Key message

Short-rotation forestry using eucalyptus in degraded oak forests in the semi-arid area of NW Morocco can be a useful strategy to avoid further degradation and carbon loss from this ecosystem, but it might be constrained by nutrient and water supply in the long term.

Context

Land degradation and deforestation of natural forests are serious issues worldwide, potentially leading to altered land use and carbon storage capacity.

Aims

Our objectives were to investigate if short-rotation plantations can restore carbon pools of degraded soils, without altering soil fertility.

Methods

Carbon and nutrient pools in above- and below-ground biomass and soils were assessed using stand inventories, harvested biomass values, allometric relationships and selective sampling for chemical analyses.

Results

Carbon pools in the total ecosystem were low in the degraded land and in croplands (6–13 Mg ha^?1) and high in forests (66–94 in eucalyptus plantations; 86–126 in native forests). The soil nutrient status of eucalyptus stands was intermediate between degraded land and native forests and increased over time after eucalyptus introduction. All harvest scenarios for eucalyptus are likely to impoverish the soil but, for the moment, the soil nutrient status has not been affected.

Conclusion

Afforestation of degraded land with eucalyptus can be a useful restoration tool relative to carbon storage and soil fertility, provided that non-intensive forestry is applied.

Key message

Aggregation was studied in two acidic forest soils (NE France) to investigate the potential link between available Ca and Mg content and soil aggregate size distribution and properties. Clay content influenced the aggregation status while clay mineralogy influenced aggregate stability and dynamics. Aggregation status and reactivity of soil components contributed to the difference of exchangeable Ca and Mg content in topsoil between the two sites.

Context

Though nutrient fluxes are important to define forest soil chemical fertility, the quantification of nutrient reservoirs in the soils and their availability to tree uptake is essential. A thorough understanding of nutrient availability requires an investigation of nutrient location and distribution in the soil solid phase.

Aims

The general aim was to investigate the potential link between available Ca and Mg content and soil aggregate size distribution and their properties (chemical, physical, mineralogical).

Methods

Soil aggregates were separated according to three size classes (200–2000 μm; 50–200 μm; <?50 μm) in two forest soils of the Lorraine plateau (France), both classified as Luvisols ruptic. The physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties were measured for each aggregate class.

Results

We showed that the relative abundance of an intermediate aggregate class [200–50 μm] was relevant to explain the difference of exchangeable Ca and Mg between sites. These aggregates were the poorest in organic and reactive mineral components and were unstable, which may mitigate the retention of Ca and Mg by ion-exchange.

Conclusion

This study highlights the role of aggregation and reactivity of soil components as relevant determinants of cation availability to tree uptake in soils.

Key message

Water availability and soil pH seem to be major constraints for enzyme activities in calcareous soils under Pinus halepensis and acidic soils under Pinus sylvestris plantations respectively. Proposals for improving enzyme activities may include the promotion of broadleaf species to increase soil pH and the modulation of stand density or the implementation of soil preparation techniques to facilitate water infiltration.

Context

Soil enzymes play a key role in nutrient turnover in forest ecosystems, as they are responsible for the transformation of organic matter into available nutrients for plants. Enzyme activities are commonly influenced by temperature, humidity, nutrient availability, pH, and organic matter content.

Aims

To assess the differences between enzyme activities in calcareous soils below Pinus halepensis and acidic soils below Pinus sylvestris plantations in Spain and to trace those differences back to edapho-climatic parameters to answer the questions: Which environmental factors drive enzyme activities in these soils? How can forest management improve them?

Methods

The differences in climatic, soil physical, chemical, and biochemical parameters and the correlations between these parameters and enzyme activities in soils were assessed.

Results

Low pH and high level of phenols in acidic soils under Pinus sylvestris and water deficit in calcareous soils under Pinus halepensis plantations appeared to be the most limiting factors for enzyme activities.

Conclusion

Options such as the promotion of native broadleaf species in the Pinus sylvestris stands and the modulation of Pinus halepensis stand density or the implementation of soil preparation techniques may improve enzyme activities and, therefore, nutrient availability.

