The vascular plant colonization on decaying Picea abies logs in Karkonosze mountain forest belts: the effects of forest community type, cryptogam cover, log decomposition and forest management

Abstract

Among the vascular plants there is a lack of the typical epixylous species but they are a constant component on decaying wood. Their distribution patterns on this kind of substrate seem to be the least known among phototrophs. A total of 454 dead logs of Picea abies were analyzed with regard to cover of vascular plants and the independent morphometric features of logs and altitude. Four types of forest were compared, and the frequency and cover of the most frequent species were analyzed across the forest communities along the decomposition stage. Among the logs that were studied, 292 were colonized by vascular plants. The highest number of colonized logs was recorded in Calamagrostio villosae-Piceetum and the lowest in a deciduous beech forest of the Fagetalia order. Detrended correspondence analysis revealed that the dead logs occurring in the four forest communities differed significantly in species composition. Constrained correspondence analysis showed that six variables significantly explained the species variation, i.e., altitude, shade, moisture, decomposition stage, cover of bryophytes and status of forest (protected vs. managed). The results of the indicator value method indicated that of the 34 found species, ten could be treated as indicator species for the forest communities that were analyzed. The statistical analysis did not confirm significant role of coarse woody debris as a secondary habitat for rare and protected vascular plants.

Ecological Factors Influencing Norway Spruce Regeneration on Nurse Logs in a Subalpine Virgin Forest

“…These microsites appear to provide all requirements for germination and early establishment. Similarly, seedling density was highest on logs of medium-decayed Norway spruce logs in the Bohemian Forest [23] and in the Polish Karkonosze Mountains [18]. In our study, seedlings were found preferentially on plots of decay stages 3 and 4, but both stages were found to be equally suitable for seedlings.…”

“…This is consistent with Iijima et al [40] who found that the presence of moss does not affect the survival of one-year old regeneration of Picea jezoensis on fallen logs. Nevertheless, the colonization of downed logs also depends on the microsite, as other studies found intermediate decay stages to be most suitable for seedling colonization [18].…”

“…Many studies in boreal and temperate forests have confirmed the important role of CWD in tree population dynamics, e.g., for high-elevation forests in Switzerland [10], the Carpathian Mountains in Poland [11,12], the Czech Republic [7], Scandinavia [13], the Colorado Rocky Mountains [14], Canadian forests [15], and the Japanese Taisetu Mountains [8,16]. Most studies have compared regeneration on CWD with regeneration on other microsites (e.g., mineral soil), evaluating predictor variables such as log diameter [8] and length [17], area of log surface [18], or log age/time after tree death and/or decay stage [11,17,19] to evaluate the substrate preference of tree regeneration. Others have evaluated the importance of environmental factors like canopy openness [20] and altitude [21], but only few attempts have been made to assess both log characteristics and the environmental conditions that are decisive for regeneration on the nurse logs themselves.…”

What factors influence colonization of lichens, liverworts, mosses and vascular plants on snags?

“…); a lower forest montane zone (500-1000 m), which includes patches of a fir-spruce mixed coniferous forest, the Abieti-Piceetum community; mixture of acidophilus beech forest i.e. the Luzulo luzuloidis-Fagetum community, and a fertile beech forest, the Dentario enneaphylli-Fagetum association (order Fagetalia) and planted Picea abies forest; an upper forest montane zone (1000-1250 m), where a subalpine reedgrass spruce forest -Calamagrostio villosae-Piceetum occurs (Staniaszek-Kik et al 2016;Chmura et al 2016). In total 180 study plots (10 m × 10 m) were randomly established within occurring types of forests.…”

Historical ethnopharmacology of the herbalists from Krummhübel in the Sudety Mountains (seventeenth to nineteenth century), Silesia

“…erythraea , Verbascum densiflorum Bertol., Carum carvi L., Trigonella foenum-graecum L., Valeriana officinalis L., Achillea millefolium L., Linum usitatissimum L., Alcea rosea L. var. nigra Cav., Taraxacum spp., Calendula officinalis L., Althaea officinalis L., Polygonum aviculare L., Rosa canina L., Ruta graveolens L., Salvia officinalis L. and Thymus pulegioides L. Shrubs were also popular: Viburnum opulus L. and Sambucus nigra L. The most widespread plant, used for the production of many medicines, was Digitalis purpurea L., which still commonly grows on the slopes of the Sudety Mountains [23, 25, 32–34]. The other most popular plants used to manufacture medicaments were Carlina acaulis L. , Primula elatior (L.) Hill, Arnica montana L., Lilium martagon L., Rhodiola rosea L. and Crocus sp., i.e.…”