scholarly journals Structural characteristics of the mixed spruce - fir - beech forests on Mountain Bjelasica in Montenegro

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 1699-1708
Author(s):  
Milic CUROVIC ◽  
Aleksandar STIJOVIC ◽  
Velibor SPALEVIC ◽  
Branislav DUDIC ◽  
Milos PAJIC

Biogradska Gora National Park in Montenegro is part of the Bjelasica Mountain which belongs to the montane region of the Dinaric Alps. Biogradska Gora is one of the largest long-term preserved forests in the Southeast Europe. In this paper there were compared the main structural characteristics of the old-growth mixed forest of spruce (Picea abies L.), fir (Abies alba L.) and beech (Fagus moesiaca (Domin, Maly) Czecz.), from the preserved area of the Biogradska Gora, with similar managed forests from the same mountain. Basic insight into the structural characteristics of forests of spruce, fir and beech was obtained by analyzing tree species composition and two basic structural elements - number of trees and wood volume per unit area. The obtained data provides overview of the structural characteristics of these forests. The results revealed the production potential of the studied mixed forests. The average quantity of standing volume in old-growth forests of Biogradska Gora indicates very valuable and productive forest ecosystems. Presented data shows that forest ecosystems of spruce, fir and beech in the protected area of the National Park Biogradska Gora are characterized by structurally irregular forests with presence of old trees with relevant growing stock and optimal balance of beech and conifer species, while in managed forests on the same mountain, growing stock is very low and with structure which is far from optimal.

2011 ◽  
pp. 157-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milic Curovic ◽  
Milan Medarevic ◽  
Rade Cvjeticanin ◽  
Mirko Knezevic

In order to manage forest ecosystems at a sufficiently high biodiversity level it is necessary to study the ecological, structural and production characteristics of virgin forests. The research was directed towards identifying the characteristics of mixed fir and beech forests (Abieti-Fagetum s. lat.) in the area of the strict reserve of the National Park Biogradska Gora in Montenegro. Basic characteristics of these forests were researched in the process of definition of forest types. In this manner, it is for the first time that a realistic base for typological management of forests and forest ecosystems with similar ecological and structural characteristics was provided for the specific sites.


2011 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 429-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Curovic ◽  
Danijela Stesevic ◽  
M. Medarevic ◽  
R. Cvjeticanin ◽  
D. Pantic ◽  
...  

Due to their extraordinary diversity and high level of conservation, the forest ecosystems of Biogradska Gora undoubtedly fall under the most significant forest objects. Owing to the lack of anthropogenic impacts, it is an especially interesting and gratifying research subject for different experts and scientists. In order to implement a sufficiently high biodiversity level management, it is necessary to know the structural characteristics of untouched forests. In this paper we focused our attention on monodominant montane beech forests with their ecological and structural characteristics, as a bioecological basis for environmentally friendly planning and sustainable management of these and similar forest ecosystems.


2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 785-791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juri Nascimbene ◽  
Lorenzo Marini ◽  
Pier Luigi Nimis

Tree species is a key factor in shaping epiphytic lichen communities. In managed forests, tree species composition is mainly controlled by forest management, with important consequences on lichen diversity. The main aim of this work was to evaluate the differences at tree level in macrolichen richness and composition between Abies alba Mill. and Fagus sylvatica L. in a temperate mixed forest in northern Italy, in addition to evaluating two different proportions of the two species at the stand level. Abies alba and F. sylvatica host lichen communities including several rare and sensitive species. Our findings indicate that both tree species were important for lichen diversity, since they hosted different communities. However, F. sylvatica proved to be a more favourable hosting tree for several rare and sensitive species. Species associated with A. alba were mainly acidophytic lichens, while those associated with F. sylvatica were foliose hygrophytic lichens, mainly establishing over bryophytes. The frequency of the flagship species Lobaria pulmonaria (L.) Hoffm. was a valuable predictor of cyanolichen richness and was useful in identifying sites hosting lichen communities that are potentially more sensitive to thinning and human disturbance. The results support the relevance of mixed A. alba – F. sylvatica formations among European habitats worthy of conservation.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 374
Author(s):  
Piotr Brewczyński ◽  
Kamil Grałek ◽  
Piotr Bilański

The small-sized gametophytes and sporophytes of the green shield-moss Buxbaumia viridis (Moug.) Brid. make it difficult to study. However, in Europe, there has been increasing interest in this species in the past few years, mostly as a result of the implementation of the Natura 2000 network. In Poland, B. viridis has only been reported in isolated studies that have been limited in terms of area and the number of participating workers. One of the Polish regions where B. viridis was recently recorded is the Bieszczady Mountains, but there have been no large-scale surveys of that region to date. The objective of the current work was to describe the B. viridis population in the Bieszczady Mountains in terms of its spatial distribution and abundance, investigate its selected microhabitat preferences, and evaluate the conservation status of this moss species within the Natura 2000 site Bieszczady PLC180001. The studied region encompassed 93,490.44 ha, including 69,056.23 ha of managed forests and 24,434.21 ha of forests belonging to the Bieszczady National Park. A preliminary survey was conducted in the Cisna Forest District (forest area of 19,555.82 ha) on 15–17 November 2017, while the main survey was performed in selected forest subcompartments of four forest districts—Baligród, Komańcza, Lutowiska, and Stuposiany—as well as the Bieszczady National Park from 5 to 16 November 2018. The field work consisted of searching for B. viridis sporophytes and setae and recording selected population and locality characteristics. The study led to the discovery of 353 new B. viridis localities in 202 study areas, with 9197 diploid individuals (sporophytes or setae only) growing in 545 microhabitats. The number of B. viridis localities discovered in the Bieszczady Mountains during 17 days of survey in 2017 and 2018 was two times higher than the combined number of localities previously found in Poland over more than 150 years (159 localities). Additionally, the number of sporophytes and setae identified was two times greater than their overall number in previous records. In addition, this study provides information about selected microhabitat preferences and the conservation status of this moss in the Bieszczady Natura 2000 site.


2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (9) ◽  
pp. 1057-1065 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Gonthier ◽  
Matteo Garbelotto ◽  
Giovanna Cristina Varese ◽  
Giovanni Nicolotti

In Europe the forest pathogen Heterobasidion annosum (Fr.) Bref. includes the S, P, and F intersterility groups (ISGs), each displaying a preferential specialization on Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), pine, and silver fir (Abies alba Mill.), respectively. In this paper, we present data about (i) H. annosum ISGs frequency in different forest types, (ii) the degree of host specificity of each ISG, (iii) the significance of the potential movement of airborne spores among forests, and (iv) the occurrence of S–P chimeras in the northwestern Alps. Using woody spore traps, we sampled natural pure spruce and fir forests and a mixed spruce-fir forest. The ISG of 582 spores was determined by ISG-diagnostic taxon-specific competitive priming (TSCP) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) combined with PCR-mediated detection of ISG-specific introns in the ML5–ML6 DNA region of the mitochondrial large ribosomal RNA (mt LrRNA). All three ISGs were found, and a strong correlation was observed between the F ISG and fir and the S ISG and spruce. In the mixed forest, no clear relationship between tree host species and host-specialized ISGs was found. In spite of a relative dominance of fir in the overstory of the mixed stand, the fir-associated F ISG represented only 11% of the total number of spores collected. This discrepancy was explained by the recent establishment of firs at this site. No S–P nuclear-mitochondrial chimeras were found. This suggests limited gene flow between these ISGs.Key words: Heterobasidion annosum, host specificity, ISGs, gene flow, PCR, Alps.


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