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Articles containing the keyword 'microsite'

Category : Research article

article id 23004, category Research article

Per Nordin, Erika Olofsson, Karin Hjelm. (2023). Within-site adaptation: growth and mortality of Norway spruce, Scots pine and silver birch seedlings in different planting positions across a soil moisture gradient. Silva Fennica vol. 57 no. 3 article id 23004. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.23004

Keywords: regeneration; microsite; decision making; mounding; planting; depth-to-water

Highlights: A soil moisture map could be used to support the choice of planting position for different soil moisture conditions; Mounds reduced mortality rates for conifers when conditions were wet, but at drier conditions differences between planting positions were small; Contradictory, silver birch had higher survival in lower planting positions compared with mounds; Height and diameter were higher in mounds for conifers, but only small differences occurred between planting positions for silver birch.

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Adapting to site conditions is a central part of forest regeneration and can be done through selection of different planting positions. Requirements are tree species specific, and the use of soil moisture maps could be a way to support decision making in forest regeneration planning. At two experimental sites with varying soil moisture conditions in southern Sweden Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), and silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) seedlings were planted in four different planting positions following mounding site preparation; Depression, Hinge, Mound and Unscarified. Soil moisture estimates were obtained from a high-resolution depth-to-water raster for each planting spot. The effect of soil moisture, planting position and their interactions on mortality, height and diameter was evaluated for each tree species. In wet conditions mounds proved to be the best option to minimize seedling mortality for conifers, but with decreasing soil moisture, differences between the planting positions decreased. Birch on the other hand had the greatest survival in the hinge. The coniferous species displayed increased height and diameter when planted in mounds independent of the soil moisture conditions, whereas silver birch was less dependent on a specific planting position. Results from this study shows that a soil moisture map can explain mortality, height and diameter and thus can be a useful tool when choosing planting position in different soil moisture conditions.

Nordin, pcSKOG, Grisslevägen 15, 227 32 Lund, Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2156-6615 E-mail: per.nordin@skogforsk.se
Olofsson, Linnaeus University, Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, 351 95 Växjö, Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5844-6775 E-mail: erika.olofsson@lnu.se
Hjelm, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Box 190, 234 22 Lomma, Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6144-8250 E-mail: karin.hjelm@slu.se

article id 89, category Research article

Russell Grenfell, Tuomas Aakala, Timo Kuuluvainen. (2011). Microsite occupancy and the spatial structure of understorey regeneration in three late-successional Norway spruce forests in northern Europe. Silva Fennica vol. 45 no. 5 article id 89. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.89

Keywords: boreal forest; disturbance; microsite; spatial correlation; stand structure; natural forest

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We compared microsite occupancy and three spatial structure of regeneration in three primeval late-successional Norway spruce dominated forests. One area lay in the middle boreal zone in Russia (Dvina-Pinega) where larger-scale disturbance from bark beetles and drought had occurred; the other areas lay in the northern boreal zone, one in Finland (Pallas-Ylläs) had encountered only small-scale disturbance, and one in Russia (Kazkim) had been influenced by fire. We mapped all spruce (Picea abies) and birch (Betula pendula and Betula pubescens) trees with diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 10 cm on 40 m 400 m plots, and those with DBH < 10 cm on 2 m or 4 m 400 m subplots. On the subplots we also recorded microsite occupancy and estimated microsite availability. At all study areas small seedlings (h < 0.3 m) of both spruce and birch were found largely on disturbance-related microsites. Birch saplings (h ≥ 1.3 m, DBH < 10 cm) disproportionately occupied deadwood-related microsites at Dvina-Pinega. In contrast, spruce saplings at all study areas, and birch saplings at Kazkim and Pallas-Ylläs, showed less, or no, preference. Our results thus confirm the importance of disturbance-related microsites for regeneration establishment, but not necessarily for long-term survival. No spatial segregation between the overstorey (DBH ≥ 10 cm) and saplings (h ≥ 1.3 m, DBH < 10 cm) or seedlings (h < 1.3 m) was found at Pallas-Ylläs or Kazkim, and only three instances of very weak segregation were found at Dvina-Pinega. This suggests that the regeneration gap concept may not be useful for describing the regeneration dynamics of primeval boreal forests.

Grenfell, University of Helsinki, Dept of Forest Sciences, Helsinki, Finland E-mail: russell.grenfell@helsinki.fi
Aakala, University of Helsinki, Dept of Forest Sciences, Helsinki, Finland E-mail: ta@nn.fi
Kuuluvainen, University of Helsinki, Dept of Forest Sciences, Helsinki, Finland E-mail: tk@nn.fi

article id 87, category Research article

Radek Bace, Miroslav Svoboda, Pavel Janda. (2011). Density and height structure of seedlings in subalpine spruce forests of Central Europe: logs vs. stumps as a favourable substrate. Silva Fennica vol. 45 no. 5 article id 87. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.87

Keywords: Norway spruce; Picea abies; coarse woody debris; microsite; natural regeneration

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Decaying logs and stumps provide an important seedling substrate in natural subalpine forests. However, only stumps present such a role in managed forests. The aim of this study was to assess the differences in the process of seedling colonization between logs and stumps. The study was carried out in the Czech Republic, in two old-growth subalpine spruce forests located in the Bohemian Forest and Ash Mts., dominated by Athyrium distentifolium Opiz and Vaccinium myrtillus L. undergrowth, respectively. Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) regeneration growing on logs, stumps and non-coarse woody debris (CWD) microsites was surveyed. Regeneration (height 0–2.0 m) densities exceeded 5000 individuals per ha on both sites. The average density of P. abies regeneration per square meter of substrate was 0.3-5.7-19.6 and 0.5-3.8-11.0 on non-CWD microsites, logs and stumps, located in A. distentifolium and V. myrtillus undergrowth, respectively. Stumps and non-CWD microsites dominated by V. myrtillus, supported a higher proportion of taller seedlings per plot compared to the small seedlings growing on logs and non-CWD dominated by A. distentifolium ground-cover. The disproportion in regeneration densities between the stumps and the original logs decreased with increasing stages of decay. The tallest regeneration growing on stumps (root-soil plates) was significantly older than that growing on the logs (stems). Based on these two latter findings, the stumps appeared to provide suitable seedling substrates several years earlier than the logs did. Therefore, we conclude that the stumps play a more important role (relative to their covered area, 21–28 m² ha^–1) in terms of suitable microsites for regeneration, than the logs do.

Bace, Czech University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic E-mail: bace@fld.czu.cz
Svoboda, Czech University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic E-mail: ms@nn.cz
Janda, Czech University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic E-mail: pv@nn.cz

article id 307, category Research article

Jacqueline C. Bolli, Andreas Rigling, Harald Bugmann. (2007). The influence of changes in climate and land-use on regeneration dynamics of Norway spruce at the treeline in the Swiss Alps. Silva Fennica vol. 41 no. 1 article id 307. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.307

Keywords: tree growth; dendroecology; microsites; subalpine meadow succession; tree invasion

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Recent changes of climate and land-use are often regarded to affect the European Alpine region substantially and to trigger an increase in the elevation of the upper treeline. The patterns of tree invasion on a subalpine meadow at 1900 m a.s.l. in Sedrun, Canton Grisons, Switzerland, were studied in order 1) to reconstruct the process of tree establishment and tree–growth dynamics in space and time, and 2) to evaluate the influence of site properties, land-use change and climate on these processes. Dendroecological analysis of 105 Norway spruce combined with an assessment of 48 vegetation plots and 17 soil profiles revealed that the trees were established in one main period (1965–1980s), starting 15 years after the abandonment of the agricultural use of the meadow, and that there is a pronounced environmental gradient along the forest-meadow ecotone. Tree establishment and height growth were favoured close to the former forest edge, but all saplings irrespective of their distance to the forest edge and their age showed increased radial growth since 1990, coinciding with a period of higher summer temperatures in the region. Therefore, we conclude that the observed tree-line dynamics in Sedrun are the result of both land-use and climate change: Tree establishment was triggered by the abandonment of the agricultural use of the meadow, and strongly favoured by particularly good growing conditions in a warm decade, which illustrates the sensitivity of conifers near the alpine tree-line to temperature fluctuations.

Bolli, Swiss Federal Research Institute, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland E-mail: jacqueline.bolli@wsl.ch
Rigling, Swiss Federal Research Institute, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland E-mail: ar@nn.ch
Bugmann, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich, Universitätstrasse 16, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland E-mail: hb@nn.ch

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