Author : Thomas Andrew Nagel
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 142 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (456 download)
Book Synopsis Disturbance regimes and dynamics in old-growth fir-beech forests of the Dinaric mountains by : Thomas Andrew Nagel
Download or read book Disturbance regimes and dynamics in old-growth fir-beech forests of the Dinaric mountains written by Thomas Andrew Nagel and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This research examined disturbance processes and forest dynamics in two old-growth Fagus sylvatica - Abies alba forests in the Dinaric mountains. To do this, a combination of method was used, including direct observations of recent windthrow events, sampling of tree fall gaps, and historical reconstruction of disturbancies using dendroecological tehniques. In the Peckaforest reserve in Slovenia, two recent windstorm events caused substantial damage to the canopy, resulting in mortality, and created gaps upto 1500 m2. Furthermore, dendroecological evidence in the same reserve suggests that periodic storms damaged the forest in the past. The pattern of canopy damage in these events was also found to have an important influence on regeneration patterns. In the Perucica forest reserve in Bosnia and Herzegovina, large canopy gaps up to 6000 m2 in size with numerous windthrown gap makers also indicate the occurence of intermediate severity windstorm disturbance. Thus, the results suggest that both small-scale gaps as well as periodic formation of larger openings from wind disturbance play an important role in the dynamics of these forests. These findings challenge the traditional view of central European forest dynamics, which suggests that continuous, endogenous tree mortality processes, causing small canopy gaps, drive forest dynamics.