In the presented case study, we aim to understand the impact of an irregular shelterwood system (ISS) on the genetic diversity of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) firstly by comparing managed stand to old growth beech forest and secondly by comparing two successive generations in both managed and old growth stands. Studies on European beech to date have not yet investigated the effect of ISS on its genetic diversity and have rarely addressed the effect of management on the genetic diversity of successive generations. The study was conducted in two mixed beech stands in Slovenia; the unmanaged Rajhenavski Rog oldgrowth European beech forest reserve and beech forest in Osankarica, managed according to ISS. All 140 sampled adult trees and saplings were genotyped at 16 nuclear microsatellite loci. ISS mimics genetic processes of the old growth rather well in the studied managed stand. The comparisons of diversity measures between managed and old growth stands did not reveal any significant differences between the two for any of the cohorts; the differences between the cohorts from the same stand were not significant. The observed significant shift in allele frequencies at four loci between successive generations could not be unambiguously attributed to management. Cohorts from the same stand had similar genetic structure, but six individuals from the managed stand formed a unique cluster. No convincing evidence of the effect of ISS on genetic diversity of the studied managed beech stand was found.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3946918
Altitudinal gradients strongly affect species distribution through the direct and indirect effects of temperature. While numerous studies have been done in the central parts or at the northern edges of species’ distributions, the patterns found at the southern edges of species’ distributions in the southern part of the temperate zone have received much less attention, especially in forest floor insect herbivores. In a case study of the altitudinal influence on insect–plant interactions in forest ecosystems, we examined the insect herbivore Cheilosia fasciata (Diptera: Syrphidae) and its hostplant ramsons Allium ursinum. We studied the influence of altitude, leaf cover density of the host plant, host plant patch size, solar radiation and forest type on C. fasciata. We investigated 0.5 x 0.5 m quadrats in patches of ramsons over several altitudinal gradients across Slovenia. The abundance of C. fasciata increased with altitude, while this pattern was not observed in ramsons. Temperature negatively affected abundance. The leaf cover density of the host plant influenced insect abundance positively only when leaf densities were low. Solar radiation had a positive effect on abundance. Forest type and host plant patch size were less important. The results are discussed in the context of mechanisms affecting altitudinal distribution and climate change.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4183206
European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is an economically and ecologically important forest tree species in Europe. Expected future temperature increases due to global climate change may significantly affect growth of beech trees and consequently influence carbon cycling in beech forests. We tested the hypothesis that soil temperature influences the growth of both belowground and aboveground parts of beech seedlings. One-year-old seedlings were transferred into rhizotrons and subjected to two different soil temperatures for 2 years while the soil moisture level was kept constant. The main effect of the soil temperature was a changed biomass of the woody part of the seedlings. Soil temperature significantly influenced the biomass of shoots and roots and diameter of the stem, which were the highest for the seedlings grown in conditions of soil temperatures maintained in the range of summer soil temperatures from the site of origin of the seedlings. Increased soil temperature also resulted in increased specific root length and specific root tip density. Root-to-shoot ratio and leaf parameters (leaf mass, number of leaves, and specific leaf area), except for leaf area ratio, were not influenced by soil temperature.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4010150
The maintenance of biodiversity in forestlands has become one of the major concerns of forestry in theEuropean Union (EU) as well as globally. The EU and its member states implement it through the Forest Europe process, which promotes sustainable forest management, and the EU Council Habitats Directive (HDirective). Within the Forest Europe process, indicators and management concepts are developed for forests in general, whereas the HDirective is concerned with the forest habitats and forest habitat types of the Natura 2000 network. Although the HDirective helps to tackle a broad range of biodiversity problems, there remain some open issues, including the vaguely defined concept of a forest habitat type, conservation status of a forest habitat type, lack of defined indicators of conservation status and undeveloped concepts for the stewardship of forest habitat types. This study addressed most of these open problems. The methods were tested in three habitat types in Slovenia: 9110 – Luzulo-Fagetum beech forests, 91K0 – Illyrian Fagus sylvatica forests (Aremonio-Fagion) and 91L0 – Illyrian oak–hornbeam forests (Erythronio-Carpinion). To make the definition of a forest habitat type more concrete, a hierarchical order was introduced into the current concept of forest habitat types. A hierarchal relation between forest habitat types and their subtypes was established by employing a bottom-up strategy and classification key. This key was developed through exploring the vegetation and eco-geographical characteristics of the forest habitat subtypes. An assessment of the conservation status of forest habitat types was performed using 18 indicators. Only the indicators supporting the favorable conservation status definition outlined in the HDirective were selected. The stewardship of forest habitat types was demonstrated through assessment points depicting the present, ideal and desired states of the indicators. The points were constructed through a basic statistical analysis, vegetation and forest planning models and literature review. The results showed that dividing the three forest habitat types produced less heterogeneous forest habitat subtypes. The indicators and the assessment points performed well as they suggested the preferred course of development of the three forest habitat types. Because of their applicability in different environments, the methods can be used in other European countries and regions and beyond.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4203430
The goal of this study is to assess residents' preferences for a set of attributes describing the recreation setting in an urban forest (outstanding trees, forest openings, waymarks and information boards, and paved walking trails) and to explore the heterogeneity of those preferences. It was captured by a four-class latent class model used to segment a sample of residents of Ljubljana (the capital of Slovenia), who responded to a choice experiment-based poll. The survey focused on the Rožnik urban forest, for which preferences (also willingness-to-pay) for hypothetical changes in the attributes were assessed. Respondents in class 1 were invariant to changes in the recreation setting. Those in class 2 and 4 stated positive preferences for having more outstanding trees. Class 3 and 4 were in favour of increasing the area of forest openings and enhancing the maintenance of waymarks and information boards. Those in class 4 expressed positive preferences for more walking trails, whereas class 3 valued this negatively. Class membership was affected by respondent age, number of adults in the household, frequency of forest visits, income, and purpose of the visit.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4203174