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Summer drought and canopy opening increase the strength of the oak seedlings–shrub spatial association

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Annals of Forest Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

• Context

The knowledge of how shrub–seedling interactions vary with summer drought, canopy opening, and tree species is crucial for adapting forest management to climate change.

• Aims

The aim of this study was to assess variation in shrub–oak recruitment associations along a south–north drought climate gradient and between two levels of canopy cover in coastal dune forest communities in a climate change-adapted forest management perspective.

• Material and methods

Mapped data of associational patterns of seedlings of three oak species with interspecific pooled shrubs were analyzed using a bivariate pair correlation function in 10 (0.315 ha) regeneration plots located in forest and recent gap sites along the climate gradient. An index of association strength was calculated in each plot and plotted against a summer moisture index.

• Results

The association strength increased with increasing summer drought from wet south to dry north and from closed forests to gaps.

• Conclusion

Consistent with facilitation theory, our results suggest that climate change may shift associational patterns in coastal dune forest communities towards more positive associations, in particular in canopy gaps. In a perspective of climate change, foresters may need to conserve understory shrubs in gaps in order to promote oak species regeneration.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Fabien Rizinjirabake and Chantal Hélou for assistance in the field. We are grateful to the “Office national de Foret” (O.N.F.) and in particularly Didier Canteloup for permission to work in coastal sand dune forests. We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions and comments. The first author received a scholarship from EU through Erasmus Mundus program Lot 10.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bordeaux, U.M.R. INRA 1202 BIOGECO, Avenue des Facultés, 33405, Talence cedex, France

    Hassan Muhamed & Jean-Paul Maalouf

  2. University of Bordeaux, U.M.R. CNRS 5805 EPOC, Avenue des Facultés, 33405, Talence cedex, France

    Richard Michalet

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  1. Hassan Muhamed
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  2. Jean-Paul Maalouf
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Correspondence to Hassan Muhamed.

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Handling Editor: Douglass Jacobs

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Muhamed, H., Maalouf, JP. & Michalet, R. Summer drought and canopy opening increase the strength of the oak seedlings–shrub spatial association. Annals of Forest Science 70, 345–355 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-013-0264-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-013-0264-1

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