The estimation of aboveground biomass and nutrient pools of understorey plants in closed Norway spruce forests and on clearcuts

Heinrichs, Steffi; Bernhardt‐Römermann, Markus; Schmidt, Wolfgang

doi:10.1007/s10342-010-0362-7

Cited by 23 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…To estimate understorey biomass, the mean shoot length of each species with a cover higher than 5% was additionally recorded. For each of these species, shoot lengths were measured on five randomly selected individuals by elongating the shoots as described in Heinrichs, Bernhardt‐Römermann, and Schmidt (). From the three species with the highest abundances, a subsample of the non‐woody above‐ground biomass was taken for nutrient analyses.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Total understorey biomass was estimated non‐destructively via the PhytoCalc model (Bolte, Czajkowski, Bielefeldt, Wolff, & Heinrichs, ; Heinrichs et al, ), comprising allometric equations to estimate biomass based on cover and shoot length data (Equation ). The coefficients of these allometric equations ( a g , b g and c g ) were calibrated and validated for 13 morphological growth forms and eight tree and shrub species commonly found in the understorey of temperate forests (Bolte et al, ; Heinrichs et al, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Drivers of above‐ground understorey biomass and nutrient stocks in temperate deciduous forests

et al. 2019

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1. The understorey in temperate forests can play an important functional role, depending on its biomass and functional characteristics. While it is known that local soil and stand characteristics largely determine the biomass of the understorey, less is known about the role of global change. Global change can directly affect understorey biomass, but also indirectly by modifying the overstorey, local resource availability and growing conditions at the forest floor.2. In this observational study across Europe, we aim at disentangling the impact of global-change drivers on understorey biomass and nutrient stocks, from the impact of overstorey characteristics and local site conditions. Using piecewise structural equation modelling, we determine the main drivers of understorey biomass and nutrient stocks in these forests and examine potential direct and indirect effects of global-change drivers.3. Tree cover, tree litter quality and differences in former land use were the main drivers of understorey biomass and nutrient stocks, via their influence on understorey light and nitrogen availability and soil acidity. Other global-change drivers, including climate and nitrogen deposition, had similar indirect effects, but these were either weak or only affecting nutrient concentrations, not stocks. 4. Synthesis. We found that direct effects of global-change drivers on understorey biomass and nutrient stocks were absent. The indirect effects of global change, | 983Journal of Ecology LANDUYT eT AL.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of above‐ground understorey biomass and nutrient stocks in temperate deciduous forests

et al. 2019

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“…This is in line with a broad-scale vegetation assessment at the same sites and in the same years published by Heinrichs and Schmidt (2009). We estimated the above-ground dry mass and the concentration of main nutritional elements of each ground vegetation species using the model PhytoCalc (Bolte et al 2002), amended by correction factors of Heinrichs et al (2010). PhytoCalc allows a non-destructive estimation of dry mass and nutrient content of ground vegetation by using the relationship between species biomass, cover and mean shoot length.…”

Section: Ground Vegetation Assessmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…PhytoCalc allows a non-destructive estimation of dry mass and nutrient content of ground vegetation by using the relationship between species biomass, cover and mean shoot length. It was initially developed for closed forests, but the correction factor of Heinrichs et al (2010) made it applicable also to clear cut areas. Finally, total dry mass and total content of nutrients per square meter were obtained as sums across the species.…”

Section: Ground Vegetation Assessmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of planted beech (Fagus sylvaticaL.) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii(Mirb.) Franco) saplings to herbaceous and small shrubs control on clearcuts

