The changes of the forest environment and biodiversity in a Norway spruce ecosystem with clearcutting regeneration on the original beech site

Abstract

The subject of the Rájec project (the Drahanská vysočina Upland) consists in the analysis of eco­lo­gi­cal impacts of intensive management in spruce monocultures growing on original sites of beech. Long-term studies were aimed at particular stand and environment stages after clear-felling regeneration and at the origin of a spruce monoculture of the 2nd generation. The establishment of the spruce monoculture can be considered to be most important. The highest attention was paid to the monoculture both from the aspect of carbon and nitrogen in particular components of the forest stand and their transport processes as well as from the aspect of water regime and biodiversity. The study was also aimed at the first stage of the clear-felled area development after felling a mature stand and also at functions of the herb vegetation, which reached its maximum production 4 to 7 years after felling. The paper objective was to assess spruce monocultures even outside their natural range from the aspect of changes in the forest environment as well as from the aspect of possible global changes of climate.

Comparison of soil and seepage water properties in the limed and not-limed spruce forest stands in the Beskydy Mts.

“…Calcium is being exhausted from the surface soil horizons more rapidly under shallow rooted trees including Norway spruce (Dijkstra, Smits 2002, Berger et al 2006 but spruce monocultures have been grown, from economical reasons, at many places throughout the Czech Republic already in the second generation (Tesař, Klimo 2004, Balcar et al 2008. Methods of harvesting, when not only stems but also branches with assimilatory organs are removed from the forest, contribute to lowering the content of base cations in forest soils (Rothe et al 2002, Klimo et al 2010. The new aims of forest liming were newly formulated as follows (see e.g.…”