Abstract
Aim of study: a) To present a new version of the forest simulator Vorest, an individual-based spatially explicit model that uses weighted Voronoi diagrams to simulate the natural dynamics of forest stands with closed canopies. b) To apply the model to the current dynamics of a Grazalema pinsapo stand to identify the nature of its competition regime and the stagnation risks it is currently facing.Area of study: Sierra del Pinar de Grazalema (S Spain)Material and methods: Two large plots representative of Grazalema pinsapo stands were used to fit and validate the model (plus 6 accesory plots to increase the availability of mortality data). Two inventories were carried out in 1998 and 2007 producing tree size and location data. We developed a forest simulator based on three submodels: growth, competition and mortality. The model was fitted, evaluated and validated for Grazalema plots. The simulation outputs were used to infer the expected evolution of structural diversity of forest stands.Main results: Vorest has proved to be a good tool for simulating dynamics of natural closed stands. The application to Grazalema pinsapo stands has allowed assessing the nature of the main processes that are driving its development pathway. We have found that the prevailing size-asymmetric competition dominates the self-thinning process in small-sized trees. At the same time, there is an active tree-size differentiation process.Research highlights:Vorest has proved to be a good tool for simulating natural stands with closed canopies.The Grazalema pinsapo stand under consideration is currently undergoing a natural process of differentiation, avoiding long-term stagnation.Keywords: Vorest; stand dynamics; individual-based forest model; spatially explicit forest model; pinsapo.
Highlights
Abies pinsapo Boiss belongs to the Mediterranean group of firs that are the most ancient and less evolutionarily developed European species of this genus
Aim of study: a) To present a new version of the forest simulator Vorest, an individual-based spatially explicit model that uses weighted Voronoi diagrams to simulate the natural dynamics of forest stands with closed canopies. b) To apply the model to the current dynamics of a Grazalema pinsapo stand to identify the nature of its competition regime and the stagnation risks it is currently facing
The objective of this paper is both to present an improved version of the growth model Vorest (Abellanas et al, 2007; Abellanas et al, 2012) that allows to deterministically simulate the natural dynamics of forests stands with closed canopies and to apply it for diagnosing the nature of the dynamics that the studied Grazalema pinsapo stand is currently undergoing
Summary
Abies pinsapo Boiss belongs to the Mediterranean group of firs that are the most ancient and less evolutionarily developed European species of this genus. Together with the Algerian species Abies numidica and the Turkish Abies cilicica, Abies pinsapo seems to be one of the first species to differentiate from the hypothesised common tertiary ancestor of all current Mediterranean species of this genus, including the widely spread Abies alba (Linares, 2011; Xiang et al, 2009). The consequences of climate change involving an increase of temperature and a decrease of rainfall are likely to further reduce the chance of survival of these unique stands (Linares et al, 2009) Conservation management of these ecosystems requires a thorough understanding of its current dynamics that were heavily influenced by past human disturbances and subsequent conservation attempts (Linares & Carreira, 2009). Trees acquire growth resources gathering them from their surrounding space and resource partitioning has much to do with space partitioning
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