@article{MuellerBochPratietal.2018, author = {M{\"u}ller, J{\"o}rg and Boch, Steffen and Prati, Daniel and Socher, Stephanie A. and Pommer, Ulf and Hessenm{\"o}ller, Dominik and Schall, Peter and Schulze, Ernst Detlef and Fischer, Markus}, title = {Effects of forest management on bryophyte species richness in Central European forests}, series = {Forest ecology and management}, volume = {432}, journal = {Forest ecology and management}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0378-1127}, doi = {10.1016/j.foreco.2018.10.019}, pages = {850 -- 859}, year = {2018}, abstract = {We studied the effect of three major forest management types (unmanaged beech, selection beech, and age class forests) and stand variables (SMId, soil pH, proportion of conifers, litter cover, deadwood cover, rock cover and cumulative cover of woody trees and shrubs) on bryophyte species richness in 1050 forest plots in three regions in Germany. In addition, we analysed the species richness of four ecological guilds of bryophytes according to their colonized substrates (deadwood, rock, soil, bark) and the number of woodland indicator bryophyte species. Beech selection forests turned out to be the most species rich management type, whereas unmanaged beech forests revealed even lower species numbers than age-class forests. Increasing conifer proportion increased bryophyte species richness but not the number of woodland indicator bryophyte species. The richness of the four ecological guilds mainly responded to the abundance of their respective substrate. We conclude that the permanent availability of suitable substrates is most important for bryophyte species richness in forests, which is not stringently linked to management type. Therefore, managed age-class forests and selection forests may even exceed unmanaged forests in bryophyte species richness due to higher substrate supply and therefore represent important habitats for bryophytes. Typical woodland indicator bryophytes and their species richness were negatively affected by SMId (management intensity) and therefore better indicate forest integrity than the species richness of all bryophytes. Nature conservation efforts should focus on the reduction of management intensity. Moreover, maintaining and increasing a variability of substrates and habitats, such as coarse woody debris, increasing structural heterogeneity by retaining patches with groups of old, mature to over-mature trees in managed forests, maintaining forest climate conditions by silvicultural methods that assure stand continuity, e.g. by selection cutting rather than clear cutting and shelterwood logging might promote bryophyte diversity and in particular the one of woodland indicator bryophytes.}, language = {en} } @article{HeinzeBochFischeretal.2011, author = {Heinze, Eric and Boch, Steffen and Fischer, Markus and Hessenm{\"o}ller, Dominik and Klenk, Bernd and M{\"u}ller, J{\"o}rg and Prati, Daniel and Schulze, Ernst-Detlef and Seele, Carolin and Socher, Stephanie and Halle, Stefan}, title = {Habitat use of large ungulates in northeastern Germany in relation to forest management}, series = {Forest ecology and management}, volume = {261}, journal = {Forest ecology and management}, number = {2}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0378-1127}, doi = {10.1016/j.foreco.2010.10.022}, pages = {288 -- 296}, year = {2011}, abstract = {Estimating large herbivore density has been a major area of research in recent decades. Previous studies monitoring ungulate density, however, focused mostly on determining animal abundance, and did not interpret animal distribution in relation to habitat parameters. We surveyed large ungulates in the Biodiversity Exploratory Schorfheide-Chorin using faecal pellet group counts. This allowed us to explore the link between relative ungulate abundance, habitat use, and browsing damage on trees in a region with several types of forest, including unharvested and age-class beech forests, as well as age-class pine forests. Our results demonstrate that roe deer and fallow deer relative abundance is negatively correlated with large tree cover, and positively correlated with the cover of small shrubs (Rubus spec., Vaccinium spec.), and winter food supply. Habitat use of roe deer and fallow deer, as estimated by counting faecal pellet groups, revealed a preference for mature pine forests, and avoidance of deciduous forests. This differential habitat use is explained by different distributions of high quality food resources during winter. The response of deer to understory cover differed between roe deer and fallow deer at high cover percentages. The amount of browsing damage we observed on coniferous trees was not consistent with the relative deer abundance. Browsing damage was consistently higher on most deciduous trees, except for beech saplings which sustained less damage when roe deer density was low. Because roe deer is a highly selective feeder, it was reported to affect tree diversity by feeding only on trees with high nutritional value. Consequently, we propose that managing the number of all deer species by hunting is necessary to allow successful forest regeneration. Such an adjustment to deer numbers would need to account for both current tree diversity and alternative food resources. Our findings may be applicable to other forest landscapes in northeastern Germany including mature pine stands and differently harvested deciduous forests.