Aboveground Biomass of Living Trees Depends on Topographic Conditions and Tree Diversity in Temperate Montane Forests from the Slătioara-Rarău Area (Romania)

The study zone includes one of the largest montane old-growth forests in Europe (Slatioara UNESCO site), and understanding the structure and functioning of sill intact forests in Europe is essential for grounding management strategies for secondary forests. For this reason, we set out to analyze the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forests 2021-11, Vol.12 (11), p.1507
Main Authors: Duduman, Gabriel, Barnoaiea, Ionuț, Avăcăriței, Daniel, Barbu, Cătălina-Oana, Coșofreț, Vasile-Cosmin, Dănilă, Iulian-Constantin, Duduman, Mihai-Leonard, Măciucă, Anca, Drăgoi, Marian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity
Biomass
Carbon
Data processing
Elevation
Forest biomass
Forest ecosystems
Forest management
Forests
Habitats
Heterogeneity
Montane environments
Morphology
Mountain forests
Plant diversity
Plant species
Productivity
Radiation
Solar radiation
Species diversity
Temperate forests
Terrestrial ecosystems
Topography
Trees
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Summary:The study zone includes one of the largest montane old-growth forests in Europe (Slatioara UNESCO site), and understanding the structure and functioning of sill intact forests in Europe is essential for grounding management strategies for secondary forests. For this reason, we set out to analyze the dependencies between aboveground biomass (AgB), tree species and size diversity and terrain morphology, as well as the relationship between biomass and diversity, since neither of these issues have been sufficiently explored. We found that tree species diversity decreases with increased solar radiation and elevation. Tree size heterogeneity reaches its highest mean values at elevations between 1001 and 1100 m, on slopes between 50 and 60 degrees. AgB is differentiated with elevation; the highest mean AgB (293 tonnes per hectare) is recorded at elevations between 801 and 900 m, while it decreases to 79 tonnes per hectare at more than 1500 m a.s.l. It is also influenced by tree species diversity and tree size heterogeneity, with the highest AgB reached in the most complex forest ecosystems in terms of structural diversity. We showed that intact temperate montane forests develop maximum biomass for optimum species diversity and highest size heterogeneity; all three are modulated mainly by elevation.
ISSN:1999-4907
1999-4907
DOI:10.3390/f12111507