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Simulating forest succession along ecological gradients in southern Central Europe

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Abstract

Forest stand development was simulated using a forest succession model of the JABOWA/FORET type. The environmental conditions are representative for a wide spectrum of Swiss forest sites ranging from 220 m to 1 700 m a.s.l. Each model run covers a period of 1 200 yr and is based on the averaged successional characteristics of 50 forest plots with an individual size of 1/12 ha. These small forest plots serve as basic units to simulate establishment, growth, and death of individual trees of 29 species. Existing light in the forest stand, climatic conditions, soil properties, and other environmental factors control the growth of each individual tree. Compared with previous simulation studies, some major modifications were made, including the incorporation of the indicator values of Ellenberg (1979) to describe the ecophysiological behaviour of the species considered. As a test, the simulated species composition through time was compared with the actual vegetation and the potentially natural species composition on the corresponding site types. The extensive comparison revealed that approximately 80% of the simulations match the expected species configurations. Thus, it was concluded that the model is valid for the purpose of evaluating impacts of natural and human disturbances on forest communities.

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Author notes

  1. Felix Kienast

    Present address: Swiss Federal Institute of Forestry Research, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 37830, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

    Felix Kienast

  2. Swiss Federal Institute of Forestry Research, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Nino Kuhn

Authors
  1. Felix Kienast
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  2. Nino Kuhn
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Kienast, F., Kuhn, N. Simulating forest succession along ecological gradients in southern Central Europe. Vegetatio 79, 7–20 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00044844

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