Seedling survival and dynamics of upper timberline in Central Apennines

• Autorzy: Catorci A. , Scapin W. , Tardella F. M. , Vitanzi A.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Despite several studies on the timberline dynamics in Europe were carried out in the last decades, very few papers refer to mountain areas where the timberline is composed of broadleaved trees, and no research was conducted on the dynamics of Apennine beech timberline in relation to seedling survival. The research aim was to analyse the beech wood timberline dynamics in the central Apennines, with reference to seedling survival. Furthermore, factors affecting seedling survival were identified. To assess the forest ecotone dynamics, vegetation layer cover, rock fragment cover and information about forest management and krummholz occurrence were collected in sampling plots placed over 1,600 m a.s.l., on north-facing slopes. The beech seedlings occurring in Brachypodium genuense-dominated stands above the timberline were counted and monitored along two growing seasons. Soil temperature, soil moisture, and photosynthetically active radiation available for seedlings (PHAR) in grasslands above timberline were measured. The research outputs indicate that timberline is not a natural boundary and that there is no evidence of its extension upwards. The greatest number of beech seedlings was recorded in late spring. The one-year mortality rate ranged from 71 to 100%. None of the seedlings still alive in the early autumn of the first year were recorded in the following spring. The competitive exclusion by Brachypodium genuense individuals, which limit the incident PHAR, and the low soil moisture during summer, were identified as the main factors that account for the high mortality of seedlings and affect beech regeneration above timberline. The effect of competition is probably intensified by the lack of pioneer shrubs which could otherwise serve as nurse plants for beech seedlings and protect them from browsing by wild ungulates. Thus, both the current and the past land use may be considered as driving forces in timberline dynamics. Probably, also the trend of global warming, that in the Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean climatic context would determine the increase of summer drought stress, could worsen the effect of competitive exclusion of beech seedlings, so that it can be hypothesized that the expansion upwards of the upper timberline in the Apennines could be totally blocked.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

seedling survival; dynamics; beech; photosynthetic active radiation; grassland; soil temperature; soil moisture; timberline; forest management

• Wydawca: -
• Czasopismo: Polish Journal of Ecology
• Rocznik: 2012
• Tom: 60
• Numer: 1
• Opis fizyczny: p.79-94,fig.,ref.

Twórcy

autor

Catorci A.

• School of Environmental Sciences, University of Camerino, Via Pontoni 5, I-62032 Camerino (MC), Italy

autor

Scapin W.

autor

Tardella F. M.

autor

Vitanzi A.