Key message

Stand density has a positive effect on C, K and Mg concentration in needle litterfall and a negative one on C, N, Ca, K, Mg, P, S, Zn, and Cu release from needle litter. Consequently, forest management practices such as thinning decrease nutrient concentration in needle litterfall and accelerate nutrient release from decomposing needles in Pinus halepensis plantations in Spain.

Context

Silvicultural practices usually include stand density reduction resulting in changes in litterfall and litter decomposition rates. Little is known about the effect on nutrient concentrations in litterfall and nutrient release during decomposition even when this is the main path of nutrient return to soils.

Aims

The aims of the study are to evaluate the seasonal pattern of nutrient concentration in litterfall, to study how nutrients are released from needle litterfall during decomposition, and to assess whether local basal area of the stand affects nutrient concentration of litterfall and nutrient release during litter decomposition.

Methods

Eight plots were established on each of four stands covering the widest range in local basal area. A littertrap and 15 litterbags were placed on each plot. Periodically, needle litterfall and litter contained in the litterbags were analyzed for C, N, Ca, K, Mg, P, S, Fe, Cu, Mn, and Zn.

Results

Local basal area had a positive effect on C, K, and Mg concentration in needle litterfall and a negative effect on the release of all the nutrients studied but Fe and Mn during the first 2 years of litter decomposition.

Conclusion

Density management of stands has an impact on nutrient cycling, reducing nutrient concentration in needle litterfall, and accelerating nutrient release during decomposition.

Key message

Liming, an ameliorative method for acidified forest soils, affected the relative abundance of prey of ground-hunting spiders and consequently reduced densities of functionally similar species of these predators.

Context

Liming, an ameliorative method for acidified forest soils, may modify the structure of an arthropod community by altering the soil characteristics and/or the availability of food resources.

Aims

We investigated the effect of liming on the community structure of ground-hunting spiders in a birch forest.

Methods

We established six experimental birch stand plots. Each stand was exposed to one of three experimental treatments: control, 1.5 t/ha, or 3 t/ha of dolomitic limestone. We collected spiders using pitfall traps during 5 years. We characterized the community in terms of activity density, species richness, community-weighted mean body size, and functional diversity and evenness in body size. We further investigated the potential links through which the liming might affect spiders, namely soil characteristics, effect of liming on birch, and densities of potential prey.

Results

The commonly used dosage of 3 t/ha reduced densities of functionally similar species which led to the reduced functional evenness in body size and increased functional divergence in body size. Liming increased soil pH only slightly but decreased the densities of spiders’ preferred prey.

Conclusion

The liming affected the community of ground-hunting spiders, at least partially, through reduced densities of their preferred prey.

Key message

The vertical transport of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is an important determinant of carbon distribution across a soil profile. The transport of DOC down a soil profile can be largely influenced by incoming DOC and soil organic carbon (SOC) levels, which insulate DOC from adsorption processes regulated by soil texture and Fe/Al mineralogy.

Context

Uncertainties about how soil properties affect DOC transport through the soil profile require study because soils can differ strongly with respect to texture or Fe/Al mineralogy and yet retain similar quantities of DOC.

Aims

This study aimed to assess the role of incoming DOC and native SOC in regulating DOC migration in soils and investigate the contribution of DOC movement to SOC allocation.

Methods

We leached a standard DOC solution extracted from Castanopsis carlesii litter through two distinct soil types, using two leaching strategies: single leaching and sequential leaching. The two soil types under a natural Castanopsis carlesii (Hemsl.) Hayata forest and a natural Castanopsis fargesii Franch. forest, respectively, differ strongly with respect to soil texture, Fe/Al oxide abundances, and SOC nature.

Results

With single leaching, where each of six soil layers making up an entire 0–100-cm soil depth profile received single doses of standard DOC solution, deeper soil layers retained more DOC than upper soil layers, with native SOC largely masking the effects of soil texture and Fe/Al mineralogy on DOC migration. Following sequential leaching, where a sixfold larger amount of standard DOC solution sequentially percolated through the six soil layers, the upper soil layers generally retained more DOC than deeper layers. Nevertheless, in sequential leaching, desorption-induced transfer of carbon from upper soil layers to deeper soil layers resulted in greater total carbon retention than in single leaching.

