Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Structure and regeneration patterns of the Juniperus excelsa Bieb. stands in the central part of the Nestos valley in the northeast of Greece, in the context of anthropogenic disturbances and nurse plant facilitation

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Ecological Research

Abstract

In order to analyse the structure and regeneration patterns of the Juniperus excelsa Bieb. stands on the slopes of the Nestos valley, 40 sample plots were established and more than 120 J. excelsa trees and seedlings were cut and collected. The main results of this research indicate that stand structure, species mixture, age structure and stand development patterns were strongly determined by the interaction of anthropogenic disturbances such as grazing and illegal cuttings, and the facilitation of adult J. excelsa trees in the establishment of the J. excelsa seedlings. Their effect was influenced by site quality and J. excelsa together with other species ecology. Under present conditions, almost all J. excelsa seedlings, except for a small number of plants, are found under the facilitation of nurse plants that belong to the same species. It seems that the layer of litter underneath the nurse plants combined with the protection of seedlings against grazing play an important role in the establishment and growth of J. excelsa seedlings.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahmed M, Ahmed I, Anjum PI (1989) A study of natural regeneration of Juniperus excelsa M. Bieb. in Baluchistan, Pakistan. Pak J Bot 21:118–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed M, Shaukat SS, Buzdar AH (1990) Population structure and dynamics of Juniperus excelsa in Balouchistan. Pak J Veg Sci 1:271–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Athanasiadis N (1986) Forest botany (in Greek). Part II, Giahoudis, Giapoulis Thessaloniki, Greece

  • Auld TD (1995) Seedling survival under grazing in the arid perennial Acacia oswaldii. Biol Conserv 72:27–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakker ES, Olff H, Vandenberghe C, DeMaeyer K, Smit R, Gleichman JM, Vera FWM (2004) Ecological anachronisms in the recruitment of temperate light-demanding tree species in wooded pastures. J Appl Ecol 41:571–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belsky AJ (1994) Influences of trees on savanna productivity: tests of shade, nutrients and tree–grass competition. Ecology 75(4):922–932

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boratynski A, Browicz K, Zielinski J (1992) Chorology of trees and shrubs in Greece. Kornik, Poznan

  • Callaway RM (1992) Effect of shrubs on recruitment of Quercus douglasii and Quercus lobata in California. Ecology 73:2118–2128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callaway RM (1997) Positive interactions in plant communities and the individualistic-continuum concept. Oecologia 112:143–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callaway RM, Nadkarni NM, Mahall BE (1991) Facilitation and interference of Quercus douglasii on understory productivity in central California. Ecology 72(4):1484–1499

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carus S (2004) Increment and growth in Crimean Juniper (Juniperus excelsa Bieb.) stands in Isparta-Sütcüler region of Turkey. J Biol Sci 4:173–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen KI (1997) Cupressaceae. In: Strid A, Tan K (eds), Flora Hellenica. Koeltz Scientific Books, Germany, pp 9–14

  • Fisher M, Gardner AS (1995) The status and ecology of a Juniperus excelsa subsp. polycarpos woodland in the northern mountains of Oman. Vegetation 119:33–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Franco AC, Nobel PS (1988) Interactions between seedlings of Agave deserti and the nurse plant Hilaria rigida. Ecology 69:1731–1740

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fritts HC (1976) Tree rings and climate. Academic, New York

  • Garcia D, Obeso JR (2003) Facilitation by herbivore-mediated nurse plants in a threatened tree, Taxus baccata: local effects and landscape level consistency. Ecography 26:739–750

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardner AS Fisher M (1996) The distribution and status of the montane juniper woodlands of Oman. J Biogeogr 23:791–803

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gauquelin T, Dagnac J (1988) Caractéristiques édaphiques des groupements à Genévrier thurifère de Atlas marocains: étude des niveaux superficiels des sols sous couvert et hors couvert. Oecol Mediterr 14:43–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Gauquelin T, Bertaudiére V, Montés N, Badri W (1998) Cycle biogeochimique et hétérogénéité édaphique des groupements forestiers pré-steppiques à Genévrier thurifère du Haut Atlas de Marrakech (Maroc). Ecologie 29:177–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Gauquelin T, Bertaudiére V, Montés N, Badri W, Asmode JF (1999) Endangered stands of thuriferous juniper in the western Mediterranean basin: ecological status, conservation and management. Biodivers Conserv 8:1479–1498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Girden ER (1992) ANOVA: repeated measures, Sage university papers series on quantitative application on the social sciences, no 07-084. Newbury Part, Sage

  • Gómez JM (2005) Long-term effects of ungulates on performance, abundance, and spatial distribution of two montane herbs. Ecol Monogr 75(2):231–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomez KA, Gomez AA (1984) Statistical procedures for agricultural research, 2nd edn. Wiley, USA

  • Hajar AS, Faragalla AA, Al-Ghamdi KM (1991) Impact of biological stress on Juniperous excelsa M. Bieb. in south-western Saudi Arabia: insect stress. J Arid Environ 21:327–330

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmgren M, Scheffer M, Huston MA (1997) The interplay of facilitation and competition in plant communities. Ecology 78(7):1966–1975

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Husch B, Miller CI, Beers TW (1982) Forest mensuration, Wiley, USA