Bibliografia

• Anselmi S. 1975 – La selva, il pascolo, l’allevamento nelle Marche dei secoli XIV e XV [The forest, grazing, breeding in the Marches of the 14th and 15th centuries] – Universita di Urbino, Istituto di economia e statistica – Aralia Editore, Urbino (in Italian).
• Baeza J.M., Pastor A., Martín J., Ibánez M. 1991 – Mortalidad postimplantación en repoblaciones de Pinus halepensis, Quercus ilex, Ceratonia siliqua y Tetraclinis articulata en la provincia de Alicante [Postimplantation mortality in Pinus halepensis, Quercus ilex, Ceratonia siliqua and Tetraclinis articulata reforestations in the province of Alicante] – Studia Oecolog. 8: 139–146 (in Italian).
• Biondi E., Casavecchia S., Pinzi M., Allegrezza M., Baldoni M. 2002 – The syntaxonomy of the mesophilous woods of the Central and Northern Apennines (Italy) – Fitosociologia, 39: 71–93.
• Brändli U.-B. 2000 – Waldzunahme in der Schweiz – gestern und morgen – Informationsblatt Forschungsbereich Landschaft – Eidg. Forschungsanstalt WSL, 45: 1–4.
• Buckland S.M., Thompson K., Hodgson J.G., Grime J.G. 2001 – Grassland invasions: effects of manipulations of climate and management – J. Appl. Ecol. 38: 289–294.
• Caccianiga M., Andreis C., Leonelli G., Pelfini M., Sala D. 2008 – Climate continentality and timberline species distribution in the Alps – Pl. Biosystems, 142: 66–78.
• Catorci A., Ballelli S., Gatti R., Vitanzi A. 2008a – Phytosociological study of Ambro Valley’s grasslands (Sibillini Mountains National Park, central Italy) – Inf. Bot. Ital. 40: 193–241.
• Catorci A., Biondi E., Casavecchia S., Pesaresi S., Vitanzi A., Foglia M., Galassi S., Pinzi M., Angelini E., Bianchelli M., Ventrone F., Cesaretti S., Gatti R. 2007b – La Carta della vegetazione e degli elementi di paesaggio vegetale delle Marche (scala 1:50.000) per la progettazione e la gestione della rete ecologica regionale – Fitosociologia, 44 Suppl. 1: 115–118.
• Catorci A., Cesaretti S., Gatti R., Ottaviani G. 2011b – Abiotic and biotic changes due to spread of Brachypodium genuense (DC.) Roem. & Schult. in sub-Mediterranean meadows – Community Ecol. 12 117–125.
• Catorci A., Gatti R., Cesaretti S., Ballelli S. 2008b – Gestione integrata degli aspetti ecologici e paesaggistici degli ecosistemi montani: il paesaggio delle praterie [Integrated management of ecological and landscape aspects of mountain ecosystems: the landscape of grasslands] (In: Laboratorio del Paesaggio: Indirizzi e progetti per le aree protette marchigiane [Laboratory of the landscape: Guidelines and plans for protected areas of the Marches] Eds: R. Corrado, M. Scotti) – ProgettoLeader Plus, Regione Marche, pp. 19–45 (in Italian).
• Catorci A., Gatti R., Picchio S., Vitanzi A. 2007a – L’approccio metodologico di tipo storico-cartografico tra gli strumenti di analisi e gestione di SIC e ZPS: un caso di studio nel Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini [The historical-cartographic methodological approach among the tools for the analysis and management of SCIs and SACs: a case study in Sibillini Mountain National Park] – Fitosociologia, 44 suppl. 1: 339–344.
• Catorci A., Ottaviani G., Cesaretti S. 2011a – Functional and coenological changes under different long-term management conditions in Apennine meadows (central Italy) – Phytocoenologia, 41: 45–58.
• Catorci A., Vitanzi A., Ballelli S. 2010 – Phytosociological study of beech and beechmixed woods in Monti Sibillini National Park (central Apennines, Italy) – Hacquetia, 9: 23–75.
• Coll L., Balandier P., Picon-Cochard C., Prévosto B., Curt T. 2003 – Competition for water between beech seedlings and surrounding vegetation in different light and vegetation composition conditions – Ann. For. Sci., 60: 593–600.
• Crawford R.M.M. 1989 – Studies in plant survival. Ecological case histories of plant adaptation to adversity. Studies in Ecology, 11 – Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, 296 pp.
• Davies R.J. 1987 – Trees and weeds. Weed control for successful tree establishment. Forestry commission – Handbook, HMSO Publications, London: 2–36.
• Davies M.A., Wrage K.J., Reich P.B., Tjoelker M.G., Schaeffer T., Muermann C. 1999 – Survival, growth, and photosynthesis of tree seedlings competing with herbaceous vegetation along a waterlight-nitrogen gradient – Plant Ecol. 145: 341–350.
• Di Giustino A., Stanisci A., Acosta A., Blasi C. 2002 – Il limite superiore della faggeta nella Majella Occidentale (Abruzzo) [The upper limit of beech forest in the Western Majella (Abruzzo)] – Inf. Bot. Ital. 34: 71–78 (in Italian).
