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Temperate forest development during secondary succession: effects of soil, dominant species and management

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Abstract

With the increase in abandoned agricultural lands in Western Europe, knowledge on the successional pathways of newly developing forests becomes urgent. We evaluated the effect of time, soil type and dominant species type (shade tolerant or intolerant) on the development during succession of three stand attributes: above-ground biomass, stand height (HT) and stem density (SD). Additionally, we compared above-ground biomass (AGB) in natural and planted forests, using ten chronosequences (8 from the literature and 2 from this study). Both AGB and HT increased over time, whereas SD decreased. HT, SD and AGB differed among species types. For example, birch had greater HT than alder, willow and ash at a similar age and had higher SD than pine and oak at a similar age. However, birch showed lower AGB than pine. HT and AGB differed among soil types. They were higher in rich soil than in poor soils. Comparative analysis between chronosequences showed an effect of the regeneration method (natural regeneration vs plantation) on above-ground biomass. Planted sites had higher AGB than natural regeneration. Time, soil type, species and regeneration method influenced the mechanism of stand responses during secondary succession. These characteristics could be used to clarify the heterogeneity and potential productivity of such spontaneously growing temperate forest ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Dr. L. Vesterdal and his colleagues for helping us with information and data on his paper Vesterdal et al. (2007). We are also grateful for Dr. M. D. Powers and USDA forest service Northern Research Station for helping us with information and data on article Powers et al. (2012). A. K. Bose was a recipient of an ERASMUS MUNDUS master scholarship provided by the University of Eastern Finland and Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University and Research Center, P. O. Box 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Arun K. Bose & Frans Bongers

  2. Team Vegetation, Forest and Landscape Ecology, Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Center, P. O. Box 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Mart-Jan Schelhaas

  3. Institut de recherche sur les forêts, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445, boul. de l’Université, Rouyn-Noranda, QC, J9X 5E4, Canada

    Arun K. Bose & Marc J. Mazerolle

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  1. Arun K. Bose
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Correspondence to Arun K. Bose.

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Communicated by C. Ammer.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 6.

Table 6 Allometric equations to estimate above-ground biomass (in kg) from inventory data, D is diameter at breast height (cm) and H is height (m)
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Bose, A.K., Schelhaas, MJ., Mazerolle, M.J. et al. Temperate forest development during secondary succession: effects of soil, dominant species and management. Eur J Forest Res 133, 511–523 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-014-0781-y

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