Quantifying the relative influence of terminal shoot browsing by ungulates on tree regeneration

Kupferschmid, Andrea D.; Bütikofer, Lukas; Hothorn, Torsten; Schwyzer, Andreas; Brang, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2019.05.009

Cited by 26 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 52 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Nevertheless, the unexpected abiotic drought conditions in 2015 (i.e., expected annual mean precipitation (EMP)/real annual mean precipitation (RMP): 610/430 mm) through to 2016 (i.e., EMP/RMP: 610/533 mm) calendar years (CHMI 2020) and the high air temperature events (2015 EMT/RMT: 7.5/10.4 °C; 2016 EMP/ RMP: 7.5/9.7 °C) coupled with the climatic history of very low air humidity in the region resulted in extreme evaporative conditions for regenerating species during vegetation period alongside the extreme browsing activities at the study site (Hammond & Pokorný 2020c) significantly influenced the high mortality among various natural regeneration tree species in gaps. Similar to our findings, many authors have cited the significant effects of browsing pressure (Dusan et al 2007;Vilhar et al 2015;Kupferschmid et al 2019) and drought conditions (Anderegg et al 2013;Sedmáková et al 2019) as major sources of tree mortality among species undergoing regeneration at temperate forests in East-Central Europe. Overall, our results also support the contention that natural beech forests in Central Europe are characterized by local biotic and abiotic events (Feldmann et al 2020).…”

Section: Dynamics Of Natural Regeneration In Gaps Under Three Distinct Parent Standssupporting

confidence: 90%

Gap regeneration and dynamics: the case study of mixed forests at Křtiny in the Czech Republic

Hammond

Pokorný

Dobrovolný

2021

Central European Forestry Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gap regeneration remains the best silviculture technique for sustainable forest regeneration in mixed forests. The study examined tree species composition, diversity and dynamics of natural regeneration in gaps under three contrasting forest stands at Křtiny in the Czech Republic. In spring 2013, experimental gap design begins, when semi-permanent 1 m2 circular sub-sampling plots along North-South-East-West transects were delineated under 6 selected natural canopy openings ≤ 20 m2. In winter 2013/14, these naturally originated openings were artificially enlarged to the current gap sizes ranging between 255 and 1149 m2 through group felling. Natural regeneration in gaps was measured four times: from the growing season before disturbance (BD) in 2013 to the next three consecutive growing seasons after disturbance in 2014 – 2016, respectively. Seven (7) new species with light demanding growth strategy that were previously not present at mother stands were occurring there during the first growing season after disturbance (FGS), yielding the highest taxa (14 species) and diversity (Shannon diversity index, H = 1.7) while BD attained the lowest (8 species; H = 0.9), respectively. Study site being part of Fagus sylvatica vegetation community and providing favorable natural conditions for the optimal growth of Picea abies significantly explains the regeneration dominance of these species in gap regeneration from BD until the third growing season after disturbance (TGS), respectively. Small scale gap-disturbance contributed to the higher regeneration densities of all studied species during FGS. However, drought, competition from other life forms, and browsing activities substantially caused a progressive decline in natural regeneration during three consecutive years after disturbance.

show abstract

Section: Dynamics Of Natural Regeneration In Gaps Under Three Distinct Parent Standssupporting

confidence: 90%

Gap regeneration and dynamics: the case study of mixed forests at Křtiny in the Czech Republic

Hammond

Pokorný

Dobrovolný

2021

Central European Forestry Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…( 2014 ) demonstrate the importance of disturbances for tree regeneration, and Kupferschmid et al. ( 2019 ) showed that browsing drastically affects regeneration success. Frei et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree recruitment is determined by stand structure and shade tolerance with uncertain role of climate and water relations