• Di Pietro R. 2009 – Observations on the beech woodlands of the Apennines (peninsular Italy): an intricate biogeographical and syntaxonomical issue – Lazaroa, 30: 89–97.
• Di Stefano M. 1988 – Allevamento nomade e stanziale nella montagna maceratese, secoli XVIII e XIX [Nomadic and sedentary farming in the Macerata mountain, 18th and 19th centuries] – Proposte e Ricerche, 4: 32–61(in Italian).
• Dittmar C., Zech W., Elling W. 2003 – Growth variations of Common beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) under different climatic and environmental conditions in Europe – a dendroecological study – For. Ecol. Mange. 173: 63–78.
• Dullinger S., Dirnböck T., Köck R., Hochbichler F., Englisch T., Sauberer N., Grabherr G. 2005 – Interactions among tree-line conifers: Differential effects of pine on spruce and larch – J. Ecol. 93: 948–957.
• Espelta J.M., Retana J., Habrouk A. 2003 – An economic and ecological multi-criteria evaluation of reforestation methods to recover burned Pinus nigra forests in NE Spain – For. Ecol. Manage. 180: 185–198.
• Foglia M., Sparvoli D., Catorci A. 2007 – Analisi multi temporale dell’uso del suolo della dorsale appenninica marchigiana nel XIX e XX secolo [Multi-temporal analysis of land use of the Marche Apennines in the 19th and 20th centuries] – Braun-Blanquetia, 42: 47–72 (in Italian).
• Frochot H., Picard J.F., Dreyfus P. 1986 – La végétation herbacée obstacle aux plantations – Rev. For. Fr. 37: 271–279.
• Gehrig-Fasel J., Guisan A., Zimmermann N.E. 2007 – Tree line shifts in the Swiss Alps: climate change or land abandonment? – J. Veg. Sci. 18: 571–582.
• Geri F., Rocchini D., Chiarucci A. 2010 – Landscape metrics and topographical determinants of large-scale forest dynamics in a Mediterranean landscape – Landsc. Urban Plann. 95: 46–53.
• Hiroki S., Matsubara T. 1995 – Fluctuation of nut production and seedling appearance of a Japanese beech (Fagus crenata Blume) – Ecol. Research, 10: 161–169.
• Hofmann A. 1991 – Il faggio e le faggete in Italia. Ministero Risorse Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali, Corpo Forestale dello Stato, Roma – Collana Verde, 81, 140 pp. (in Italian).
• Holtmeier F.-K. 1981 – What does the term‘krummholz’ really mean? Observations with special reference to the Alps and the Colorado Front Range – Mountain Research and Development, 1/3–4: 253–260.
• Holtmeier F.-K. 1993 – Timberlines as indicators of climatic changes: problems and research need (In: Solifluction and Climate Variation in the Holocene. Ed. B. Frentzel) – Stuttgart, Jena, New York. Paläoklimaforschung, 9, pp. 211–222.
• Holtmeier F.-K. 2003 – Mountain timberlines. Ecology, patchiness, and dynamics – Advances in Global Change Research, 14 – Kluwer AcademicPublisher, Dordrecht, Boston, London, 369 pp.
• Holtmeier F.-K. 2009 – Mountain Timberlines: Ecology, Patchiness, and Dynamics – Advances in Global Change Research, 36 – Springer, 437 pp.
• Holtmeier F.-K., Broll G. 2005 – Sensivity and response of northern hemisphere altitudinal and polar timberlines to environmental change at landscape and local scales – Global Ecol. Biogeogr. 14: 395–410.
• Husheer S.W., Alastair W., Robertson A.W., Coomes D.A., Frampton C.M. 2006 – Herbivory and plant competition reduce mountain beech seedling growth and establishment in New Zealand – Pl. Ecol. 183: 245–256.
• I.P.L.A. 2001 – I tipi forestali delle Marche [Forest types of the Marches]. Regione Marche, Assessorato Agricoltura e Foreste – Ed. Diffusioni Grafiche S.p.A., Torino, 252 pp. (in Italian).
• Joffre R., Rambal S. 1993 – How tree cover influences the water balance of Mediterranean rangelands – Ecology, 74: 570–582.
• Kaligarič M., Culiberg M., Kramberger B. 2006 – Recent vegetation history of the North Adriatic grasslands: expansion and decay of an anthropogenic habitat – Folia Geobot. 41: 241–258.
• Körner C., Paulsen J. 2004 – A world-wide study of high altitude timberline temperatures – J. Biogeogr. 31: 713–732.
• Kuiters A.T., Mohren G.M.J., van Wieren S.E. 1996 – Ungulates in temperate forest ecosystems – For. Ecol. Manage, 88: 1–5.
• Larcher W. 1980 – Physiological Plant Ecology – Springer, Berlin, 517 pp.
• Lepart J., Debussche M. 1992 – Human impact on landscape patterning: Mediterranean examples (In: Landscape Boundaries, Consequences for Biotic Diversity and Ecological Flows. Eds: A. J. Hansen, E. di Castri) – Springer, New York, pp. 76–106.
• MacDonald D., Crabtree J.R., Wiesinger G., Dax T., Stamou N., Fleury P., Gutierrez Lazpita J., Gibon A. 2000 – Agricultural abandonment in mountain areas of Europe: Environmental consequences and policy response – J. Env. Manag. 59: 47–69.
