Shelterbelts Planted on Cultivated Fields Are Not Solutions for the Recovery of Former Forest-Related Herbaceous Vegetation

Establishing shelterbelts for field protection is one of the rediscovered agroforestry practices in Europe and Hungary. Several studies have focused on the effects of these plantations on agricultural production. Prior scholarship reveals that shelterbelts enhance the diversity of bird and insect communities but generally fail to consider herbaceous cover. Our study aimed to describe the herbaceous vegetation in shelterbelts of different origins, tree species composition, and land management. We investigated surveys in four agricultural landscapes of North West Hungary, where the intensity of the landscape transformation is different. The diversity and species composition of the herbaceous vegetation were analyzed, including plant sociology and forest affinity. Our results highlight the importance of landscape history in herbaceous flora. Shelterbelts planted on cultivated without an immediate connection to former woody vegetation soil are not appropriate for the appearance of forest-related herbaceous species, regardless of tree species composition or the extent of the shelterbelt. On the contrary, the remnants of former woody vegetation are refuges for those herbaceous species that are very slow at colonizing new plantations. These findings expose that protecting existing woody areas is an essential task of agricultural land management.

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Tree species composition and local use in agricultural landscapes of west Usambaras Tanzania

African Journal of Ecology ◽

10.1111/j.1365-2028.2008.00931.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 46 (s1) ◽

pp. 66-73 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

P. K. T. Munishi ◽

F. Philipina ◽

R. P. C. Temu ◽

N. E. Pima

Keyword(s):

Species Composition ◽

Tree Species ◽

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Tree Species Composition ◽

Local Use

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Langfristige Entwicklung von zwei Waldgesellschaften im Białowieża-Urwald

Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Forstwesen ◽

10.3188/szf.2008.0080 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 159 (4) ◽

pp. 80-90 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Bogdan Brzeziecki ◽

Feliks Eugeniusz Bernadzki

Keyword(s):

Species Composition ◽

Tree Species ◽

Stand Structure ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Structural Parameters ◽

Forest Communities ◽

Natural Forests ◽

Tree Species Composition ◽

Strong Trend ◽

Long Term Study

The results of a long-term study on the natural forest dynamics of two forest communities on one sample plot within the Białowieża National Park in Poland are presented. The two investigated forest communities consist of the Pino-Quercetum and the Tilio-Carpinetum type with the major tree species Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies, Betula sp., Quercus robur, Tilia cordata and Carpinus betulus. The results reveal strong temporal dynamics of both forest communities since 1936 in terms of tree species composition and of general stand structure. The four major tree species Scots pine, birch, English oak and Norway spruce, which were dominant until 1936, have gradually been replaced by lime and hornbeam. At the same time, the analysis of structural parameters indicates a strong trend towards a homogenization of the vertical stand structure. Possible causes for these dynamics may be changes in sylviculture, climate change and atmospheric deposition. Based on the altered tree species composition it can be concluded that a simple ≪copying≫ (mimicking) of the processes taking place in natural forests may not guarantee the conservation of the multifunctional character of the respective forests.

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Effects of nitrogen deposition on nitrate leaching from forests of the northeastern United States will change with tree species composition

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/cjfr-2016-0529 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 47 (8) ◽

pp. 997-1009 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Katherine F. Crowley ◽

Gary M. Lovett

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Species Composition ◽

Nitrate Leaching ◽

Tree Species ◽

N Deposition ◽

Red Oak ◽

Northeastern United States ◽

Tree Species Composition ◽

White Ash ◽

Species Change

As tree species composition in forests of the northeastern United States changes due to invasive forest pests, climate change, or other stressors, the extent to which forests will retain or release N from atmospheric deposition remains uncertain. We used a species-specific, dynamic forest ecosystem model (Spe-CN) to investigate how nitrate (NO3–) leaching may vary among stands dominated by different species, receiving varied atmospheric N inputs, or undergoing species change due to an invasive forest pest (emerald ash borer; EAB). In model simulations, NO3– leaching varied widely among stands dominated by 12 northeastern North American tree species. Nitrate leaching increased with N deposition or forest age, generally with greater magnitude for deciduous (except red oak) than coniferous species. Species with lowest baseline leaching rates (e.g., red spruce, eastern hemlock, red oak) showed threshold responses to N deposition. EAB effects on leaching depended on the species replacing white ash: after 100 years, predicted leaching increased 73% if sugar maple replaced ash but decreased 55% if red oak replaced ash. This analysis suggests that the effects of tree species change on NO3– leaching over time may be large and variable and should be incorporated into predictions of effects of N deposition on leaching from forested landscapes.

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