Abstract
A strong windstorm in November 2004 resulted in a huge blown-down spruce forest area in the southern part of the Tatra National Park in the Western Carpathians in Slovakia, Central Europe. The aim of this work is to study the vegetation composition of spruce forest at differently managed sites four years after this disturbance. Four study areas were selected for this purpose: (<strong><em>i</em></strong>) an area where the fallen trees were extracted and new seedlings were planted; (<strong><em>ii</em></strong>) an area, which was hit by a forest fire after the extraction; (<strong><em>iii</em></strong>) an area where no active management was applied; (<strong><em>iv</em></strong>) a reference forest unaffected by such disturbance. A total of 100 plots were selected, 25 of each area type. The result of DCA and CCA analyses consistently indicated that after this short period the non-extracted and extracted areas are currently most similar to the reference forest area, while the fire affected area differed. A one-way ANOVA comparing species cover for the different plot sizes indicated some significant differences between the extracted and non-extracted plots. The abundance of certain species commonly occurring in spruce forests, such as <em>Dyopteris carthusiana</em> agg., <em>Vaccinium myrtillus</em> and <em>Avenella flexuosa</em>, correlated weli with the non-extracted plots, compared to the extracted plots. Coverage of these species was lowest on burned plots. The lowest Shannon-Wiener’s diversity values were recorded in burned plots. This was most likely a consequence of mono-dominant competitive species spread, (mainly <em>Chamerion angustifolium</em>) which profited from the altered ecological conditions following the fire. Although some differences were also registered in the Shannon-Wiener diversity index between the remaining research plots, however these were not statistically significant. The most important results of our investigations include the extensive influence of fire disturbance on vegetation. Study revealed that the wind-disturbed area is able to regenerate sufficiently without human intervention.
Highlights
Disturbances are a common phenomenon in European temperate and boreal natural forests [1], and they are generally a natural and integral part of forest ecosystems [2]
The main differences between EXT and exist in the distribution of the plots on the ordination diagram
Species typical for the association Vaccinio myrtilli-Piceetum, such as Picea abies, Vaccinium myrtillus, Maianthemum bifolium, Dryopteris carthusiana agg. and Oxalis acetosella are concentrated close to the right side of the ordination diagram, while species connected with burning, such as Calluna vulgaris and the forest clearing vegetation with Chamerion angustifolium, such as Salix caprea and Rubus idaeus occur on the left side
Summary
Disturbances are a common phenomenon in European temperate and boreal natural forests [1], and they are generally a natural and integral part of forest ecosystems [2] Natural disturbance factors such as windbreak play a major role in the successional cycle of natural forests [3] and in plant community dynamics [4,5]. The aim of this work is to compare the vegetation four years after the calamity in four areas affected by windbreak It focuses firstly on the influence of fire and wind disturbance on vegetation composition and secondly on the effects of different management techniques on tree regeneration and on the subsequent resurgence of typical spruce forest species. Species diversity in the early successional stage following creation is discussed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
