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Ground vegetation, forest floor and mineral topsoil in a clear-cutting and reforested Scots pine stands of different ages: a case study

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Abstract

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is a dominant tree species on nutrient-poor sandy soils in the Baltic region's hemiboreal forests. A final clear-cut in commercial stands is a common practice. However, the maintenance of relatively stable vegetation indices and ecological processes throughout the rotation promote new scientific and social debates. Overall, clear-cuttings disturb forest functions for a certain period, i.e., phytocenoses with forest-based species composition, biodiversity, and vegetation cover. Soil organic carbon (SOC) and nutrients can also be affected. As key indices, ground vegetation, SOC and main nutrients in the forest floor and in 40-cm topsoil layer were analysed in the clear-cuttings (not reforested) and in reforested 10-, 30-, and 101-year-old Scots pine stands in 2020. The results show an increase in species richness at the beginning of stand formation up to 30 years after clear-cutting; species typical of a mature forest occurred relatively quickly post-harvest. The mean mass of forest floor vegetation was negatively related to the richness of ground vegetation species. Forest floor pH consequently decreased with stand age. Higher SOC levels were in the mature stand. In the mineral topsoil layers, total SOC and total nitrogen were in the upper 10-cm layer in the 30-year-old stand. A post-harvest peak in mineral N concentration was observed and other nutrients, especially mobile P2O5, K2O, Ca2+ and Mg2+, increased the clear-cuttings and in the 10-year-old stand compared to the mature stand.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is based on Dovilė Gustienė Ph.D. project “Peculiarities of reforestation in clear cuttings of Scots pine stands on nutrient poor sites” (2017–2023), and partly presents research findings obtained through the Long-term Research Program “Sustainable Forestry and Global Changes” implemented by the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry. This work was conducted within the framework of the CAR-ES network for 2016–2020, funded by Nordic Forest Research.

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  1. Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Liepų str. 1, Girionys, 53101, Kaunas District, Lithuania

    Dovilė Gustienė, Iveta Varnagirytė-Kabašinskienė & Vidas Stakėnas

  2. Kaunas Forestry and Environmental Engineering University of Applied Sciences, Liepų str. 1, Girionys, 53101, Kaunas District, Lithuania

    Dovilė Gustienė

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  1. Dovilė Gustienė
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Correspondence to Iveta Varnagirytė-Kabašinskienė.

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The project was funded by Ph.D. project “Peculiarities of reforestation in clear cuttings of Scots pine stands on nutrient poor sites” (2017–2023), implemented by the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry.

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Corresponding editor: Zhu Hong.

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Gustienė, D., Varnagirytė-Kabašinskienė, I. & Stakėnas, V. Ground vegetation, forest floor and mineral topsoil in a clear-cutting and reforested Scots pine stands of different ages: a case study. J. For. Res. 33, 1247–1257 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-021-01434-5

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