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Ground vegetation dynamics in mountain spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karsten) forests recovering after air pollution stress impact

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Abstract

Our study focuses on the ground vegetation dynamics and its dependence on microsite conditions in declined climax mountain Norway spruce forests during the recovery period (1995–2006) following upon the considerable decrease of SO2 pollution. We showed that ground vegetation development shifted from prevailing mosses and vegetation-free sites covered with spruce litter to dominance by Avenella flexuosa during the earlier period of massive decline of the observed ecosystems. The expansion of Vaccinium myrtillus seems to occur mainly under the gradually defoliating tree crowns whereas larger canopy gaps and quickly deforested areas are more successfully colonized by grasses, especially Calamagrostis villosa. The gradual spruce stand decline, as well as the corresponding ground vegetation dynamics, proceeded until the end of the twentieth century. Afterwards, the ground vegetation responded to the interruption of trees dying and stopped its expansion on spruce litter microsites. Retreat of both dominant grasses accompanied by the remarkable increase in cover of mosses occurred.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the European Union (contract PL013388), by the project of the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic OC 141, and by the Research Plan of the Institute of Systems Biology and Ecology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic: AV0Z60870520.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Systems Biology and Ecology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic

    Eva Vávrová & Pavel Cudlín

  2. Institute for Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Benátská 2, 128 01, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    Eva Vávrová

  3. Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6-Suchdol, Czech Republic

    Ondřej Cudlín

  4. Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry, Zemědělská 1, 613 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Dušan Vavříček

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  1. Eva Vávrová
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Correspondence to Eva Vávrová.

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Vávrová, E., Cudlín, O., Vavříček, D. et al. Ground vegetation dynamics in mountain spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karsten) forests recovering after air pollution stress impact. Plant Ecol 205, 305–321 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-009-9619-y

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