Petriţan

Lüpke

Petriţan

2012

Journal of Forest Research

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Response of planted beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) saplings to herbaceous and small shrubs control on clearcuts Ion Catalin Petriţan • Burghard von Lüpke • Any Mary Petriţan Abstract The reaction of young beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) saplings on competition of two types of vegetation-(1) gramineous with mainly Agrostis capillaries, Calamagrostis epigejos, Deschampsia flexuosa, and (2) small shrubs with mainly Rubus fruticosus and R. idaeus-on clear cuts on two sites was studied for 2 years. Half the sample saplings were released from competing vegetation by repeated herbicide applications. This treatment significantly raised the diameter increment in both species at the site with higher competition intensity, and more strongly after the removal of small shrubs than after the removal of grasses. Sapling length increment was not significantly affected. After being released from small shrubs, saplings of both species developed a smaller specific fine root length (cm g -1 fine root biomass) than unreleased saplings during the second year which was characterized by low rainfall. Root nitrogen concentration significantly increased after weed control in both vegetation types. Sapling foliar content of main nutritional elements was negatively related to dry mass and total chemical content of surrounding ground vegetation. Based on these results, a release from ground vegetation could be a useful tool to improve growth of planted beech and Douglas-fir saplings on sites with welldeveloped small shrubs competition (mainly by Rubus fruticosus and R. idaeus), or under fairly dry conditions.

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“…Total herb layer (THL) cover is estimated in many NFIs (Tomppo et al 2010;Chirici et al 2011) and methods exist to estimate plant biomass based on their cover (e.g. Welch et al 2007;Schulze et al 2009;Heinrichs et al 2010). However, these methods require cover estimates of individual morphological groups and height estimates (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extending harmonized national forest inventory herb layer vegetation cover observations to derive comprehensive biomass estimates

Didion

2020

For. Ecosyst.

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Background: National forest inventories (NFI) have a long history providing data to obtain nationally representative and accurate estimates of growing stock. Today, in most NFIs additional data are collected to provide information on a range of forest ecosystem functions such as biodiversity, habitat, nutrient and carbon dynamics. An important driver of nutrient and C cycling is decomposing biomass produced by forest vegetation. Several studies have demonstrated that understory vegetation, particularly annual plant litter of the herb layer can contribute significantly to nutrient and C cycling in forests. A methodology to obtain comprehensive, consistent and nationally representative estimates of herb layer biomass on NFI plots could provide added value to NFIs by complementing the existing strong basis of biomass estimates of the tree and tall shrub layer. The study was based on data from the Swiss NFI since it covers a large environmental gradient, which extends its applicability to other NFIs. Results: Based on data from 405 measurements in nine forest strata, a parsimonious model formulation was identified to predict total and non-ligneous herb layer biomass. Besides herb layer cover, elevation was the main statistically significant explanatory variable for biomass. The regression models accurately predicted biomass based on absolute percentage cover (for total biomass: R 2 = 0.65, p = 0; for non-ligneous biomass: R 2 = 0.76; p = 0) as well as on cover classes (R 2 = 0.83; p = 0; and R 2 = 0.79, p = 0), which are typically used in NFIs. The good performance was supported by the verification with data from repeated samples. For the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Swiss NFI estimates of non-ligneous above-ground herb layer biomass 586.6 ± 7.7, 575.2 ± 7.6, and 586.7 ± 7.9 kg•ha − 1 , respectively. Conclusions: The study presents a methodology to obtain herb layer biomass estimates based on a harmonized and standardized attribute available in many NFIs. The result of this study was a parsimonious model requiring only elevation data of sample plots in addition to NFI cover estimates to provide unbiased estimates at the national scale. These qualities are particularly important as they ensure accurate, consistent, and comparable results.

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The estimation of aboveground biomass and nutrient pools of understorey plants in closed Norway spruce forests and on clearcuts

Cited by 23 publications

References 47 publications

Drivers of above‐ground understorey biomass and nutrient stocks in temperate deciduous forests

Drivers of above‐ground understorey biomass and nutrient stocks in temperate deciduous forests

Response of planted beech (Fagus sylvaticaL.) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii(Mirb.) Franco) saplings to herbaceous and small shrubs control on clearcuts

Extending harmonized national forest inventory herb layer vegetation cover observations to derive comprehensive biomass estimates

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