Analysis of interactions between trees in mixed oak forests in NP Jirisan (South Korea) using spatial structure and tree ring analysis.

This thesis represents a grant application for a project dealing with analysis of interactions between trees in mixed oak forests in NP Jirisan (South Korea). Spatial structure data and tree ring analysis data from 5 experimental plots of this national park are used in this analysis

Detecting Coppice Legacies from Tree Growth

<div><p>In coppice-with-standards, once a common type of management in Central European lowland forests, selected trees (standards) were left to grow mature among the regularly harvested coppice stools to obtain construction wood. After the underwood was harvested, the forest canopy opened rapidly, giving standard trees an opportunity to benefit from reduced competition. Although this silvicultural system virtually disappeared after WWII, historical management cycles can still be traced in the tree-rings of remaining standards. Our research aims at answering the question whether tree-ring series of standard trees can be used to reconstruct past management practices. The study was carried out on 117 oak standard trees from five sites situated in formerly coppiced calcareous oak-hornbeam and acidophilous oak forests in the Bohemian Karst Protected Landscape Area, Czech Republic. The evaluation was based on the analysis of growth releases representing the response of the standards to coppicing events, and comparison to the archival records of coppice events. Our results showed that coppicing events can be successfully detected by tree-ring analysis, although there are some limitations. Altogether 241 releases were identified (49% of major releases). Large number of releases could be related to historical records, with the major ones giving better results. The overall probability of correct detection (positive predictive power) was 58%, ranging from 50 to 67%, probability for major releases was 78%, ranging from 63 to 100% for different sites. The ability of individual trees to mirror past coppice events was significantly affected by competition from neighboring trees (their number and the sum of distance-weighted basal areas). A dendro-ecological approach to the study of forest management history can serve as an input for current attempts of coppice reintroduction and for conservation purposes.</p></div

Moderate (blue) or major releases (red columns) detected using the GA method displayed in 5-year intervals.

<p>Years of coppicing recorded in archives are marked by black arrows. The green line indicates sample depth.</p

Competition from neighbouring trees within a 10 m distance from cored standard trees expressed by distance-weighted basal area (a), and number of neighbouring stems (b), mean growth rate (c), and mean growth change identified by GA method.

<p>KO = Koda, KB = Kobyla, M1–3 = Mramor I–III. Significance tests are summarized in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0147205#pone.0147205.s005" target="_blank">S4 Table</a>.</p

Species composition within a 10 m radius of the cored standards, divided into single- and multi-stemmed (a), and by study site (b).

<p>Sites were dominated by hornbeam and oak except the sandstone-based Mramor III site, where hornbeam was missing and pine formed 3% of the neighbours.</p

Study area (left) and a detailed view of the Koda stand with a year of the last coppice harvest marked (right part).

<p>Study area (left) and a detailed view of the Koda stand with a year of the last coppice harvest marked (right part).</p