Conclusion

Forest subsoils (40–100 cm) are well below C saturation, but DOC vertical movement from top soils only transfers limited organic carbon to them. However, DOC vertical movement may greatly alter SOC allocation along the top soil profile (0–40 cm), with part of outer sphere native SOC displaced by incoming DOC and migrating downwards, which is a natural way to preserve SOC.

Key message

The invasion of moso bamboo ( Phyllostachys edulis (Carriere) J. Houzeau) into neighboring Cryptomeria japonica (L. f.) D. Don plantations significantly altered soil P status and dynamics. This alteration in phosphorus dynamics must be considered when assessing the ecological consequence of moso bamboo invasion in subtropical China.

Context

Moso bamboo is a native species that commonly invades into adjacent forests in Asia. Such invasions may significantly alter soil chemical characteristics because moso bamboo has very different traits compared with the tree species it displaces. However, few studies have investigated the effects of moso bamboo invasion on soil phosphorus (P) dynamics.

Aims

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of moso bamboo invasion on soil P dynamics. Specifically, we quantified soil total P, available P, acid phosphatase activity (APA), and microbial biomass P (MBP) in moso bamboo-invaded coniferous stands and compared them to uninvaded stands and pure moso bamboo stands.

Methods

We compared seasonal dynamics of soil P (e.g., total P, available P, APA, and MBP) over a 24-month period among three stand types at Lushan mountain in subtropical China: Cryptomeria japonica plantation (CR), Cryptomeria japonica plantation invaded by Phyllostachys edulis (PH-CR), and Phyllostachys edulis stand (PH).

Results

Total soil P concentration was significantly lower in PH-CR than in CR and PH stands, but soil available P concentration was significantly lower in CR and PH stands. Soil APA was significantly higher in PH-CR than in CR and PH stands. Similarly, soil MBP concentration was higher in PH-CR than in CR and PH stands. Also, soil total P, available P, APA, and MBP concentrations displayed seasonal fluctuations in PH-CR, but remained relatively stable in CR and PH stands during the 2 years.

Conclusion

The invasion of moso bamboo into adjacent C. japonica stands significantly increased soil available P, acid phosphatase activity, and microbial biomass phosphorus, but decreased soil total P. The implication of these changes to ecosystem composition, structure, and function must be explicitly considered in managing moso bamboo invasion in subtropical China.

Key message

Separating the internal (ontogenetic) and external (environmental) components of maritime pine development during controlled soil water deficit helps to highlight the plastic response. The adjusted measurements reveal significant differences between families for their plastic response for several physiology and growth traits.

Context

Soil water deficit is and will be a growing problem in some regions. Pinus pinaster Ait. is a species of commercial interest and is recognized as a drought-avoiding species. It is thus of interest to evaluate the adaptation potential of P. pinaster to soil water deficit.

Aims

This paper aims to estimate the plastic response to the variation of water availability at the family level (half-sibs).

Methods

Two-year-old P. pinaster cuttings from four families were submitted during 6 weeks to two contrasting watering regimes. The experiment started in April 2011 shortly after sprouting. The photosynthesis and stomatal conductance to water vapor were measured on 1-year-old needles. Intrinsic water-use efficiency was calculated as the ratio of photosynthesis to stomatal conductance. Radial growth, length of terminal shoot, and total height were also measured. The ontogenetic component of tree development was estimated on the well-watered trees for all the traits. Then, this development effect was eliminated from the data collected on the trees submitted to the soil water deficit in order to keep only the effect of this soil water deficit.

Results

After 6 weeks of reduced watering, the value of all adjusted traits decreased. An average plastic response to the variation of water availability was found to be significant and variable at the family level for the six adjusted variables.

Conclusion

These results suggest that there is genetic variation of phenotypic plasticity to drought in P. pinaster for several traits, including stomatal conductance, which appears to be a promising variable for future selection for resistance to drought.

Key message

The combination of technical treatments and planting of alder trees in a compacted forest soil improves the circulation of air and water through the pore system. This leads to decreases in CO ₂ concentrations and increases in root growth in the soil. Both are indicative of an initial recovery of soil structure.

Context

The compaction of forest soils, caused by forest machinery, has as a principal consequence: the destruction of soil structure and thus the reduction of the soil aeration status. Thus, the gas exchange between soil and atmosphere is reduced and the depth propagation of roots is limited, resulting in the shortage of water and nutrient supplies for trees.

