Species and structural diversity affect growth of oak,but not pine,in uneven-aged mature forests |
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| Institution: | 1. Forest & Nature Lab, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Gontrode, Belgium;2. Wageningen Environmental Research (Alterra), P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands;3. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Gaverstraat 4, B-9500 Geraardsbergen, Belgium;1. Instituto de Biología Subtropical (IBS), Universidad Nacional de Misiones (UNaM) – CONICET, Bertoni 85, 3370 Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina;2. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional de Misiones, Bertoni 128, 4405 Eldorado, Misiones, Argentina;3. Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Instituto de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (UAEH), Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo km 4.5, Mineral de la Reforma, 42186 Hidalgo, México;1. Department Bioclimatology, University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 2, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany;2. School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography, Bangor University, Bangor LL57 2UW, UK;3. Department Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones, University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany;1. Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, T.G. Masaryka 24, 960 53 Zvolen, Slovakia;2. Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, USA |
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| Abstract: | The effects of mixing tree species on tree growth and stand production have been abundantly studied, mostly looking at tree species diversity effects while controlling for stand density and structure. Regarding the shift towards managing forests as complex adaptive systems, we also need insight into the effects of structural diversity. Strict forest reserves, left for spontaneous development, offer unique opportunities for studying the effects of diversity in tree species and stand structure. We used data from repeated inventories in ten forest reserves in the Netherlands and northern Belgium to study the growth of pine and oak. We investigated whether the diversity of a tree's local neighbourhood (i.e., species and structural diversity) is important in explaining its basal area growth. For the subcanopy oak trees, we found a negative effect of the tree species richness of the local neighbours, which – in the studied forests – was closely related to the share of shade-casting tree species in the neighbourhood. The growth of the taller oak trees was positively affected by the height diversity of the neighbour trees. Pine tree growth showed no relation with neighbourhood diversity. Tree growth decreased with neighbourhood density for both species (although no significant relationship was found for the small pines). We found no overall diversity-growth relationship in the studied uneven-aged mature forests; the relationship depended on tree species identity and the aspect of diversity considered (species vs. structural diversity). |
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| Keywords: | Biodiversity Ecosystem functioning Productivity Temperate forest |
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