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Forests
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Plant Biodiversity in Forests: Assessment, Monitoring and Conservation
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Plant Biodiversity in Forests: Assessment, Monitoring and Conservation

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 July 2021) | Viewed by 11879

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Lado Kutnar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Forest Ecology, Slovenian Forestry Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Interests: biodiversity; forest vegetation; monitoring; climate changes; invasive species; disturbances; forest ecology; conservation biology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Forests cover almost one-third of the biosphere and represent the most complex terrestrial ecosystems. Forest ecosystems are vital refugium for global terrestrial biodiversity and are able to support a variety of natural processes and the provision of forest ecosystem services. However, in recent decades, climate changes and many natural and anthropogenic disturbances have caused significant alterations in forest ecosystems worldwide and have affected biodiversity, leading to its decline at various levels. These dynamic changes require additional multifaceted approaches (e.g., taxonomy, functional traits, phylogeny) to studying and monitoring the basic ecological mechanisms supporting forest plant biodiversity, its importance, and its functions in forest ecosystems. Particular attention should be paid to the understory forest vegetation, where most of the plant biodiversity is present. Moreover, it has been shown that this stratum contributes to the maintenance of the structure and functions of forests. The results of the assessment and monitoring of the status of plant biodiversity may provide us an essential basis for its conservation management with sustainable use and the maintenance of a favourable conservation status above the critical threshold. The conservation of plant diversity in forests can be achieved through its maintenance within protected forest areas or through sustainable and close-to-nature forest management.

In this Special Issue, we particularly encourage authors to use the outcomes of ongoing studies to contribute to the assessment, monitoring, and conservation of forest plant diversity. Contributions of forest vegetation and plant studies on different spatial (from local to regional and global) and temporal (from short- to long-term) scales are welcome.

Dr. Lado Kutnar
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • plant species diversity
  • spatial and temporal variation of forest vegetation
  • impacts of climate changes and disturbances on forest plant diversity
  • long-term and mid-term monitoring of plant biodiversity
  • environmental drivers of understory diversity and composition
  • diversity–stability relationships in forest communities
  • structural and functional aspects of plant biodiversity
  • plant functional types and functional traits
  • conservation management approaches.

