Abstract

BackgroundMulti-purpose use of forests in a sustainable way forces a recognition of how introduction of alien woody species in forests with different land use histories affect native plants other than trees. Lingonberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea is an important understory component of temperate and boreal forests and provider of valuable non-wood forest products. Here we studied effects of land use changes and introduction of Northern red oak Quercus rubra on lingonberry in mesic Scots pine forests (in central Poland). We measured lingonberry cover, height of shoots, biomass of stems and leaves, and fruit productivity. Shoots were collected within 200 research plots located in recent and ancient Scots pine forests, with and without Q. rubra.ResultsWe found that V. vitis-idaea reached lower cover, aboveground biomass and fruit production in recent than ancient forests and in forests with than without Q. rubra. The fruit production in recent pine forest was only 2% of that reported in ancient pine forest, and V. vitis-idaea did not reproduce generatively in forests with Q. rubra. Biomass and carbon sequestration of V. vitis-idaea in forests with alien (invasive) trees decreased by 75% compared to ancient pine forest. Effects were also clear at the individual shoot level – in less suitable conditions we found taller heights and higher biomass allocation into stems than foliage. Biomass allocation in fruiting and non-fruiting shoots in pine forests was also different – less of the dry biomass of fruiting shoots was allocated to leaves than to stems.ConclusionsIn the age of high interest in ecosystem services and discussions about usage of alien tree species as alternatives in forest management, our results clearly indicate disruption of ecosystem services provided by V. vitis-idaea in the presence of Q. rubra. Lingonberry benefited from the continuity of forest land use, however, regardless of land-use legacy, alien tree introduction led to decline in abundance of species crucial for ecosystem functioning. Therefore, to maintain valuable native species and for conservation of ecosystem services delivery, we suggest limiting the introduction of Q. rubra in areas with abundant V. vitis-idaea, especially in forests with continuous forest land-use history.

Highlights

  • Multi-purpose use of forests in a sustainable way forces a recognition of how introduction of alien woody species in forests with different land use histories affect native plants other than trees

  • Patterns of lingonberry occurrence and abundance Vaccinium vitis-idaea reached the highest cover in ancient pine forests (27.1% ± 1.3%), lower (13.7% ± 0.8%; ANOVA df = 3, F = 19.07, p < 0.0001) in recent pine forests, and the lowest – in ancient and recent forests with Q. rubra (0.16% ± 0.01% and 0.03% ± 0.03%, respectively)

  • Impact of former land-use and Q. rubra occurrence on biomass allocation in shoots Our study revealed differences among V. vitis-idaea shoots from ancient and recent forests, as well as between pine and mixed forests (Fig. 2, Supporting Information I)

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Summary

Introduction

Multi-purpose use of forests in a sustainable way forces a recognition of how introduction of alien woody species in forests with different land use histories affect native plants other than trees. Lingonberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea is an important understory component of temperate and boreal forests and provider of valuable non-wood forest products. The forest understory layer contains the majority of species richness within temperate and boreal forest ecosystems (Whigham 2004; Gilliam 2007), including numerous plants which are a source of a valuable nonwood forest products (NWFPs; Laird et al 2010) and are important for delivery of forest ecosystem services (MEA 2005; Landuyt et al 2019). The multi-purpose use of forests in sustainable ways forces a recognition of how any management activities affect forest components other than trees (Felton et al 2016; Sutherland et al 2016). The conservation of understory components is important with regard to the loss of native biodiversity (Hunter 1999; CBD 2010)

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