machinery increase species diversity [8,9,12,30,55]. Schall [53], Glowienka [29] and Mrotzek et al [45] compared the vegetation along forest roads with the adjacent stands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most German forests are subdivided by dense forest road and track systems [5,17,25], of which the consequences are harvesting damage to stand and soil as well as area loss for timber production [3,17,62]. However, ecological aspects of skidding tracks on herb layer vegetation have hardly been considered [11,12,30]. Also net nitrogen mineralization which is an important factor in ecosystem functions [19] might be influenced along skidding tracks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen mineralization and vegetation along skidding tracks

Ebrecht

Schmidt

2003

Ann. For. Sci.

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-Forest management requires a dense forest road system which combines truck roads and skidding tracks. However, harvesting machines cause damage to forest stands and soils. The aim of this study is to examine the consequences skidding tracks have on net nitrogen mineralization and vegetation composition compared to adjacent forest stands. A beech forest on limestone as well as beech and Norway spruce forests on acidic soils were investigated in south Lower Saxony, Germany. Along the wheel tracks the net nitrogen mineralization is markedly reduced compared to the undisturbed stands. Although nitrogen mineralization is found to be low especially along the wheel tracks, ruderal plants with high nitrogen indicator values have established themselves. Along the skidding tracks, numerous species from fringe and ruderal communities, grasslands and wet sites occur while the stands are dominated by typical forest plant species. Therefore, species diversity is higher along the skidding tracks than in the adjacent stands.

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