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 3373 KiB  
Article
Phenology of Oenocarpus mapora H. Karst in Low-Terrace and High-Terrace Forests of the Madre de Dios Region, Peru
by Ivan Best, Helmut Rengifo, Ernesto Velarde, Juan Francisco Loja, Alan Portugal, Piero Rengifo, Luis Aguilar, Fernando Ramos-Escudero and Ana María Muñoz
Forests 2021, 12(10), 1424; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12101424 - 19 Oct 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3775
Abstract
Oenacarpus mapora H. Karst (O. mapora) is an Amazon palm with high economic and nutraceutical potential, from which the pulp and oil can be extracted. The objective of this study was to evaluate the phenology of O. mapora in low-terrace and [...] Read more.
Oenacarpus mapora H. Karst (O. mapora) is an Amazon palm with high economic and nutraceutical potential, from which the pulp and oil can be extracted. The objective of this study was to evaluate the phenology of O. mapora in low-terrace and high-terrace forests of the Madre de Dios Region, Peru. Two hundred sixteen individuals of O. mapora were monitored between June 2019 and January 2020, evaluating the presence of flower buds, open flowers, immature fruits and ripe fruits. Weighted mean analyses of the phenological pattern and correlation between climatic and phenological variables were carried out. Higher productivity mediated by a greater number of mature green leaves and bunches was observed in terrace forests located at a lower altitude. In both forest subtypes, flower buds and open flowers were continuous with a peak in July and August, respectively, during the dry season. In both habitats, unripe fruits were also continuous with a peak in September, while ripe fruits showed a peak in December and January in low-terrace and high-terrace forests, respectively, during the rainy season. Our findings show that flowering was continuous during the evaluated period, while fruiting increased during the rainy season associated with a greater number of days with precipitation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Biodiversity in Forests: Assessment, Monitoring and Conservation)
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20 pages, 2290 KiB  
Article
Ethnobotanical Survey in Tampolo Forest (Fenoarivo Atsinanana, Northeastern Madagascar)
by Guy E. Onjalalaina, Carole Sattler, Maelle B. Razafindravao, Vincent O. Wanga, Elijah M. Mkala, John K. Mwihaki, Besoa M. R. Ramananirina, Vololoniaina H. Jeannoda and Guangwan Hu
Forests 2021, 12(5), 566; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12050566 - 30 Apr 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3794
Abstract
Madagascar shelters over 14,000 plant species, of which 90% are endemic. Some of the plants are very important for the socio-cultural and economic potential. Tampolo forest, located in the northeastern part of Madagascar, is one of the remnant littoral forests hinged on by [...] Read more.
Madagascar shelters over 14,000 plant species, of which 90% are endemic. Some of the plants are very important for the socio-cultural and economic potential. Tampolo forest, located in the northeastern part of Madagascar, is one of the remnant littoral forests hinged on by the adjacent local communities for their daily livelihood. However, it has considerably shrunk due to anthropogenic activities forming forest patches. Thus, documenting the useful plants in and around the forest is important for understanding the ethnobotany in this area. Methods: In this study we (1) collected and identified useful plants utilized by local communities. Voucher specimens were collected following the information given by interviewees, (2) recorded the collection activities and the consumption methods through semi-structured interviews of the local inhabitants, and (3) performed a phytochemical screening to identify the active compounds and the potential healing metabolites of the medicinal plants. Results: A total of 65 people between 25 and 75 years old were interviewed. Surveys recorded 123 species used as timber, food, or medicine. Among them, 92 were forest species and 31 were ruderal species. Medicinal plants were mostly used to cure stomach ailments (71%), fever (33.3%), and fatigue (25%) with leaves (68%) being the most used plant part. Phytochemical analyses of 20 endemic medicinal species showed the presence of compounds that could be responsible for the therapeutic effects of the plants. Conclusions: Tampolo forest proves to be an important littoral forest highly utilized by the adjacent local communities due to the presence of a high number of useful plants which are mostly endemic to the region. Hence, our investigation assessed the importance of these species in the locality and this can be used for further study on ecology, conservation, and valorization of these species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Biodiversity in Forests: Assessment, Monitoring and Conservation)
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24 pages, 6329 KiB  
Article
Disentangling the Ecological Determinants of Species and Functional Trait Diversity in Herb-Layer Plant Communities in European Temperate Forests
by Janez Kermavnar, Lado Kutnar and Aleksander Marinšek
Forests 2021, 12(5), 552; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12050552 - 28 Apr 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3529
Abstract
Forest herb-layer vegetation responds sensitively to environmental conditions. This paper compares drivers of both taxonomic, i.e., species richness, cover and evenness, and functional herb-layer diversity, i.e., the diversity of clonal, bud bank and leaf-height-seed plant traits. We investigated the dependence of herb-layer diversity [...] Read more.
Forest herb-layer vegetation responds sensitively to environmental conditions. This paper compares drivers of both taxonomic, i.e., species richness, cover and evenness, and functional herb-layer diversity, i.e., the diversity of clonal, bud bank and leaf-height-seed plant traits. We investigated the dependence of herb-layer diversity on ecological determinants related to soil properties, climatic parameters, forest stand characteristics, and topographic and abiotic and biotic factors associated with forest floor structure. The study was conducted in different forest types in Slovenia, using vegetation and environmental data from 50 monitoring plots (400 m2 each) belonging to the ICP Forests Level I and II network. The main objective was to first identify significant ecological predictors and then quantify their relative importance. Species richness was strongly determined by forest stand characteristics, such as richness of the shrub layer, tree layer shade-casting ability as a proxy for light availability and tree species composition. It showed a clear positive relation to soil pH. Variation in herb-layer cover was also best explained by forest stand characteristics and, to a lesser extent, by structural factors such as moss cover. Species evenness was associated with tree species composition, shrub layer cover and soil pH. Various ecological determinants were decisive for the diversity of below-ground traits, i.e., clonal and bud bank traits. For these two trait groups we observed a substantial climatic signal that was completely absent for taxonomy-based measures of diversity. In contrast, above-ground leaf-height-seed (LHS) traits were driven exclusively by soil reaction and nitrogen availability. In synthesis, local stand characteristics and soil properties acted as the main controlling factors for both species and trait diversity in herb-layer communities across Slovenia, confirming many previous studies. Our findings suggest that the taxonomic and functional facets of herb-layer vegetation are mainly influenced by a similar set of ecological determinants. However, their relative importance varies among individual taxonomy- and functional trait-based diversity measures. Integrating multi-faceted approaches can provide complementary information on patterns of herb-layer diversity in European forest plant communities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Biodiversity in Forests: Assessment, Monitoring and Conservation)
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