Käber

Meyer

Stillhard

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tree regeneration is a key process for long‐term forest dynamics, determining changes in species composition and shaping successional trajectories. While tree regeneration is a highly stochastic process, tree regeneration studies often cover narrow environmental gradients only, focusing on specific forest types or species in distinct regions. Thus, the larger‐scale effects of temperature, water availability, and stand structure on tree regeneration are poorly understood. We investigated these effects in respect of tree recruitment (in‐growth) along wide environmental gradients using forest inventory data from Flanders (Belgium), northwestern Germany, and Switzerland covering more than 40 tree species. We employed generalized linear mixed models to capture the abundance of tree recruitment in response to basal area, stem density, shade casting ability of a forest stand as well as site‐specific degree‐day sum (temperature), water balance, and plant‐available water holding capacity. We grouped tree species to facilitate comparisons between species with different levels of tolerance to shade and drought. Basal area and shade casting ability of the overstory had generally a negative impact on tree recruitment, but the effects differed between levels of shade tolerance of tree recruitment in all study regions. Recruitment rates of very shade‐tolerant species were positively affected by shade casting ability. Stem density and summer warmth (degree‐day sum) had similar effects on all tree species and successional strategies. Water‐related variables revealed a high degree of uncertainty and did not allow for general conclusions. All variables had similar effects independent of the varying diameter thresholds for tree recruitment in the different data sets. Synthesis: Shade tolerance and stand structure are the main drivers of tree recruitment along wide environmental gradients in temperate forests. Higher temperature generally increases tree recruitment rates, but the role of water relations and drought tolerance remains uncertain for tree recruitment on cross‐regional scales.

show abstract

“…According to our analysis of current regeneration as a function of intervention age, an intervention interval of ∼30 years is indicated to maintain a constant level of regeneration (see also Supplementary Material 4). This may, however, strongly be influenced by the prevailing browsing pressure (Cailleret et al, 2014;Kupferschmid et al, 2019). Additionally, large disturbances, such as fire, insect outbreaks or wind throw, are likely to become more frequent and/or severe with climate change and might have even more drastic effects on species composition and structure than the direct effects of climate change as analyzed in this study (Bebi et al, 2017;Seidl et al, 2017;Wohlgemuth et al, 2017;Taeroe et al, 2019).…”

Section: Generalization Of the Resultsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Climate Change Impacts the Protective Effect of Forests: A Case Study in Switzerland

Moos

Guisan

Randin

et al. 2021

Front. For. Glob. Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In steep terrain, forests play an important role as natural means of protection against natural hazards, such as rockfall. Due to climate warming, significant changes in the protection service of these forests have to be expected in future. Shifts of current to more drought adapted species may result in temporary or even irreversible losses in the reduction of rockfall risk provided by these forests. In this study, we assessed how the protective capacity against rockfall of a protection forest in the western part of the Valais in the Swiss Alps may change in future, by combining dynamic forest modelling with a quantitative risk analysis. Current and future forest development was modelled with the spatially explicit forest model TreeMig under a moderate (RCP4.5) and an extreme (RCP8.5) climate change scenario. The simulated forest scenarios were compared to ground-truth data from the current forest complex. We quantified the protective effect of the different forest scenarios based on the reduction of rockfall risk for people and infrastructure at the bottom of the slope. Rockfall risk was calculated on the basis of three-dimensional rockfall simulations. The forest simulations predicted a clear decrease in basal area of most of the currently occuring species (Fagus sylvatica, Picea abies, Larix decidua, and Abies alba) in future. The forest turned into a Quercus pubescens dominated forest, for both climate scenarios, mixed with Pinus sylvestris under RCP4.5. With climate warming, a clear increase in risk is expected for both climate change scenarios. In the long-term (>100 years), a stabilization of risk, or even a slight decline may be expected due to an increase in biomass of the trees. The results of this study further indicate that regular forest interventions may promote regeneration and thus accelerate the shift in species distribution. Future research should explore into more details the long-term effect of different adaptive forest management strategies on the protection service of forests under climate change.

show abstract

Quantifying the relative influence of terminal shoot browsing by ungulates on tree regeneration

Cited by 26 publications

References 52 publications

Gap regeneration and dynamics: the case study of mixed forests at Křtiny in the Czech Republic

Gap regeneration and dynamics: the case study of mixed forests at Křtiny in the Czech Republic

Tree recruitment is determined by stand structure and shade tolerance with uncertain role of climate and water relations

Climate Change Impacts the Protective Effect of Forests: A Case Study in Switzerland

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About