Changes in the hardwood groves of the Martonvásár Manor Park (Hungary) in the last 30 years

Abstract

The subject of the present study is the monitoring of the hardwood groves at the Martonvasar Manor Park with the involvement of 20 earlier (recorded in 1980–1981) and 20 current (recorded in 2011–2012) phytocoenological releves. The manor park was created in the first half of the 19th century. Since then the woods along the St Laszlo stream have developed into species-rich and semi-natural forests, which can be identified as related to the oak-ash-elm groves (Scillo vindobonensis-Ulmetum) of the Zamoly Basin and the Csepel Island. The results of the current monitoring repeated 30 years after the first survey show momentous changes in forest dynamics such as the ageing-related opening of the upper canopy and an intense closure of the lower canopy and shrub layer. The ratio of the invasive species doubled. Present findings may provide additional information for long-term forest ecology research, however, results could be considered as changes of a semi-natural hardwood forest with minimal human impact.