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Field maple and hornbeam populations along a 4-m elevation gradient in an alluvial forest

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Abstract

Tree species composition of Central European alluvial hardwood forests has changed with the arrival of flood-intolerant and mesic species. Within this group of tree species, a dominant role is played by field maple (Acer campestre) and European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus). This study was performed in the Lanzhot natural forests at the confluence of the Morava and the Dyje Rivers, which are considered to be one of the most natural alluvial hardwood forests in Central Europe and where the absence of the direct influence by humans for 75 years has allowed spontaneous development. Our basic research questions were as follows: (1) does the mutual proportion and structure of field maple and hornbeam populations change along an elevation gradient of 4 m in an alluvial forest and (2) does the tree spatial pattern of field maple and hornbeam change along this gradient? The study found significant differences in the development of hornbeam and field maple populations with increasing elevation in an alluvial hardwood forest. While the strength of the hornbeam population clearly increases with increasing elevation, the field maple population does not. Compared to hornbeam, field maple is closer to the r-strategy side of the K-r continuum on alluvial sites. Our study reveals that field maple and hornbeam are mainly distributed in clusters on alluvial sites. Both species are concentrated at places with lower flooding intensity, i.e. to higher elevation sites. The study shows that tree spatial patterns could change dynamically along a short elevation gradient in alluvial hardwood forest.

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Acknowledgments

The paper was developed and published thanks to financial support from the Project VaV-SP/2d2/138/08 (Dendromass cycling in near-natural forests of the Czech Republic depending upon time and different habitats) and the Research Programme MSM 6293359101 (Research into sources and indicators of biodiversity in the cultivated landscape in the context of the dynamics of its fragmentation).

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  1. Department of Forest Ecology, Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening, Lidická 25/27, 602 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    David Janik, Dušan Adam, Tomáš Vrška, Libor Hort, Pavel Unar, Kamil Král, Pavel Šamonil & David Horal

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  1. David Janik
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Correspondence to David Janik.

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Communicated by R. Matyssek.

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Janik, D., Adam, D., Vrška, T. et al. Field maple and hornbeam populations along a 4-m elevation gradient in an alluvial forest. Eur J Forest Res 130, 197–208 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-010-0421-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-010-0421-0

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