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Changes of Forest Abiotic Environment in the Western Carpathians Assessed Using Phytoindication

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Changes of Forest Abiotic Environment in the Western Carpathians Assessed Using Phytoindication JOURNAL OF FOREST SCIENCE, 60, 2014 (4): 133–142 Changes of forest abiotic environment in the Western Carpathians assessed using phytoindication W. Żelazny Department of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic ABSTRACT: To avoid ecosystem degradation, forestry planning needs to be based on current information about the state of forest environment. Phytoindication is an inexpensive tool that allows tracking the environmental change at fine spatial scales. The present study uses this approach to assess changes within abiotic conditions of forests in the area of the Moravian-Silesian Beskids Mts. (Czech Republic). Phytosociological relevés collected in 2013 at 118 permanent plots were compared with records from the 1960s and 1970s. The changes were expressed using average Ellenberg’s Indicator Values and units of the Czech Forest Typological System. Persisting soil acidification was detected, and linked to industrial deposition and planting of Norway spruce beyond its natural range. Conversion towards a higher share of broadleaved species was suggested to support soil recovery. Keywords: Beskids Mts.; Ellenberg’s indicator values; forest typology; Norway spruce; soil acidification The Carpathian Mountains belong to the most nent environmental conditions” (Viewegh et al. important European biocentres, being a provider 2003). It can be argued, however, that these charac- of ecosystem services on which many human com- teristics are not only variable but given the current munities depend (Gurung et al. 2009). Among scale of anthropogenic disturbance (Steffen et al. the services delivered by mountain forests, there is 2011) while rate of their change has dramatically the supply of wood and other forest products. By accelerated. The increasing speed of environmental careful planning, modern forestry strives to opti- change calls for an introduction of adaptive man- mize these outputs, at the same time avoiding the agement strategies into forestry practice. In order ecosystem degradation. Management plans have to to be successful, this approach needs to be based consider the parameters of the abiotic environment on current data (Lindner et al. 2010). of each forest stand (Vacek, Balcar 2004). The goal of the present study is to analyze recent In the forestry practice of the Czech Republic, changes within the forest abiotic environment of a these characteristics are expressed using units of Western Carpathian mountain range using phyto- the Czech Forest Typological System. Among the indication. The trends of change are described by units there are forest vegetation zones which take referring to average Ellenberg’s Indicator Values their names from edificator species and describe (AIVs) and the units of the Czech Forest Typologi- the variability of local climate with changing alti- cal System. Recommendations for the local forest tude and exposition, and edaphic categories which management are given. describe the soil trophic and hydric regime and are According to Hédl (2004), three major trends denoted using single-letter mnemonics (Viewegh of anthropogenic change may currently be tak- et al. 2003). ing place within the abiotic environment of forest The parameters of the forest abiotic environment ecosystems of Central Europe: (1) soil acidification covered by these units are referred to as “perma- caused by the deposition of air pollutants; (2) eu- Supported by the Mendel University in Brno, IGA LDF Grant No. 23/2013. J. FOR. SCI., 60, 2014 (4): 133–142 133 trophication due to the pollution and the overpop- tained values did not suggest high acidification lev- ulation of herbivores; (3) shifts related to the global els (Staszewski et al. 2012). climate change. The data on climatic changes are available in the With the exception of minor fragments, the Car- form of meteorological reports and the outputs of pathian Mts. lie within the boundaries of the former climatological models (e.g. Nogués-Bravo et al. Communist Bloc, where the economy was based 2007; Hlásny et al. 2011). According to the pre- on heavy industry, and environmental regulations dictions, by the end of the 21st century, lower Car- were sloppy. For decades, the ecosystems were ex- pathian ranges are going to be subjected to drought posed to high air pollution levels, resulting in the events, whereas at higher elevations temperature deposition of sulphur and nitrogen compounds, increases are likely to occur ‒ potentially boosting which have been contributing to the decline of forest productivity (Lindner et al. 2010; Hlásny forest health. The affected stands include Norway et al. 2011). Unfortunately, due to the coarse spatial spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karsten) monocultures, scales involved in such assessments (Nogués-Bra- whose widespread presence has been the legacy of vo et al. 2007), the possibilities of their application the 19th century forestry policy (Main-Knorn et in adaptive forest