Search results for "Coppicing"
showing 10 items of 12 documents
Environmental drivers interactively affect individual tree growth across temperate European forests
2019
Forecasting the growth of tree species to future environmental changes requires a better understanding of its determinants. Tree growth is known to respond to global-change drivers such as climate change or atmospheric deposition, as well as to local land-use drivers such as forest management. Yet, large geographical scale studies examining interactive growth responses to multiple global-change drivers are relatively scarce and rarely consider management effects. Here, we assessed the interactive effects of three global-change drivers (temperature, precipitation and nitrogen deposition) on individual tree growth of three study species (Quercus robur/petraea, Fagus sylvatica and Fraxinus exc…
Effects of traditional coppice practices and microsite conditions on tree health in a European beech forest at its southernmost range
2016
Abstract: European beech (Fagus sylvatica) grows at the southern limit of its range in the mountain-Mediterranean vegetation belt up to the timberline. The southernmost beech forests of Sicily (southern Italy) show peculiar ecological, structural and silvicultural characteristics, growing in fragmented and isolated stands near the timberline and in topographically marginal unfavorable habitats. Past silvicultural practices increased the heterogeneity of stand structure at these sites. We compared stand structural characteristics and tree health in coppice-cut and control beech stands with respect to the local topographic gradient (bottom, slope and ridge) and canopy cover (clearing/border v…
Marginal fragmented beech stands and climate change in Sicily: effects of non-sustainable traditional silviculture practices in relation to micro-top…
2016
In Sicily where the southernmost beech forests of Europe are located, beech stands show peculiar ecological, characters. The ecological marginality of these forests is particularly evident in the fragmented and isolated beech stands, near the timberline and/or located on less favourable topographic conditions. In this study we analyzed stand-structural parameters and tree health comparing recently coppice felled beech stands and control plots. Additionally, these aspects have been related also to the local topographic gradient and the cover fragmentation. Results clearly show a pronounced tree health reduction (more crown and bark damages, higher percentage of dead trees, lower seedling den…
Biomass, litterfall and nutrient content in Castanea sativa coppice stands of southern Europe
1996
Les biomasses et les mineralomasses, les retombees de litiere et la restitution au sol de bioelements par leur intermediaire ont ete etudiees dans des peuplements de Castanea sativa Mill en Espagne (province de Salamanque), en Italie (massif de l'Etna) et en France (Cevennes). Les meilleurs correlations et resultats ont ete trouves avec des regressions allometriques de type: Y (biomasse) = aX (diametre tronc a 1,30 m) b . Les parametres des differentes equations de regression sont semblables et tres proches pour les châtaigniers de France et d'Italie. La principale source de differences, au niveau stationnel, resulte de la repartition differente des arbres en fonction des classes de diametr…
Poplar rotation coppice at a trace element-contaminated phytomanagement site: A 10-year study revealing biomass production, element export and impact…
2019
Abstract Growing lignocellulosic crops on marginal lands could compose a substantial proportion of future energy resources. The potential of poplar was explored, by devising a field trial of two hectares in 2007 in a metal-contaminated site to quantify the genotypic variation in the growth traits of 14 poplar genotypes grown in short-rotation coppice and to assess element transfer and export by individual genotypes. Our data led us to conclusions about the genotypic variations in poplar growth on a moderately contaminated site, with the Vesten genotype being the most productive. This genotype also accumulated the least amounts of trace elements, whereas the Trichobel genotype accumulated up…
Analysis of dust exposure during chainsaw forest operations
2017
Abstract: In 1999, the European Union proclaimed hardwood dust carcinogenic based on the classification of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) issued in 1995. The operational exposure limit (OEL) for inhalable wood dust has been set to 5 mg m-3 by EU directives, though in different countries the OEL ranges from 1 to 5 mg m-3. The objective of this study was to determine the exposure to wood dust of forest workers in chainsaw cutting and processing and suggest possible countermeasures. The study took into consideration different silvicultural treatments (coppice clear cut, conifer thinning, conifer pruning, and sanitary cut) and chainsaw fuel (normal two-stroke gasoline mi…
Saproxylic beetle assemblages of three managed oak woodlands in the Eastern Mediterranean
2008
Oak woodlands belong to the natural vegetation in most Mediterranean regions but have suffered from a long history of woodland devastation and overgrazing. The remaining woodlands have been managed in different ways, and we expected this to have effects on the fauna associated with trees. We investigated three different sites in the Eastern Mediterranean with flight-interception traps to analyse the impact of woodland management on dead wood and tree structures and the relevance for saproxylic beetle assemblages. Our results show significant differences in trunk diameter, stein density and dead wood diversity between the three sites. Old oaks in semi-open woodland are characterised by diver…
Effects of traditional forest management on carbon storage in a Mediterranean holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) coppice
2018
Abstract: In the last decade, there has been increased interest in measuring and modeling storage in the five forest carbon pools: the aboveground and belowground biomass (living biomass), the deadwood and litter (dead biomass), and the soil (soil organic matter). In this paper, we examined carbon storage in a holm oak coppice stand in the Madonie Mountains in Sicily (Italy), which is a typical case of managed coppice stands. Today, traditional coppice practices are only applied to a small number of forested areas in Sicily, such as the selected site, because of the decline in demand for wood and charcoal. The dendrometric parameters of the stands were recorded, and silvicultural indices we…
The southernmost beech (Fagus sylvatica) forests of Europe (Mount Etna, Italy): ecology, structural stand-type diversity and management implications
2013
The southernmost European beech forests are located in the upper forest vegetation belt on Mount Etna volcano. Their standstructural patterns were analysed to assess the effects of the site-ecological factors and previous management practices on the forest structure. Five main structural-silvicultural types were identified among the main beech forest types: coppice, highmountain coppice (HMCo), high forest, coppice in conversion to high-forest and non-formal stand. A detailed standstructural analysis was carried out through measured dendrometric parameters and derived structural characters linked to both the horizontal and the vertical profiles. Plant regeneration processes were also assess…
Sulphur Stored in Forest Soils and the Relative Importance of Organic and Inorganic Forms. Examples from Mont-Lozère (Southern Massif Central)
1995
From studies initiated in 1981, the mean annual hydrochemical budget established in three experiment watersheds at Mont-Lozere demonstrated that sulphur is retained in soils and in arenaceous formations (Lelong et al. 1990). Soils were developed on weathered granite materials that were strongly reworked by periglacial processes. One watershed is covered with grasses (Bassin de la Cloutasse) and the two others by forest. A beech coppice (Fagus sylvatica L.) and a Norway spruce forest (Picea abies (L.) Karst., hereafter shortened to “spruce”) occupy the Bassin de La Sapine (54 ha) and the Bassin of La Latte (20 ha), respectively. Unfortunately, as a result of a parasite attack, a large part o…