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Mixed Nothofagus forest management: a crucial link between regeneration, site and microsite conditions

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Abstract

Canopy openings due to harvesting practices constitute a disturbance that changes the environmental conditions of microsites. Its impact on the relative performance of the regeneration of different tree species could also be affected by site conditions and forest structure. The objective of this study was to determine how regeneration establishment of Nothofagus mixed forests is influenced by shelterwood silvicultural system. We focused on Lanín National Reserve (Neuquén, Argentina) where this silvicultural system has been applied since the late 1980s. The microsite scale analysis (one managed forest) showed that canopy cover was a key factor conditioning Nothofagus regeneration establishment, with older and larger individuals growing in less exposed microsites. Low understory dominance and leaf litter thickness were also associated with microsites with regeneration, while successful establishment (saplings taller than 2 m) showed positive correlation with soil moisture. Variations of these patterns were observed among species reflecting their specific eco-physiological requirements. On a stand scale (two managed forests along Lacar watershed) regeneration of N. dombeyi and N. alpina showed significant correlation with site and specific basal area, while N. obliqua was correlated with total basal area. Regeneration taller than 2 m was mainly correlated with site and altitude. At both, microsite and stand scale, the relative abundance of species changed between mature trees and regeneration. In particular, for N. alpina, an abundance decrease was observed on regeneration. Our results suggest that forest management systems should diversify silvicultural practices throughout the forest landscape, to provide at each site the micro-environmental conditions required by each species in order to maintain biodiversity and forest functions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the collaboration of staff at the Departamento Forestal del Parque Nacional Lanín, particularly M. Peñalba and M. Lara for the provision of permanent plots information, Cátedra de Ordenación Forestal de la Universidad Nacional del Comahue and at the Grupo de Genética Ecológica y Mejoramiento Forestal del INTA Bariloche, particularly A. Aparicio for help with data analysis and F. Umaña to kindly provide the map of the studied plots.

Funding

This work was supported by the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria [Proyecto PNFOR 044001 “Domesticación de especies forestales nativas”], the Universidad Nacional del Comahue [Proyecto 04/S016 “Ecología y manejo del bosque mixto de Nothofagus: un avance hacia la conservación”] and the Programa de Mejoramiento de Especies Forestales (PROMEF) [BIRF 7520-AR].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cátedra de Ordenación Forestal, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Pasaje de La Paz 235, San Martín de los Andes, Neuquén, Argentina

    Georgina Sola, Hernán Attis Beltrán & Luis Chauchard

  2. Grupo de Genética Ecológica y Mejoramiento Forestal, Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB, INTA EEA Bariloche- CONICET), Bariloche, Argentina

    Georgina Sola, Verónica El Mujtar & Leonardo Gallo

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  1. Georgina Sola
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  2. Verónica El Mujtar
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  3. Hernán Attis Beltrán
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  4. Luis Chauchard
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  5. Leonardo Gallo
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Correspondence to Georgina Sola.

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Sola, G., El Mujtar, V., Attis Beltrán, H. et al. Mixed Nothofagus forest management: a crucial link between regeneration, site and microsite conditions. New Forests 51, 435–452 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-019-09741-w

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