Abstract
Converting monocultures into mixed stands has become a popular idea over the last decades, in light of the growing body of evidence on the positive effects of mixing tree species, on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. On the other hand, disruption of a habitat’s temporal continuity can be detrimental for many species and affects soil conditions. We studied the effects of the reintroduction of the silver fir in beech-dominated forests on soil food web conditions and functioning. To that end, we used several indices derived from soil nematodes communities (enrichment index, structure index, nematode channel ratio, metabolic footprints) sampled in three types of stand: beech-dominated forests (N = 5), mixed silver fir–beech forests (N = 5) and pure silver fir forests (N = 5). There was no difference of soil food web conditions (structure and enrichment) between stand types. But the presence of silver fir reduced the metabolic activity and negatively affected the abundance of several trophic groups. Differences in litter quality rather than litter quantity might drive those patterns.
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Acknowledgements
This research was conducted at the Cevennes National Park as part of the national action plan to preserve ancient forests and the DANE project led by ELISOL environnement. We thank Mathieu Baconnet and Sophie Giraud for their advice, Valère Marsaudon and Romain Guntz for their information on study sites, Francois Calatayud for his assistance with SIG, Sophie Mennicken and Florian Buralli for their assistance in fieldwork, Michel Goulard and Magali San-Cristobal for their help with statistics. We also thank Michael Paul for English correction. This study is financially supported by FEDER, FNADT and EI-PURPAN.
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Kondratow, F., Chauvin, C., Villenave, C. et al. Nematode communities after the reintroduction of silver fir in beech-dominated forests. Eur J Forest Res 138, 957–965 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-019-01216-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-019-01216-z