  • Huntly N (1991) Herbivores and the dynamics of communities and ecosystems. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 22:477–501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jaccard J (1998) Interaction effects in factorial analysis of variance, Sage University papers series on quantitative application on the social sciences, 07-118. Thousand Oaks, Sage

  • Jaksic FM, Fuentes ER (1980) Why are native herbs in the Chilean matorral more abundant beneath shrubs: microclimate or grazing? J Ecol 68:665–669

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Julien MP, Alard D, Balent G (2006) Patterns of ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) colonization in mountain grasslands: the importance of management practices. Plant Ecol 183:177–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirk R (1995) Experimental design: procedures for the behavioral sciences. Brooks/Cole, Pacific Grove

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuehl R (2000) Designs of experiments: statistical principles of research design and analysis. Duxbury Thomson Learning, Pacific Grove

  • Kutner M, Nachtsheim C, Neter J, Li W (2005) Applied linear statistical models. McGraw-Hill, Singapore

    Google Scholar 

  • Maestre FT, Bautista S, Cortina J (2003) Positive, negative and net effects in grass–shrub interactions in Mediterranean semiarid grasslands. Ecology 84(12):3186–3197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maragos N (1998) Management plan (in Greek) of Pascalia public forest, Forest Commission Stavroupolis

  • McEvoy PM, McAdam LM, Mosquera-Losada MR, Rigueiro-Rodriquez A (2006) Tree regeneration and sapling damage of pedunculate oak Quercus robur in a grazed forest in Galicia, NW Spain: a comparison of continuous and rotational grazing systems. Agro For Syst 66:85–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNaughton SJ (1985) Ecology of a grazing ecosystem: the Serengeti. Ecol Monogr 55:259–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milios E (2000) Structure and development patterns of the Ostrya carpinifolia pure and mixed stands in the western part of Nestos Valley. Silva Gandavensis 65:128–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Milios E (2004) The influence of stand development process on the height and volume growth of dominant Fagus sylvatica L. s.l. trees in the central Rhodope Mountains of north-eastern Greece. Forestry 77:17–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moro MJ, Pugnaire FI, Haase P, Puigdefabregas J (1997) Effect of the canopy of Retama sphaerocarpa on its understorey in a semiarid environment. Funct Ecol 11:425–431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Motta R, Garbarino F (2003) Stand history and its consequences for the present and future dynamic in two silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) stands in the high Pesio Valley (Piedmont, Italy). Ann For Sci 60:361–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver CD, Larson BC (1996) Forest stand dynamics. Wiley, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry DA (1994) Forest ecosystems. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore

  • Pugnaire F, Haase P, Puigdefabregas J (1996) Facilitation between higher plant species in a semiarid environment. Ecology 77:1420–1426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousset O, Lepart J (2000) Positive and negative interactions at different life stages of a colonizing species (Quercus humilis). J Ecol 88:401–412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schweingruber FH (1996) Tree-rings and environment dendroecology, Birmensdorf, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Berne

  • Siemann E, Rogers WE (2003) Changes in light and nitrogen availability under pioneer trees may indirectly facilitate tree invasions of grasslands. J Ecol 91:923–931

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smiris P (1991) Silviculture research of Chestnut forests (in Greek). Sci Ann Agric For Sch Thessaloniki 15:411–427

    Google Scholar 

  • Smit C, Den Ouden J, Müller-Schärer H (2006) Unpalatable plants facilitate tree sapling survival in wooded pastures. J Appl Ecol 43:305–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith DM, Larson BC, Kelty MJ, Ashton PMS (1997) The practice of silviculture. Applied forest ecology. Wiley, New York

  • Tecco PA, Gurvich DE, Diaz S, Pérez-Harguindenguy N, Cabido M (2006) Positive interaction between invasive plants: the influence of Pyracantha angustifolia on the recruitment of native and exotic woody species. Aust Ecol 31(3):293–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tewksbury JJ, Lloyd JD (2001) Positive interactions under nurse-plants: spatial scale, stress gradients and benefactor size. Oecologia 127:425–434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsiripidis I (2001) Plant communities of beech forests in Rodopi mountain range and their environmental assessment for reforestation. Ph.D. Thesis, (in Greek), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki

  • Tsiripidis I, Karagiannakidou V, Athanasiadis N (2005) Ecological and phytogeographical differentiation of beech forests in Greek Rodopi (Northeast Greece). Biologia 60:57–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Wied A, Galen C (1998) Plant parental care: conspecific nurse effects in Frasera speciosa and Cirsium scopulorum. Ecology 79:1657–1668

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, Pantazidou 193, 682 00, Orestiada, Greece

    Elias Milios, Elias Pipinis & Petros Petrou

  2. Prefecture of Xanthi, Dioikitirio, 67100, Xanthi, Greece

    Sofia Akritidou

  3. Department of Forestry and Natural Environment, Laboratory of Silviculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 540 06, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Paulos Smiris & Maria Aslanidou

Authors
  1. Elias Milios
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Elias Pipinis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Petros Petrou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sofia Akritidou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Paulos Smiris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Maria Aslanidou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elias Milios.

About this article

Cite this article

Milios, E., Pipinis, E., Petrou, P. et al. Structure and regeneration patterns of the Juniperus excelsa Bieb. stands in the central part of the Nestos valley in the northeast of Greece, in the context of anthropogenic disturbances and nurse plant facilitation. Ecol Res 22, 713–723 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-006-0310-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-006-0310-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation