Part VII.1: Assessment of Ground Vegetation.

This part of the Manual aims at providing a consistent methodology to collect high quality, harmonized and comparable forest ground vegetation data at selected UN/ECE ICP Forestsmonitoring plots. Harmonization of procedures is essential to enhance comparability of forest ground vegetation data. To have their data used in the international database and evaluations, National Focal Centres and their scientific partners participating to the UN/ECE ICP Forests programme should follow the methods described here

Interspecific comparisons of C\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e turfgrass for tennis use: I. Wear tolerance and carrying capacity under actual match play

Previous studies in the evaluation of wear tolerance have been conducted using wear simulators. Research to investigate wear tolerance of C3 turfgrasses under actual playing conditions and their carrying capacity is limited. Three grass tennis courts (replicates) maintained as official size (single) courts were constructed. Eight species and cultivars were randomized within the three courts (blocks): (1) ‘Keeneland’ Kentucky bluegrass (KB, Poa pratensis L.), (2) ‘Rubix’ KB, (3) ‘Villa’ velvet bentgrass (VBG, Agrostis canina L.), (4) ‘Puritan’ colonial bentgrass (CL, Agrostis capillaris L.), (5) ‘007’ creeping bentgrass (CB, Agrostis stolonifera L.), (6) fine fescue (FF, Festuca spp.) mixture, (7) ‘Karma’ perennial ryegrass (PR, Lolium perenne L.), and (8) ‘Wicked’ PR. Injury at the baseline was measured by counting healthy grass on four dates in 2017 and 2019 using an intersect grid. Carrying capacity at the baseline was derived as hours of play to sustain 90, 80, 70, and 60% grass cover. After 6 wk of actual tennis play involving \u3e120 participating players in 2017 and 2019, KB and PR were superior to other C3 turfgrass for wear tolerance and carrying capacity. These two species exhibited four times the carrying capacity of FF species and nearly 60% more carrying capacity than bentgrass (BG) species. Species of BG afforded higher shoot density and better traction than KB and PR, with VBG exhibiting the best traction, and FF and PR exhibiting the poorest traction. In 2017, greater cell wall content increased wear tolerance and carrying capacity. Velvet bentgrass was as good as KB and PR in overall wear tolerance and carrying capacity under actual match play

Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon along an altitudinal gradient from Norway spruce forest to the mountain birch/alpine ecotone in Norway

Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in soil water from the base of the soil organic layer were determined at three forest plots along an altitudinal gradient in eastern Norway. The lowest plot, at 830 m above sea level (a.s.l.), was in Norway spruce forest and there were additional plots at the ecotone between Norway spruce and mountain birch at 925 m a.s.l. and at the forest line (1000 m a.s.l.). DOC concentrations in soil water did not decrease uniformly with altitude although tree biomass, above-ground litterfall and the soil C pool all did so. Significant correlations between DOC and {H+} or electrical conductivity may reflect the contribution of DOC to solution acidity and the anionic charge, respectively. If mean temperature during the growing season increases, tree growth at any given altitude will tend to increase and the spruce-birch ecotone may move to a higher altitude than at present. Increased C inputs as litter to the soil might then lead to increasing DOC concentrations and fluxes in surface waters

Manual on methods and criteria for harmonized sampling, assessment, monitoring and analysis of the effects of air pollution on forests. Part VIII, Assessment of Ground Vegetation. Expert Panel on Ground Vegetation Assessment, UN-ECE, ICP-Forests.

Manuale pan-Europeo di riferimento per la stima della vegetazione nelle aree della rete Europea dell'International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP-Forests), United Nations Economic Commission For Europe (UN-ECE), Convention On Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, Hamburg

Assessment of Ground Vegetation. Manual Part VII.

The Manual describes field sampling methods, measurement methods and data reporting rules for ground vegetation assessment in the European permanent areas network of forest systems. The monitoring scheme has been developed under the United Nation Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, within the “International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests” (ICP Forests), the so-called ‘Level II monitoring’. The programme includes ca. 6000 plots for large scale forest condition monitoring (so-called Level I) and ca. 800 plots for intensive forest ecosystem monitoring (Level II) distributed across 41 participating countries. On level II sites, data on ground vegetation (including terricolous bryophytes and lichens) shall be sampled on a common standard area (CSA) of 400 m2. Species census (referring to a standard reference for taxa attribution) and abundance are recorded by defined vertical layers