Aims

This research aimed at detecting the first stages of recovery of soil structure in a compacted forest soil, which was treated with a combination of techniques (i.e., planting tree species, mulching, addition of lime), which could presumably accelerate the regeneration of soil structure.

Methods

The variation of CO₂ concentrations and the dynamics of root growth were repeatedly measured. Linear mixed models were developed in order to test the effects of the treatments and the planting of trees on soil aeration, as well as to identify the influence of the different environmental effects on CO₂ concentration in soil.

Results

The planting of root-active trees showed significant effects on decreases in CO₂ concentrations. However, during the short-term observation, some negative effects occurred especially for the mulched sites. Nevertheless, all applied technical treatments promoted an improved soil aeration and a higher root growth compared to untreated sites which points to an initial enhanced recovery of soil structure. Pronounced seasonal and interannual variations of soil respiration were highly influenced by soil temperature and soil water content variations.

Conclusion

An initial regeneration of soil structure is indicated by distinct changes of the soil aeration status. This regeneration is partially enhanced by the applied treatments. The quantitative potential of the regeneration techniques needs a longer observation period for mid- and long-term soil recoveries.

Key message

A multiphasic response to water deficit was found in Scots pine primary and secondary metabolism. First, an increase of terpenoids coincided with the stomatal closure. Second, an accumulation of proline, ABA, and shikimic acid was detected when photosynthesis was negligible.

Context

Drought-induced mortality is characterized by a major needle yellowing followed by severe defoliation and whole branch death. Before these external visual symptoms of drought stress take place, different alterations occur in plant metabolism.

Aims

This study aims to detect changes in primary and secondary metabolism of Pinus sylvestris L. in response to a decrease in soil water availability.

Methods

We analyzed needle water potential, photosynthetic characteristics, and concentrations of proline, terpenoids, shikimic acid, total polyphenols, and abscisic acid (ABA) in P. sylvestris through a 55-day soil water deficit period.

Results

Concentrations of most metabolites varied with the decrease in soil water availability, but changes in different compounds were triggered at different times, highlighting a multiphasic response. Increases in monoterpene and sesquiterpenoid content at moderate water deficit coincided with stomatal closure which preceded the accumulation of proline, ABA, and shikimic acid under severe water deficit when net photosynthesis was negligible.

Conclusion

This work confirms that most of the secondary metabolites under investigation in Pinus sylvestris did not increase until a moderate to severe water deficit was experienced, when photosynthesis was limited by stomatal closure.

Key message

We generate flexible management rules for black pine stands, adaptable to alternative stand management situations and entailing thinnings, final-felling, and salvage cuts, based on the results on 270 stand level optimizations.

Context

Forest management instructions often rely on the anticipated prediction of the stand development, which poses a challenge on variable economic and environmental conditions. Instead, an alternative approach to better adapt forest management decisions to changing conditions is defining flexible rules based on thresholds that trigger management operations.

Aims

This article develops rules for the adaptive management of P. nigra stands in Catalonia (Spain) addressing the risk of fire and post-fire forest management.

Methods

The stochastic version of the simulation-optimization system RODAL was used to optimize the management of forest stands in three sites under different fire probability levels. A total of 270 optimizations were done varying site fertility, fire probability, and economic factors. The results of the optimizations were used as the basis of flexible forest management rules for adaptive stand management.

Results

The developed management rules defined the basal area limit for thinning, the thinning intensity, the mean tree diameter at which regeneration cuttings should start, and the basal area below which a salvage cutting should be done. Fire risk was not a significant predictor of the models for thinning and final cutting rules.

Conclusion

The presented rules provide a flexible tool for forest management during the stand development and under changing conditions when the management objective is to maximize economic profitability of timber production.

Key message

Compared to the traditional approach, applying micrometric image analysis to fine root samples of Fagus sylvatica with subsequent data treatment through principal component and cluster analysis yielded specific diameter sizes for fine root sub-classes having better resolution of the corresponding branching orders, and a more coherent relationship with the values of annual production and turnover rate.

Context

Fine root traits are poorly understood, impeding an accurate representation of terrestrial biogeochemical models. Traditionally used, arbitrary diameter thresholds lead to a misestimation of fine root traits such as branching order, environmental relationship, annual production, and turnover rate.