• Marchesoni V. 1957 – Storia climaticoforestale dell’Appennino Umbro-Marchigiano [Climatic-forest history of the Umbria-Marches Apennines] – Ann. Bot. Roma, 25: 459–497.
• Mather A.S., Fairbairn J. 2000 – From floods to reforestation: The Forest Transition in Switzerland – Environ. History, 6: 399–421.
• Minotta G., Pinzauti S. 1996 – Effects of light and soil fertility on growth, leaf chlorophyll content and nutrient use efficiency of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) seedlings – Forest Ecol. Manage. 86: 61–71.
• Orsomando E., Catorci A. 2000 – The phytoclimate of Umbria – Parlatorea, 6: 5–24.
• Oswald H. 1981 – Conditions de germination des faînes, de survie et de croissance des semis (In: Le hetre. Ed. E. Teissieur du Cros) – INRA, Paris, pp. 221–239.
• Padilla F.M., Pugnaire F.I. 2006 – The role of nurse plants in the restoration of degraded environments – Front Ecol. Environ. 4: 196–202.
• Pesaresi S., Biondi E., Catorci A., Casavecchia S., Foglia M. 2007 – Il Geodatabase del Sistema Informativo Vegetazionale delle Marche [The Marches Vegetation Information System Geodatabase] – Fitosociologia, 44 Suppl. 1: 95–101 (in Italian).
• Pezzi G., Bitelli G., Ferrari C., Girelli V.A., Gusella L., Masi S., Mognol A. 2007 – Pattern temporale del limite altitudinale dei boschi di faggio nell’Appennino settentrionale. Un’analisi di dati fotogrammetrici – Forest, 4: 79–87 (in Italian).
• Pezzi G., Ferrari C., Corazza M. 2008 – The altitudinal limit of beech woods in the northern Apennines (Italy). Its spatial pattern and some thermal inferences – Folia Geobot. 43: 447–459.
• Picchio S., Marotta L., Catorci A. 2006 – Gis and landscape ecology. L’analisi PCA per lo studio degli indici dell’ecologia del paesaggio. Atti della 10a conferenza nazionale ASITA. 14–17 novembre 2006, Bolzano (in Italian).
• Rammig A., Fahse L., Bugmann H., Bebi P. 2006 – Forest generation after disturbance: A modelling study for the Swiss Alps – For. Ecol. Manage. 222: 123–136.
• Rey Benayas J.M., Navarro J., Espigares T., Nicolau J.M., Zavala M.A. 2005 – Effects of artificial shading and weed mowing in reforestation of Mediterranean abandoned cropland with contrasting Quercus species – For. Ecol. Manage. 212: 302–314.
• Rivas-Martínez S., Rivas-Saenz S. 1996– 2009 – Worldwide Bioclimatic Classification System, Phytosociological Research Center, Spain. http://www.globalbioclimatics.org.
• Roussert O., Lepart J. 1999 – Shrub facilitation of Quercus humilis regeneration in successionon calcareous grassland – J. Veg. Sci. 10 493–502.
• Scarascia-Mugnozza G. (ed.) 1999 – Ecologia strutturale e funzionale delle faggete italiane [Structural and functional ecology of Italian beech woods]. Edagricole, Bologna, 372 pp. (in Italian).
• Smit C., den Ouden J., Müller-Schärer H. 2006 – Unpalatable plants facilitate tree seedling survival – J. Appl. Ecol. 43: 305–312.
• Smith W.K., Germino M.J., Johnson D.M., Reinhardt K. 2009 – The altitude of alpine timberline: a bellwether of climate change effects – Bot. Rev. 75: 163–190.
• SPSS Inc. 1997 – SPSS for Windows. Version 8.0, Chicago, USA.
• Stanisci A., Lavieri D., Acosta A., Blasi C. 2000 – Structure and diversity trends at Fagus timberline in central Italy – Community Ecol. 1: 133–138.
• Stephenson N.L. 1990 – Climatic control of vegetation distribution: the role of water balance – Am. Nat. 135: 649–670.
• Tasser E., Walde J., Tappeiner U., Teutsch A., Noggler W. 2007 – Land-use changes and natural reforestation in the Eastern Central Alps – Agr. Ecosyst. Environ. 118: 115–129.
• Vanderberghe C., Frelechoux F., Gadallah F., Buttler A. 2006 – Competitive of herbaceous vegetation on the tree seedling emergence, growth and survival: does gas size matter? – J. Veg. Sci. 17: 481–488.
• Vitanzi A., Brusaferro A., Nardi C., Sparvoli D., Catorci A. 2010 – Approccio geosinfitosociologico alla definizione della carrying capacity potenziale degli ecosistemi forestali dell’Appennino centrale nei confronti del capriolo (Capreolus capreolus L.) [Geosynphytosociological approach to the definition of potential carrying capacity of central Apennines forest ecosystems in relation to the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.)] – Inf. Bot. Ital. 42: 443–449 (in Italian).
• Wilson E.J., Wells T.C.E., Sparks T.H. 1995 – Are calcareous grasslands in the UK under threat from nitrogen deposition? An experimental determination of a critical load – J. Ecol. 83: 823–832.
• Woodward A. 1998 – Relationship among environmental variables and distribution of the species at high elevation in the Olympic Mountains – Northwest Sci. 72: 10–22.