Abstract
The study zone includes one of the largest montane old-growth forests in Europe (Slatioara UNESCO site), and understanding the structure and functioning of sill intact forests in Europe is essential for grounding management strategies for secondary forests. For this reason, we set out to analyze the dependencies between aboveground biomass (AgB), tree species and size diversity and terrain morphology, as well as the relationship between biomass and diversity, since neither of these issues have been sufficiently explored. We found that tree species diversity decreases with increased solar radiation and elevation. Tree size heterogeneity reaches its highest mean values at elevations between 1001 and 1100 m, on slopes between 50 and 60 degrees. AgB is differentiated with elevation; the highest mean AgB (293 tonnes per hectare) is recorded at elevations between 801 and 900 m, while it decreases to 79 tonnes per hectare at more than 1500 m a.s.l. It is also influenced by tree species diversity and tree size heterogeneity, with the highest AgB reached in the most complex forest ecosystems in terms of structural diversity. We showed that intact temperate montane forests develop maximum biomass for optimum species diversity and highest size heterogeneity; all three are modulated mainly by elevation.
Highlights
Intact forests are important repositories of precious irreplaceable and often endangered biodiversity, and they provide a wide range of valuable ecosystem services [1]
Eleven tree species represented by 8296 living individuals and three N2000 forest habitats were found in 178 sample plot (SP), while the remaining 15 SPs were assigned to other types (non-Natura 2000 forest habitats (NN)) (Table 2)
We compiled data collected from natural forests in order to figure out the complex relationships between diversity, biomass and terrain conditions across different habitats
Summary
Intact forests are important repositories of precious irreplaceable and often endangered biodiversity, and they provide a wide range of valuable ecosystem services [1]. Global scale studies reveal a consistent positive relationship between tree species diversity and productivity [16], using tree species richness as surrogate for biodiversity because taxonomic diversity is considered to incorporate other traits such as functional, phylogenetic, and genomic diversity [16,28]. Other large-scale studies (in North America and Europe) indicate a positive relationship between species richness and tree productivity, while addressing the influence of environmental and climatic conditions [19,31]; the role of biodiversity tends to be stronger in harsher climates (dry Mediterranean or boreal) [15,32]
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