Aims

Here, we present, as modification of the traditional method, an integrated approach to segregate, at high-resolution, fine root populations of Fagus sylvatica into new diameter sub-classes that better correspond with the traits mentioned above.

Methods

Samples, collected with a sequential soil coring method, were subjected to a micrometric image analysis, and resultant data were treated with principal component and cluster analysis.

Results

Results showed that fine roots were distributed into diameter-size sub-classes (0–0.3 mm, 0.3–1 mm, and 1–2 mm) different from those determined by traditional methods (0–0.5 mm, 0.5–1 mm, and 1–2 mm). New sub-classes provided a better resolution of the corresponding branching-orders, and the values of annual production and turnover rate were more coherent with diameter class and soil depth. Moreover, new sub-classes provided a more precise match with soil temperature than traditional methods.

Conclusion

Our method may help to unveil fine root dynamics and development, reduce data analysis time, and make the diameter-based classification more precise and trustworthy even in the case of non-intact samples.

Key message

Pinus pinaster Ait. susceptibility to pinewood nematode significantly differed among provenances, and the two Atlantic provenances of the Iberian Peninsula being the most affected. However, significant provenance × environment interaction was found. Provenance susceptibility was related to basal diameter, number of branches and oleoresin flow, and some climatic parameters.

Context

The pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, native to North America, is an important pest affecting pine forests throughout Eurasia. In Europe, it has been detected in Portugal and Spain and is primarily associated with Pinus pinaster, an important Mediterranean tree species.

Aims

We have investigated the differences in susceptibility among several P. pinaster provenances in the Iberian Peninsula and France, as well as their relationship to certain growth traits and physiological parameters.

Methods

Three independent inoculation tests were performed on 3 to 4-year-old trees, followed by assessment of growth traits and physiological variables, along with time course destructive sampling for nematode quantification.

Results

The results showed significant differences among provenances for almost all growth traits, wilting, and mortality, though a significant provenance × environment interaction was also detected. Two Atlantic provenances, Noroeste-Litoral and Leiria, displayed the largest susceptibility to pinewood nematode. Changes in susceptibility to B. xylophilus between experiments were influenced by temperature and seasonality. Autumn precipitation and mean maximum temperature during summer at the original provenance sites could be related to provenance susceptibility.

Conclusion

Noroeste-Litoral and Leiria were the most disease-affected provenances. This study emphasizes the need for further research on how tree growth stage influences susceptibility and on the possibility of cross-breeding among provenances.

Key message

Near- and mid-infrared spectroscopy allows for the detection of local patterns of forest soil properties. In combination with dendrometric data, it may be used as a prospective tool for determining soil heterogeneity before setting up long-term forest monitoring experiments.

Context

Forest soils and stands generally exhibit higher spatial heterogeneity than other terrestrial ecosystems. This variability needs be taken into account before setting up long-term forest monitoring experiments to avoid multiple interactions between local heterogeneity and the factors tested in the experiment.

Aims

We hypothesized that raw near- and mid-infrared spectra can be used as an integrated proxy of a large set of soil properties. The use of this method, in combination with dendrometric data, should provide a quick and cost-effective tool for optimizing the design of experimental forest sites.

Methods

We assessed the local soil heterogeneity at 11 experimental sites in oak and beech stands, which belong to a new forest long-term ecological research (LTER) network. We used near- and mid-infrared spectroscopy in soil and litter samples. The spectra were subjected to principal components analyses (PCA) to determine the intra-site variability of the soil and litter layers.

Results

Based on mapped PCA coordinates and basic dendrometric data, it was possible to design the experiment and minimize the interactions between the treatment layout and the tested variables. The method was validated with chemical analyses of the soil. No interaction was detected at the set-up of the experiment between the treatment layout and chemical soil properties (C, N, C/N ratio, pH, CEC, Al, Mg, P₂O₅, Fe, Mn, Na, and K).

Conclusion

Near-infrared (NIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy is a useful tool for characterizing the overall heterogeneity of soil chemical properties. It can be used without any preliminary calibration. In combination with dendrometric data, it provides a reliable method for optimizing LTER plots in different types of ecosystems.

Key message

Soil texture and temperature-related variables were the variables that most contributed to Nothofagus antarctica forest height in southern Patagonia. This information may be useful for improving forest management, for instance related to the establishment of silvopastoral systems or selection of suitable sites for forest reforestation in southern Patagonia.

Context

Changes in forest productivity result from a combination of climate, topography, and soil properties.

Aims

The relative importance of edaphic and climatic variables as drivers of productivity in Nothofagus antarctica forests of southern Patagonia, Argentina, was evaluated.

Methods

A total of 48 mature stands of N. antarctica were selected. For each study site, we measured the height of three mature dominant trees, as an indicator of productivity. Seven soil, five spatial, and 19 climatic features were determined and related to forest productivity. Through partial least squares regression analyses, we obtained a model that was an effective predictor of height of mature dominant trees in the regional data set presented here.

Results

The four variables that most contributed to the predictive power of the model were altitude, temperature annual range, soil texture, and temperature seasonality.

Conclusion

The information gathered in this study suggested that the incidence of the soil and temperature-related variables on the height of dominant trees, at the regionally evaluated scale, was higher than the effect of water-related variables.

? Key message

Parasitism by mistletoe increases the cover and diversity of herbaceous vegetation under the host tree and attracts the activity of rabbits in comparison to control trees. Thus, the effects on forest community go beyond the parasitized tree.

? Context

Mistletoes are a diverse group of aerial hemiparasitic plants and are considered keystone species in forest ecosystems around the world. They produce nutrient-enriched litter, which exerts a substantial effect on soil-nutrient concentration, and the enriched nutrient patch alters the vegetation at the site as well as the associated fauna.

? Aims

Our goal is to ascertain whether mistletoe (Viscum album) parasitism of pine forest of a Mediterranean mountain favors herbaceous vegetation and attracts mammalian herbivores.

? Methods

We recorded in Sierra de Baza (SE Spain) the composition of the herbaceous vegetation under pines with and without mistletoe parasitism, and estimated the rabbit activity at the same sites by collecting their excrements.

? Results

An effect on herbaceous vegetation, especially in grasses belonging to the family Poaceae, was reflected in a notable increase in soil cover, species richness, and species diversity beneath parasitized pines with respect to unparasitized ones. As a consequence, parasitized pines attract the activity of rabbits, as shown by a fivefold quantity of excrement with respect to control ones.

? Conclusion

Parasitism by mistletoe, by creating patches of greater nutrient availability under the host canopy, extends its effects beyond the host tree to other members of the forest community, such as herbaceous plants and associated herbivorous animals, which in turn contribute to environmental heterogeneity with their activity.

Key message

Pilodyn and acoustic velocity measurements on standing trees, used for predicting density and stiffness, can be good genetic selection tools for black spruce. Genetic parameters and selection efficiency were conserved in two breeding zones with contrasted bioclimatic conditions.

Context

Given the recent progress made in the black spruce genetic improvement program, the integration of juvenile wood mechanical properties as selection criteria is increasingly relevant.

Aims

This study aims to estimate the genetic parameters of in situ wood density and modulus of elasticity (MoE) measurements and to verify the efficiency of various measuring methods used for large-scale selection of black spruce based on wood quality.

Methods

Height, diameter, wood density, and some indirect measures of density (penetration and drilling resistance) and MoE (acoustical velocity and Pilodyn) were estimated on 2400 24-year-old trees of 120 open-pollinated families in progeny trials located in the continuous boreal or mixed forest subzones.

Results

Heritability of growth, density, and indirect density measurements varied from low to moderate and was moderate for acoustical velocity in both vegetation subzones. Expected genetic gains for wood properties based on in situ methods were higher for MoE proxy estimation combining Pilodyn and acoustic velocity.

Conclusion

Acoustic velocity is a good predictor of MoE. It is virtually unaffected by the environment and can be used on a large scale in the same manner as the Pilodyn for density. Using a proxy estimation that combines both methods helps optimize genetic gain for MoE.

Key message

The success of poplar plantations on forest land was affected by soil preparation, plant type, site, and clone. Mounding in combination with large plant types (rooted plants or long cuttings) of site-adapted clones achieved the highest survival and growth.

