Disturbance history drives current compositional and diversity patterns of primary Picea abies (L.) Karst. forest vegetation

Abstract

Development of primary spruce forests is driven by a series of disturbances, which also have an important influence on the understorey vegetation and its diversity. Early post-disturbance processes have been intensively studied, however, very little is known about the long-term effects of disturbances on the understorey. We quantified disturbance history using dendrochronological methods to investigate its impact on vascular plant diversity and understorey species composition. We sampled 141 plots randomly assigned throughout primary stands located in the zone of natural montane acidophilous forests dominated by Picea abies (L.) Karst. in the Western Carpathians. Dendrochronological, dendrometric, and environmental parameters were related to understorey properties using ordination methods and a Bayesian approach using multilevel linear models (GLMM).Time since the last disturbance (23–260 years ago; mostly windstorms and bark beetle outbreaks) had a significant effect on understorey species composition of the current communities, and it also interacted with disturbance severity to influence species diversity. The effect of disturbances on the understorey was largely mediated by the alteration of stand structure (age, DBH, canopy openness), Vaccinium myrtillus L. cover, and topsoil chemical properties. A period of severe disturbances between 1860 and 1890 resulted in a legacy of our current, relatively homogeneous spruce stands with less diverse sciophilous understorey dominated by V. myrtillus, which is in contrast to heterogeneous stands (in terms of age and spatial structure) driven by small-scale, lower-severity disturbances, which led to an understorey enriched by species with higher demands on light and topsoil quality (higher K concentration and lower C/N ratio).All developmental pathways following disturbances create a unique complex of spatiotemporal understorey variability in the montane spruce forests. Therefore, to preserve their full diversity, disturbances of all severities and sizes should be accepted as natural drivers, both in the field of nature conservation and close-to-nature forestry efforts.