Do We Have Sufficient Knowledge-Based Data about the Resilience and Adaption Capacity of Forest Adaptation to Climate Change?

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2019) | Viewed by 2572

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Global Change Research Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Lipova 1789-9, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
Interests: forest ecology; climate change adaptation; plant biodiversity; forest ecosystem functions; mycorrhizal symbiosis
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will summarize the current state of knowledge on the relationship between forest ecosystem functioning (e.g., maintenance of water regime and forest microclimate), forest stand naturalness, and biodiversity status as a background for forest management adaptation to climate change. Naturalness can be considered the distance to climax forest vegetation and/or similarity with natural successive processes from a present state. The contributions of this Special Issue will improve our understanding of (i) natural processes in forest ecosystems (e.g., natural selection during natural succession), (ii) natural disturbance history, (iii) differences between ecosystem processes during the grow stage and the mature stage (effect on soil, water, and air conditions), and iv) the sustainability of forest management relative to the forest ecosystem naturalness. Other important information will concern experiences with development and the application of the indicators of natural processes (succession) and their maintenance, forest biodiversity status (genetic, specific, ecosystem, and landscape levels) and sustainable forest management. The authors of this Special Issue will try to answer questions such as what quantitative and structural parameters of forest management (above all wood harvesting) are sustainable for the maintenance of forest ecosystem functioning (to maintain genetic pools; energetic-material fluxes, including soil nutrient level, water regime, and forest microclimate; and the incremental risks of natural forest disturbance, including resilience processes in disturbed forests). This Special Issue will bring new data enabling the comparison of primary (with an emphasis on improving soil properties) and secondary forest succession (the similarities between clear cutting and natural disturbance). The findings will be exemplified by case studies from different forest ecosystems in Europe.

Dr. Pavel Cudlín
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • climate change
  • forest ecosystem naturalness
  • ecosystem functioning
  • forest adaptation

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 5277 KiB  
Article
Resprouting Responses Dynamics of Schima superba Following a Severe Ice Storm in Early 2008 in Southern China: A Six-Year Study
by Yonghui Cao, Benzhi Zhou, Xiaoming Wang and Lianhong Gu
Forests 2020, 11(2), 184; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11020184 - 6 Feb 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2228
Abstract
In 2008, an unexpected and severe ice storm affected the forest of southern China. This storm caused damage in regeneration of an important dominant tree, Schima superba (Gugertree). To study this damage, we set up permanent monitoring plots in an ice-storm-damaged subtropical evergreen [...] Read more.
In 2008, an unexpected and severe ice storm affected the forest of southern China. This storm caused damage in regeneration of an important dominant tree, Schima superba (Gugertree). To study this damage, we set up permanent monitoring plots in an ice-storm-damaged subtropical evergreen broad-leaved secondary forest dominated by S.superba in Jianglang Mountains, China. We surveyed the damage to all trees with a minimum basal diameter of 4 cm and monitored their growth for 6 consecutive years. We analyzed the degrees and types of damage for S.superba and their relationships with resprouting characteristics. The results revealed that the main damage types of S.superba were decapitation (45.45%) and uprooting (28.41%). The distribution percentage for both decapitated and uprooted trees were commonly highest in the range of 10–16 cm basal diameter (BD) size class. A great number of individuals sprouted vigorously after the storm. The mean total sprout number and sprout biomass per tree for S.superba varied by tree BD size class. During the first three years after the ice storm, decapitated trees of larger BD classes produced more sprouts per tree than trees of smaller BD classes. However, the opposite trend was seen in uprooted and leaning trees. There was a trade-off between the total number and length of the sprouts. The difference of mean sprouts number and biomass per tree with size class was mainly related to the damage types. As the recovery progressed since the ice storm, the number of sprouts and sprout biomass in uprooted trees was found mainly on the middle trunk sections of uprooted trees, but in the upper sections of decapitated trees. After six years, the mean number of sprouts per tree, on different parts of the tree and for the three types of damaged trees all declined; however, sprout biomass per tree all increased. The mean number of sprout and sprout biomass per tree on different sections for decapitated trees was always highest over time since the storm. Our study will help to provide data on resprouting ability to develop a predictive model for resprouting. Full article
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