The Short-Term Effects of Experimental Forestry Treatments on Site Conditions in an Oak–Hornbeam Forest

Kovács, Bence; Tinya, Flóra; Guba, Erika; Németh, Csaba; Sass, Vivien; Bidló, András; Odór, Péter

doi:10.3390/f9070406

Cited by 23 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 96 publications

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“…Soils are slightly acidic (pH of the 0-20 cm layer is 4.6 AE 0.2). The soil types are Luvisols (mainly brown forest soil with clay illuviation) and Rendzic Leptosol (for further information, see Kov acs et al 2018).…”

Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Unfolding the effects of different forestry treatments on microclimate in oak forests: results of a 4‐yr experiment

Kovács

Tinya

Németh

et al. 2020

Ecological Applications

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165

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A stable below‐canopy microclimate of forests is essential for their biodiversity and ecosystem functionality. Forest management necessarily modifies the buffering capacity of woodlands. However, the specific effects of different forestry treatments on site conditions, the temporal recovery after the harvests, and the reason for the contrasts between treatments are still poorly understood. The effects of four different forestry treatments (clear‐cutting, retention tree group, preparation cutting, and gap‐cutting) on microclimatic variables were studied within a field experiment in a managed oak‐dominated stand in Hungary, before (2014) and after (2015–2017) the interventions by complete block design with six replicates. From the first post‐treatment year, clear‐cuts differed the most from the uncut control due to the increased irradiance and heat load. Means and variability of air and soil temperature increased, air became dryer along with higher soil moisture levels. Retention tree groups could effectively ameliorate the extreme temperatures but not the mean values. Preparation cutting induced slight changes from the original buffered and humid forest microclimate. Despite the substantially more incoming light, gap‐cutting could retain the cool and humid air conditions and showed the highest increase in soil moisture after the interventions. For most microclimate variables, we could not observe any obvious trend within 3 yr. However, soil temperature variability decreased with time in clear‐cuts, while soil moisture difference continuously increased in gap‐ and clear‐cuts. Based on multivariate analyses, the treatments separated significantly based mainly on the temperature maxima and variability. We found that (1) the effect sizes among treatment levels were consistent throughout the years, (2) the climatic recovery time for variables appears to be far more than 3 yr, and (3) the applied silvicultural methods diverged mainly among the temperature maxima. Based on our study, the spatially heterogeneous and fine‐scaled treatments of continuous cover forestry (gap‐cutting, selection systems) are recommended. By applying these practices, the essential structural elements creating buffered microclimate could be more successfully maintained. Thus, forestry interventions could induce less pronounced alterations in environmental conditions for forest‐dwelling organism groups.

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Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Unfolding the effects of different forestry treatments on microclimate in oak forests: results of a 4‐yr experiment

Kovács

Tinya

Németh

et al. 2020

Ecological Applications

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165

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“…Average annual mean temperature is 9.0-9.5°C, with a mean annual precipitation of 600-650 mm (Dövényi 2010). The bedrock is limestone and sandstone with loess, the most common soil type is lessivage brown forest soil (luvisol), which is slightly acidic (pH of the top 20 cm layer between 4.2-5.3, Kovács et al 2018). The study site is situated in a managed sessile oak-hornbeam forest stand (Natura 2000 code: 91G0, Council 1992), with homogeneous site conditions.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial understory response to experimental silvicultural treatments in a temperate oak-dominated forest

et al. 2018

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“…Average annual mean temperature is 9.0-9.5°C with a mean annual precipitation of 600-650 mm (Dövényi, 2010). The bedrock is limestone and sandstone with loess, the most common soil type is lessivage brown forest soil (luvisol in FAO soil classification), which is acidic (pH of the 0-20 cm layer is 4.6±0.2, Kovács et al, 2018). The site was situated in a managed sessile oak-hornbeam forest stand (Natura 2000code: 91G0, European Commission, 1992.…”

Section: Site Description and Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two years after the implementation (in 2016), considerable changes in the microclimate of the harvested plots were observed (Table 1. and Supplementary Material Table S1., for detailed analysis see Kovács et al, 2018).…”

Section: Site Description and Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Green tree retention enhances negative short-term effects of clear-cutting on enchytraeid assemblages in a temperate forest

Boros

Kovács

Odór

2019

Applied Soil Ecology

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We studied the response of enchytraeid (Annelida: Oligochaeta) community structure to different forest management treatments via an open-field forestry experiment in a managed sessile oakhornbeam forest in Hungary. The applied forestry treatments were 1) clear-cutting 2) clear 2 cutting with a small patch of retention tree group, 3) gap-cutting, 4) preparation cutting and 5) control (closed mature stand). Our questions were: how did the selected forestry treatments influence the abundance and species richness of enchytraeids two years after the intervention, and how could the worms compensate the altered environmental conditions by vertical movements in topsoil layers (0-12 cm). The effects of the treatments on the species composition of the assemblages and species-specific responses were also analysed. Two years after the treatments, a strong response of enchytraeids was observed in clear-cutting and even more in retention tree group: in both treatments the abundance and the species richness of enchytraeids were reduced. Species did not show vertical movements into deeper layers and were not able to tolerate the altered soil conditions caused by changed microclimate. Gap-cutting and preparation cutting did not differ significantly from control plots. Our study showed that right after the interventions tree retention at the size of one tree height in diameter had no sheltering effect on this important soil decomposer animal community. These results are in contrast with earlier findings in boreal zones, where soil organic layer is considered a well buffered habitat against environmental changes. Oppositely, enchytraeid assemblages in a temperate deciduous forest are more diverse but seem more vulnerable to management-related alterations in soil conditions (soil temperate increment, reduced soil moisture).

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The Short-Term Effects of Experimental Forestry Treatments on Site Conditions in an Oak–Hornbeam Forest

Cited by 23 publications

References 96 publications

Unfolding the effects of different forestry treatments on microclimate in oak forests: results of a 4‐yr experiment

Unfolding the effects of different forestry treatments on microclimate in oak forests: results of a 4‐yr experiment

Initial understory response to experimental silvicultural treatments in a temperate oak-dominated forest

Green tree retention enhances negative short-term effects of clear-cutting on enchytraeid assemblages in a temperate forest

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