Efficiency of forest planting in the spring and autumn periods in the conditions of the Republic of Kalmykia

The Republic of Kalmykia is the driest region in the south of the European part of Russia. The purpose of the study is to find a new approach to reforestation and breeding in the republic, which will ensure the increase in the survival rate of forest crops, and subsequently increase the forest cover of the region. The article analyzes data for a ten-year period in a zonal section on the survival rate of tree and shrub species cultivated in the forestry of the Republic of Kalmykia. It is concluded that carrying out forest cultivation works in the autumn period has no advantages in survival rate over the spring period and they should be carried out either in early spring (in late March and early April) on thawing soil, or in autumn, before the onset of persistent cold weather. The main factor of successful afforestation in the dry steppe and semi-desert is the correct selection of the forest area, the accuracy and quality of forest planting, agrotechnical and forestry care. Special attention should be paid to the control of locust pests, which in the conditions of Kalmykia in some years can cause significant damage to the planting of young forest crops.

Interacting Fire, Logging and Climate Change has Sprung a Landscape Trap in Victoria’s Montane Ash Forests

Ecosystems are influenced by multiple drivers which shape ecosystem state and biodiversity. In some ecosystems, interactions and feedbacks between drivers can produce traps that confine an ecosystem to a particular state or condition and influence processes like succession. A range of traps have been recognized, with one of these – “a landscape trap” first proposed a decade ago for the tall, wet Mountain Ash and Alpine Ash forests of Victoria, south-eastern Australia. Under such a trap, young flammable forest is at high risk of reburning at high-severity, thereby precluding stand maturation, and potentially leading to ecosystem collapse. These young forests are more common because recurrent wildfire and widespread clearcutting have transformed historical patterns of forest cover from widespread old-growth with small patches of regrowth embedded within it, to the reverse. Indeed, approximately 99% of the montane ash ecosystem is now relatively young forest. Based on new empirical insights, we argue that at least three key inter-related pre-conditions underpin the development of a landscape trap in montane ash forests. A landscape trap has been sprung in these forests because the pre-conditions for its development have been met: We show how inter-relationships between these pre-conditions, leading to frequent high-severity fire, interacts with life history attributes (e.g. time to viable seed production) to make montane ash forests (e.g. which have been highly disturbed through logging and frequent fire) vulnerable to ecosystem collapse. We conclude with the ecological and resource management implications of this landscape trap and discuss how the problems created might be rectified.

Behavioral effects of wolf presence on moose habitat selection: testing the landscape of fear hypothesis in an anthropogenic landscape

Landscape of fear refers to the spatial variation in prey perception of predation risk, that under certain conditions, may lead to changes in their behavior. Behavioral responses of prey in relation to large carnivore predation risk have mainly been conducted in areas with low anthropogenic impact. We used long-term data on the distribution of moose in different habitat types in a system characterized by intensive management of all three trophic levels (silviculture, harvest of wolves and moose) to study effects on moose habitat selection resulting from the return of an apex predator, the wolf. We assumed that coursing predators such as wolves will cause an increased risk for moose in some habitat types and tested the hypotheses that moose will avoid open or young forest habitats following wolf establishment. After wolf recolonization, moose reduced their use of one type of open habitat (bog) but there was neither change in the use of the other open habitat type (clear-cut), nor in their use of young forest. Wolf establishment did not influence the use of habitat close to dense habitat when being in open habitats. Thus, the effect of wolves varied among habitat types and there was no unidirectional support for a behavioral effect of wolves’ establishment on moose habitat use. Human-driven habitat heterogeneity, concentration of moose forage to certain habitat types, and the effects of a multiple predator guild on moose may all contribute to the results found. We conclude that the landscape of fear is likely to have weak ecological effects on moose in this system.

Metabarcoding of Soil Fungi from Different Urban Greenspaces Around Bournemouth in the UK

Soil microbes are important for public health. Increasing urbanisation is adversely affecting soil microbiota, which may be contributing to the global rise of immune-related diseases. Fungi are key components of urban environments that can be negatively impacted by altered land-use, land-management and climate change, and are implicated in the development and exacerbation of non-communicable diseases such as allergy, asthma and chronic inflammatory conditions. Fungal metagenomics is building knowledge on fungi within different environments (the environmental mycobiome), fungi on and within the human body (the human mycobiome), and their association with disease. Here, we demonstrate the added value of a multi-region metabarcoding approach to analyse soil mycobiomes from five urban greenspaces (lawns, parklands, bareground, young forest and old forest). While results were comparable across the three regions (ITS1, ITS2 and LSU), each identified additional fungal taxa that were unique to the region. Combining the results therefore provided a more comprehensive analysis across all fungal taxonomic ranks, identifying statistically significant differences in the fungal composition of the five soil types. Assignment of fungal taxa into ecological guilds revealed those differences of biological relevance to public health. The greatest differences were between the soil mycobiome of lawns and forests. Of most concern was the significant increase in the known human allergens Alternaria, Bipolaris, Cladosporium and Fusarium within urban lawn and parkland vs forest soils. By improving our understanding of local variations in fungal taxa across urban greenspaces, we have the potential to boost the health of local residents through improved urban planning.