}, language = {en} } @article{WiesmeierPrietzelBartholdetal.2013, author = {Wiesmeier, Martin and Prietzel, J{\"o}rg and Barthold, Frauke Katrin and Sp{\"o}rlein, Peter and Geuss, Uwe and Hangen, Edzard and Reischl, Arthur and Schilling, Bernd and von L{\"u}tzow, Margit and K{\"o}gel-Knabner, Ingrid}, title = {Storage and drivers of organic carbon in forest soils of southeast Germany (Bavaria) - Implications for carbon sequestration}, series = {Forest ecology and management}, volume = {295}, journal = {Forest ecology and management}, number = {10}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0378-1127}, doi = {10.1016/j.foreco.2013.01.025}, pages = {162 -- 172}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Temperate forest soils of central Europe are regarded as important pools for soil organic carbon (SOC) and thought to have a high potential for carbon (C) sequestration. However, comprehensive data on total SOC storage, particularly under different forest types, and its drivers is limited. In this study, we analyzed a forest data set of 596 completely sampled soil profiles down to the parent material or to a depth of 1 m within Bavaria in southeast Germany in order to determine representative SOC stocks under different forest types in central Europe and the impact of different environmental parameters. We calculated a total median SOC stock of 9.8 kg m(-2) which is considerably lower compared with many other inventories within central Europe that used modelled instead of measured soil properties. Statistical analyses revealed climate as controlling parameter for the storage of SOC with increasing stocks in cool, humid mountainous regions and a strong decrease in areas with higher temperatures. No significant differences of total SOC storage were found between broadleaf, coniferous and mixed forests. However, coniferous forests stored around 35\% of total SOC in the labile organic layer that is prone to human disturbance, forest fires and rising temperatures. In contrast, mixed and broadleaf forests stored the major part of SOC in the mineral soil. Moreover, these two forest types showed unchanged or even slightly increased mineral SOC stocks with higher temperatures, whereas SOC stocks in mineral soils under coniferous forest were distinctly lower. We conclude that mixed and broadleaf forests are more advantageous for C sequestration than coniferous forests. An intensified incorporation of broadleaf species in extent coniferous forests of Bavaria would prevent substantial SOC losses as a result of rising temperatures in the course of climate change.}, language = {en} } @article{BochPratiMuelleretal.2013, author = {Boch, Steffen and Prati, Daniel and M{\"u}ller, J{\"o}rg and Socher, Stephanie and Baumbach, Henryk and Buscot, Francois and Gockel, Sonja and Hemp, Andreas and Hessenm{\"o}ller, Dominik and Kalko, Elisabeth K. V. and Linsenmair, K. Eduard and Pfeiffer, Simone and Pommer, Ulf and Sch{\"o}ning, Ingo and Schulze, Ernst-Detlef and Seilwinder, Claudia and Weisser, Wolfgang W. and Wells, Konstans and Fischer, Markus}, title = {High plant species richness indicates management-related disturbances rather than the conservation status of forests}, series = {Basic and applied ecology : Journal of the Gesellschaft f{\"u}r {\"O}kologie}, volume = {14}, journal = {Basic and applied ecology : Journal of the Gesellschaft f{\"u}r {\"O}kologie}, number = {6}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Jena}, issn = {1439-1791}, doi = {10.1016/j.baae.2013.06.001}, pages = {496 -- 505}, year = {2013}, abstract = {There is a wealth of smaller-scale studies on the effects of forest management on plant diversity. However, studies comparing plant species diversity in forests with different management types and intensity, extending over different regions and forest stages, and including detailed information on site conditions are missing. We studied vascular plants on 1500 20 m x 20 m forest plots in three regions of Germany (Schwabische Alb, Hainich-Dun, Schorfheide-Chorin). In all regions, our study plots comprised different management types (unmanaged, selection cutting, deciduous and coniferous age-class forests, which resulted from clear cutting or shelterwood logging), various stand ages, site conditions, and levels of management-related disturbances. We analyzed how overall richness and richness of different plant functional groups (trees, shrubs, herbs, herbaceous species typically growing in forests and herbaceous light-demanding species) responded to the different management types. On average, plant species richness was 13\% higher in age-class than in unmanaged forests, and did not differ between deciduous age-class and selection forests. In age-class forests of the Schwabische Alb and Hainich-Dun, coniferous stands had higher species richness than deciduous stands. Among age-class forests, older stands with large quantities of standing biomass were slightly poorer in shrub and light-demanding herb species than younger stands. Among deciduous forests, the richness of herbaceous forest species was generally lower in unmanaged than in managed forests, and it was even 20\% lower in unmanaged than in selection forests in Hainich-Dun. Overall, these findings show that disturbances by management generally increase plant species richness. This suggests that total plant species richness is not suited as an indicator for the conservation status of forests, but rather indicates disturbances.}, language = {en} }