Scale‐dependent effects of coppicing on the species pool of late successional beech forests in the central Apennines, Italy

Abstract

43Question: We study the effect of traditional coppicing and its abandonment on community 44 structure and plant diversity at various scales. The aim is to compare active and abandoned beech 45 coppices in terms of: (i) structural features (ii) total, understory and overstory plant diversity across 46 a range of spatial scales (iii) species richness of beech forest specialist species. 47Location: Monti Sibillini, Central Apennines, Italy. 48Methods: We applied a multiscale approach working in parallel at fine scale (individual 49 management units, 0.5-1 ha), and at coarser scale (the whole forest patch). Two forests patches 50were selected according to management regimes (active, 1-40 years, and abandoned coppicing, >40 51 years) in each of the two study areas (Bolognola and Ussita). Individual management units were 52 sampled with 400mq plots; each forest patch was represented by 20 plots arranged in grids. 53Results: We found significant differences in structural features between coppiced and abandoned 54 forests. At plot scale, only the number of beech forest specialist species was significantly higher in 55 abandoned plots. At the forest patch scale, the Bolognola actively coppiced forests hosts many more 56 species than the abandoned ones, but an opposite result was found at Ussita. The abandoned forests 57 show a constant higher beech forest specialist species richness at Ussita, while in Bolognola we 58 found just the opposite. The managed forests host more overstory species than abandoned ones in 59 both areas. Surprisingly the total beech forest specialist species richness was higher in the coppiced 60 plots with respect to the abandoned ones. The species assemblages were more similar between 61 patches having different management regimes within the same area, than between patches having 62 the same management regime across different areas. 63Conclusions: This material provides a novel contribution to the study of species diversity patterns 64 in this forest system, suggesting the importance of a multiple scale approach in forest diversity 65 studies. The beech forest specialist species can largely persist in a heterogeneous coppice landscape, 66 where abandoned stands are mixed with stands under a regular coppicing. The results can link the 67 existing knowledge of beech coppice diversity between landscape-and plot-scale, helping to 68 address new conservation planning. 69 70 71

Plant diversity changes in a nature reserve: a probabilistic sampling method for quantitative assessments

“…The management plan is devoted to protecting the natural processes that have been underway since the 1960s, when traditional management began to be abandoned, leading to natural succession. Previously, the grasslands had been managed as sheep-pastures, and forests had been coppiced with a rotation cycle of about 25 years (Campetella et al 2016).…”

Relationships between understory specialist species and local management practices in coppiced forests – Evidence from the Italian Apennines

“…Now, after ten years of ecological research in the same study area we investigated changes that have occurred in understory species composition, particularly of beech specialist species, because this specific pool of understory plants has proven to be a good indicator of the functional state of the forest (Bartha et al, 2008;Canullo et al, 2011;Campetella et al, , 2016Canullo et al, in press). …”

“…The coppice rotation time is usually short (about 15-30 years), and yet this regime of relatively intense disturbance appears to help preserve the system's plant biodiversity , including rare ground flora species of considerable conservation interest (Ash and Barkham, 1976;Hölscher et al, 2001;Decocq et al, 2004Decocq et al, , 2005Bartha et al, 2008;Kopecky et al, 2013). In particular, Campetella et al (2016) demonstrated that the functional group of late successional beech forest species (beech specialist species) can largely persists in a coppiced landscape.…”

“…Some ecological studies report a remarkable level of plant diversity in coppiced forests (15% of the Marche Region flora, according to Bartha et al, 2008, or 10%, according to Campetella et al, 2016 including beech forest specialist species of considerable conservation interest, and point to a certain relationship between plant diversity and management. While these studies indicate that the main factor influencing diversity seems to be the number of years since the last coppicing (Bartha et al, 2008;Canullo et al, 2011;Campetella et al, 2016;Mattioli et al, 2016), there is no clear understanding of how other management factors affect plant diversity, and in particular the contingent of beech specialist species which have been shown to be a good indicator of the functional state of the forest (Bartha et al, 2008;Garadnai et al, 2010;Campetella et al, 2016). There is also a lack of information on how other management factors relate to this critical rotational timeframe.…”

“…This study builds on previous research conducted on the ecological dimension of the coppicing system in the Marche Region (Bartha et al, 2008;Garadnai et al, 2010;Canullo et al, 2011;Campetella et al, 2016; in press) by adding a follow up survey of 57 plots to characterize temporal changes in vegetation and forest structure, a review of the administrative prescriptions regulating logging in the region and the way they are applied and enforced, as well as a semistructured social survey focusing on the economic/logistical and ecological variables affecting this system.…”