7 research outputs found
Assessing the effect of landuse in beech forests  an example from central Apeninnes, Italy.
In the mountain belt of the Marches region (Central Apennines, Italy), coppice
management is applied to 70% of beech (Fagus sylvatica) woodlands. This
method has long played an important socio-economic role, providing firewood
and charcoal. Currently 4% of present beech woodlands are being converted to
high forest, while in 21%, silviculture is being abandoned entirely. We aimed to
answer these questions: (1) How does traditional management (short rotation
coppice) affect beech forest plant diversity at different environmental conditions?
(2) How is plant diversity influenced by an extension of the rotation cycle or by
the abandonment of coppicing? Previous investigations on plant diversity relations
in coppice woods focused on limited areas and small numbers of stands, while it
would be much more useful for management applications to have diversity
assessments on the scale of the landscape. After preliminary selection of a number
of forest stands, stratified sampling was conducted according to 200 m elevation
classes (starting from 1000 m a.s.l.), bedrock types (limestone and sandstone), and
stand age (10-year classes, since the last coppicing), to identify 61 sites (0.3 to 35
ha) that would represent the landscape level heterogeneity. Within each stratum a
proportional number of stands were randomly selected among those included in
the forestry registers. Orthophotomaps and related cadastral information were
derived using an Information System. Elevation was used as a proxy variable
accounting for the main beech forest types reported in the regional forest
inventory, which also stated soil and stand conditions. The beech forests belong to
Cardamino kitaibelii-Fagetum and Lathyro veneti-Fagetum associations on
neutro-basic limestone and Solidagini-Fagetum on acidic sandstone. Eighty plots
of 20Ă—20 m were assessed by phytosociological records, within the selected
forests stands. Species were grouped into phytocoenological groups. Our results
suggest that high spatiotemporal variability of forest management accompanied
with high landscape-scale heterogeneity and complexity maintain rich regional
species pool. On both bedrocks, in all elevation classes, the age after coppicing
explained the majority of observed diversity changes at the stand level: forest
specialists increased while non-forest species decreased. A relatively long time
after coppicing (40–60 years), the contribution of the beech specialist species
doubled, while non-forest and species from anthropogenic habitats decreased by
about 50%. On sandstone, gap species also diminished over a long period, and the
beech stands experienced stronger changes over time. We conclude that an
extension of coppice rotation cycle or abandonment would result in lower local
species richness but with higher contribution of beech forest specialists