Ecology, management and damage by the large pine weevil (Hylobius abietis) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in coniferous forests within Europe

Coniferous forests in Europe have a considerable number of pests that attack trees of all ages from youngest up to oldest ones. One of them is the large pine weevil Hylobius abietis. This species is widespread in Europe and occurs from warm southern areas (Spain) up to northern countries (Sweden, Finland). Larvae of this species do not cause damage, they help in the decomposition process of stumps and roots. Adults are harmful as they consume bark of young coniferous seedlings, above all of spruce and pine. One adult can consume on average 75 mm2 of bark per day. Individuals can live up to 4 years, and during their lives they can damage and kill several tens of coniferous seedlings. Traditional chemical protection of seedlings against this pest is and will gradually be more and more restricted or forbidden. In this review, we describe this method as well as all other alternative methods including biological protection. We estimate that H. abietis causes annual damages in Europe of almost 120 million € and damages several tens of thousands of hectares of young forest stands.

Variability in soil CO2 fluxes across a range of forest types and edaphic conditions

<p>Forests play a key role in the global carbon (C) balance. On the one hand, a large amount of C is sequestered in soils, and on the other hand, the forest soils are also a significant source of carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>). Soil respiration includes anaerobic and aerobic microbial respiration, and root respiration which may contribute even more that half of the total soil respiration. Assessment of the contribution of forest soils to CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, in addition to C sequestration, is worth special attention in the context of increasing climate change. To address this field experiments were carried out to assess the CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes of 10 different forest soil types with different tree species (deciduous, coniferous, and mixed) in Poland (using static chamber method). The highest CO<sub>2</sub> emissions were observed for a silty soil under the youngest deciduous forest (12 y.) with a  daily average of 1.66 ± 0.7 g CO<sub>2</sub> m<sup>-2</sup> d<sup>-1</sup>. The lowest daily mean CO<sub>2</sub> flux was associated with a sandy soil in a mature stand of a predominantly coniferous forest (0.87 ± 0.3 g CO<sub>2</sub> m<sup>-2</sup> d<sup>-1</sup>). Annual averages were in the range 3.21 t C ha<sup>-1</sup> to 6.06 t C ha<sup>-1</sup> for a mature and young forest, respectively. The main factor causing differences in CO<sub>2</sub> emissions could have been the contribution of both trees and soil properties to hydrological conditions. The young forest was covered with trees with a lower root system forest and the young trees could have a lower demand for water resulting in a higher soil moisture content than in a mature forest soil. Different CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes could be also a result of a higher water storage capacity in silty soil in the young forest than that of a sandy soil under mature stand. In addition to water supply, the activity of soil microorganisms is also regulated by C availability which was about 30% lower in sandy soil than in silty soil. The two-yearly measurements showed seasonal variations in CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes depending on the soil type, age and tree species. Regardless of the characteristics of the forest being studied, the highest CO<sub>2</sub> emissions occurred in the summer or spring and the lowest CO<sub>2</sub> emissions were found  in winter as a result of a strong influence of temperature on the biological processes under investigation. The observed seasonality in CO<sub>2</sub> emission may be attributed to changes in soil moisture during the measurement periods since soil water content regulates microbial activity and gaseous diffusion. Statistical analyses, however, imply that temperature could have  a stronger control over CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from the soils studied than soil moisture.</p><p>Research was conducted under the project financed by Polish National Centre for Research and Development within of ERA-NET CO-FUND ERA-GAS Programme (ERA-GAS/I/GHG-MANAGE/01/2018) “GHG-Manage”.</p>

Drivers of understorey biomass – tree species identity is more important than richness in a young forest

Aims Positive biodiversity ecosystem functioning relationships have been widely reported, predominately from grassland ecosystems. However, this does not necessarily have to apply accordingly in more complex situations such as in forests across different vertical strata. For instance, overstorey tree species richness has been shown to be associated with a lower understorey productivity. Whether or not tree species richness effects add to understorey productivity by increasing (i.e. due to habitat heterogeneity) or reducing resource availability (i.e. through increasing competition) and whether understorey productivity is indeed being governed more strongly by tree species identity are likely to change over time. Moreover, studies also suggested that richness-productivity relationships change with the environmental context. Using an experimental forest plantation with manipulated tree species richness, this study examined these temporal and environmental dynamics across strata. Methods In the context of the Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning project in subtropical China (BEF-China), we made use of understorey biomass samples repeatedly collected over a time period of three years along a tree species richness gradient. The effects of tree species richness, tree species identities and time were studied across different environmental treatments for their impact on understorey biomass. Important Findings While we found significant and consistent tree layer identity effects on understorey biomass, no such effect was encountered for tree species richness. Our results also indicate that among structural layers in forests, there might not be a single, generalizable overstorey species richness- understorey productivity relationship, and that the extent as to which overstorey-related environmental factors such as light transmittance contribute to understorey productivity change with time. Overall, we demonstrate that temporal dynamics should be considered when studying relationship among structural layers in forests.