management are limited. This is al. 2009). especially true of mountain ranges, which are char- After the Fall of Communism, the industrial emis- acterized by rich relief, resulting in a high variation sions have been reduced and many forest stands of habitat types (Nepal, Chipeniuk 2005). have been undergoing conversion toward a higher A particular approach to environmental monitor- share of broadleaved species (Main-Knorn et al. ing that does not rely on specialist equipment and 2009). While in theory both trends create an op- expensive analyses (Diekmann 2003) and which portunity for the edaphic environment to recover, makes it possible to obtain data with high spatial evidence of such a recovery has been scarce so far: resolution (Balkovič et al. 2010) is to use phyto- recent measurements of the forest environment indication. Under this approach repeated sampling quality in the Czech (Novotný et al. 2008), Slovak of phytosociological permanent plots is performed, (Sitková et al. 2010) and Romanian (Bytnero- and observed shifts in the vegetation composition wicz et al. 2005; Badea et al. 2012) parts of the are interpreted in terms of environmental change Carpathian Mountains give a picture of high soil by referring to the changes of average Ellenberg’s acidification levels that have been persisting despite Indicator Values (AIVs). a substantial reduction of pollutant concentrations The reports from phytosociological studies car- in the atmosphere. The affected ecosystems include ried out in the Czech (Šamonil, Vrška 2007) and not only those located in the proximity of pollution Polish (Durak 2010, 2011) Carpathians mention sources: Šebesta et al. (2011) studied changes that a decrease of AIV R, indicating a trend towards had occurred since the 1930s in the soil environ- the lower soil pH or calcium concentration (Diek- ment of a primeval forest ecosystem in the Ukrai- mann 2003). An opposite direction of change was nian Carpathians, close to the Romanian border. detected at Norway spruce-dominated stands in Despite the large distance dividing their study area the Ukrainian part of the mountains; interestingly, from industrial centres, the evidence of acidifica- the result was not consistent with the results of tion was present in the samples. The results agree soil analyses (Šebesta et al. 2011). According to with the findings of Oulehle et al. (2010) per- the authors, this discrepancy could be explained taining to the same mountain range. Interestingly, by high resistance of the phytocoenoses to habitat the latter authors did not observe substantial soil disturbances or by colonization of low tree layers acidification in another part of the Ukrainian Car- by broadleaved woody species. The same study re- pathians, next to the Slovak border. This discrep- ported increasing AIV N, what can be interpreted ancy was explained as the result of differing par- as soil enrichment in nitrogen, or more intensive ent bedrocks at both localities. On the other hand, biomass production (Diekmann 2003). The au- the analysis of the soil drainage water collected in thors linked this observation to atmospheric nitro- the area less affected by acidification revealed in- gen deposition and shifting forest developmental tensive leaching of nitrogen, suggesting a high level phases (Šebesta et al. 2011). A different result was of eutrophication (Oulehle et al. 2010). Another obtained by Durak (2011) in the Polish Carpath- notable exception is the Polish study on the forest ians. The AIV N decrease was interpreted as the health status in national parks. On several perma- consequence of silvicultural operations. Some re- nent plots, located mostly in the Carpathians, the searchers (Šamonil, Vrška 2007; Durak 2010; authors surveyed Ca to Al ratios of soil. The ob- Šebesta et al. 2011) reported changes of AIV L, 134 J. FOR. SCI., 60, 2014 (4): 133–142 but as pointed out by Diekmann (2003), the reli- whereas the remaining fraction showed the oppo- ability of this light-related parameter is low, as its site trend of migration. values do not correlate well with measured light in- tensity over short gradients. Owing to the fact that the definition of the units of MATERIAL AND METHODS the Czech Forest Typological System is closely related to the distribution of potential vegetation (Viewegh The research was conducted at the top elevations of et al. 2003), they can be used in a similar way like the Moravian-Silesian Beskids Mts., which belong to AIVs to monitor changes within the forest abiotic the Western Carpathians and are located in the east- environment. Viewegh (1999) used this approach to ern part of the Czech Republic. This mountain range interpret vegetation shifts in the Moravian-Silesian is characterized by a high share of forest cover, reach- Beskids Mts. (Western Carpathians). Between 1984 ing 75% of the total land area, and plant species rich- and 1986, the author resampled 390 permanent plots ness exceeding one thousand taxa. Notable are high and compared the relevés with earlier records, proba- precipitation sums, which amount to 900–1,377 mm bly collected in the 1930s, using an unconstrained or- per annum. Annual mean temperatures are in the dination.
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