Context

Poplars (Populus species and hybrids) are fast-growing trees used to make various products. In north European countries, they are mainly grown on agricultural land, but interest in planting poplars on forest land has increased.

Aims

Plant damage and mortality problems occur on forest land, probably due to soil conditions and competing vegetation. It is therefore of interest to investigate whether combinations of soil preparation methods and plant materials can improve establishment.

Methods

At three sites in southern Sweden, the effects of four soil preparation treatments (no soil preparation, patch scarification, mounding, soil inversion) in combination with three plant types (short cuttings, long cuttings, rooted plants) were studied.

Results

Survival and growth were significantly influenced by site, soil preparation method, plant type, and their interactions. Mounding resulted in the best overall performance on all sites. Interactions between site and plant type revealed differences in growth dependent on site conditions, but rooted plants and long cuttings were in general most successful. Patch scarification and short cuttings were associated with lower survival and growth.

Conclusion

Soil preparation is needed to support survival and early growth, but the combination of method and plant type must be adapted to site conditions. The choice of clones should also be considered.

Key message

In Europe, P. nigra wood presents a density pattern of longitudinal variation with an increase from east to west. However, no latitudinal tendencies were detected. Compared to other Portuguese resinous species, P. nigra revealed higher density, identical radial growth and intra-ring heterogeneity, which presents advantages for industry purposes. The environmental factors (Sites effect) manifest more strongly in the latewood components while the Trees/Sites effect is more strongly expressed in the earlywood components.

Context

Although P. nigra Arnold is one of the most important conifers in Europe, little is known about the wood’s characteristics in the southwest European region.

Aims

Our aims are to outline a first approach to study the growth and wood quality in P. nigra in Portugal comparing to other European natural stands and other resinous species.

Methods

Inter- and intra-wood density variation of P. nigra from six Portuguese sites was studied using microdensitometry. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed in three subsets: 50 common rings, core (juvenile wood) and peripheral analysis (mature wood).

Results

The average ring density was 0.588 g cm^?3, with maximum values in the north and low altitudes. Regarding growth traits, no latitudinal and altitudinal tendencies were detected. Compared to the main timber species in Portugal (P. pinaster Aiton), P. nigra showed similar radial growth, higher density but lower intra-ring density homogeneity. The Sites effect mainly influenced latewood density components, while the Trees/Sites effect primarily influenced earlywood components. The Rings effect was found to be relatively low, with a density decrease in the tree’s first years followed by an increase in the periphery. Growth traits showed a reduction from pith to bark.

Conclusion

Considering the quality (density) and growth features of the Black pine, this species could be useful for the reforestation of mountainous Southern Europe areas that are not favourable for other species.

? Key message

Natural regeneration of P. abies (L.) H. Karst. may reach high densities in lower mountain elevations. The highest densities were found in sites with moderate light availability, with low pH, and not near the riverbank. However, age-height classes differed in the predicted magnitude of response, but were consistent in response directions. Mosses and understory species typical of coniferous forests were positively correlated with regeneration density.

? Context

Norway spruce Picea abies (L.) H. Karst. in Central Europe is at risk under climate change scenarios, particularly in mountain regions. Little is known about the impact of environmental factors on the natural regeneration of P. abies in low-elevation mountain forests.

? Aims

We aimed to assess impacts of distance from the riverbank, soil pH, and light availability on natural P. abies regeneration. We hypothesized that (1) natural P. abies regeneration would depend on light availability and soil pH and (2) there are understory plant species which may indicate the microsites suitable for natural regeneration of P. abies.

? Methods

The study was conducted in the Sto?owe Mountains National Park (SW Poland, 600–800 m a.s.l.). We established 160 study plots (25 m²) for natural regeneration, light availability, soil pH, and understory vegetation assessment.

? Results

The highest densities of natural regeneration of P. abies were observed in sites with moderate light availability (0.1–0.2 of open sky) and low pH (3.5–4.5), and located relatively far from the riverbank. Cover of 22 understory plant species were correlated with natural P. abies regeneration densities, mostly positively.

? Conclusion

Different stages of natural regeneration of P. abies revealed different regeneration niches. Most understory plant species (bryophytes and herbs typical of coniferous forests) do not compete with natural regeneration of P. abies.