Microclimate of Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur L.) Sustainable Managed Forest Stands—A Study of Air and Soil Temperatures in Shelterwood Cutting

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Brief summary/main hypothesis/results of the article

This research aimed to assess how air and soil temperatures change in forest stands at different stages of shelterwood cutting, as these phases significantly influence microclimatic conditions within the forest.

The author hypothesized that air and soil temperatures would vary significantly with the intensity of shelterwood cutting. To test this, temperature data were collected and compared across mature, uncut stands and stands at various stages of shelterwood cutting.

The results of this article clearly demonstrated that temperature variability corresponds to the regeneration stage of each stand. Higher cutting intensity was associated with greater seasonal and annual fluctuations in air and soil temperatures. The largest daily and annual temperature amplitudes occurred in the stand that had undergone a final cut. Specifically, in this stand, the annual air temperature amplitude ranged from 38.5 °C in spring to 41.8 °C in summer. For soil temperature, the lowest annual amplitude occurred in winter (8.2 °C), while the highest was recorded in spring (17.7 °C).

The rising temperature extremes, particularly under the influence of climate change, may pose a threat to young seedlings and hinder successful forest regeneration.

 

General comments:

As the authors have also justified, the topic of this article is up-to-date and relevant in the context of sustainable forest management.

The English of the manuscript is basically appropriate, only some suggestions have been formed in the specific comments.

The Introduction chapter is well-structured and it uses recent, relevant as well as enough references. On the other hand, it does not contain excessive number of self-citations.

The experimental design of the manuscript is appropriate to test the formulated hypothesis.

The manuscript’s results are appropriate, the authors applied unambiguous tables and illustrative figures, therefore they properly show the data.

The Discussion compared its own results with international results in a comprehensive manner, citing relevant, recent references. Considering the significance of their results, it points out the similarities with the results found in the international literature, but also considers the differences.

The Conclusion is consistent, clearly shows the essence and the possible applicability of the results that based on the formulated research question.

 

Specific comments:
Row#83: "These forests are 83 characterized by lower temperatures, higher humidity, and less light, with pronounced 84 vertical gradients of these parameters."
Air and soil temperatures?

Row#193:
SARIMA: define the acronym please!

Row#234 (Figure 2); Row#247 (Figure 3); Row#262 (Figure 4); Row#278 (Figure):
Denote the title of the x and y axis!

Row#258:
"According to the results of the study, as the cutting intensity increases, the amplitudes of air and soil temperatures are larger, with the minimum air and soil temperatures getting lower and the maximum ones higher."

"the" → "this" (change the word)

Row#380:
"Such results are in line with the literature suggesting that greater daily and seasonal temperature variations are recorded after more intensive felling [3. 4, 44]."

Correct the "." to ","

"Shelterwood phases should not be carried out successively year after year, but gradually over a certain period of time, in order to protect young plants from the harmful effects of meteorological conditions such as solar radiation, heat stress or frost.It is important to point out that, while descriptively useful, the estimated SARIMA models are not suitable for predictions."

Correct the missing space please!

Row#467:
"Annual amplitudes of air temperatures in the stand with final cut were lowest in spring (38.5 °C) and highest in summer (41.8 °C), while annual amplitudes of soil temperatures were lowest in winter (8.2 °C) and highest in spring (17.7 °C)."

Write something about the reason, if it is possible.

Row#472:
"SARIMA models for differences are not ideal (it shows that there remains a residual correlation that the model cannot explain), but they are good enough to establish that there really is a difference, i.e. that the difference is not accidental."

In this form, this sentence is hard to understand.

Suggestion:
"However, SARIMA models are proper to prove that there is indeed a difference (not accidental), but they leave some unexplained residuals."

Row#476:
"In the context of sustainable forest management, research results indicate that shelterwood should be planned and carried out with a time gap between phases in order to protect young plants from extreme temperatures and harmful effects of meteorological conditions."

More details? How long interval do need?
Or is it a (a part of a) next article's research question?

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript is a well-structured work and I enjoyed reading it.

In the introduction, the authors identified the research problem, described in lines 95-100, the purpose of the study, and the research questions and working hypotheses. In line 117, when writing numbers, to separate thousands, a comma must be used. Likewise in table 1, in the case of numbers with thousands groups. For decimals, the period is used correctly, as the authors of the work used.

The working method is correctly chosen, to understand the distribution over time and the variation of air and soil temperatures, depending on the season, and in different cutting phases, as well as the impact of the microclimate on the ecosystem.
I recommend that the SARIMA methodology and coefficients be briefly described.

The discussions are consistent, the authors have made a substantial analysis of the specialized literature, made comparisons with older studies, and correctly scored and analyzed the results.

It would be good to review the bibliography, because some years are written without bold, before the pagination, a comma is used, sometimes a colon. All works must be completed with DOI.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The article is devoted to the study of changes in air and soil temperatures in pedunculate oak forest stands in different stages of shelterwood. The article made a very good impression. However, there are some comments to the article.

1) The article does not sufficiently describe the climatic features of the region, the description of the winter period should be supplemented with information on the snow cover and characterize the year by the amount of precipitation. Since the trends in changes in air and soil temperatures in shelterwood cutting forest can vary greatly in dry and wet years.

2) The introduction indicates (Line 99) that microbiological studies were also conducted, but this data is missing in the text of the article.

3) It should be clarified on what basis the periods of the seasons were determined, judging by Figure 2, there is an assumption that the seasons were not chosen quite accurately. In the fall, from mid-November, a decrease in the amplitude of air temperature fluctuations is noted, and in the winter, from mid-March, on the contrary, a sharp increase in amplitudes is noted, which probably indicates a change of seasons duration.

4) Was the influence of precipitation and soil moisture on changes in soil temperature assessed? As a rule, temperature changes closely correlate with soil moisture, since an increase in soil moisture leads to a decrease in the rate of soil warming and may be the cause of a residual correlation that the SARIMA model cannot explain.

In addition, the Materials and Methods section states that the soils of the study area are partially hydromeliorated by a canal network for flood protection. However, it is not specified whether the study areas (OF - Old forest; PC - Preparatory cut; SC - Seed cut; FC - Final cut) differ in the degree of drainage, since this is an important factor determining soil moisture and differences in air and soil temperatures.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf