Effect of disturbance regimes on the characteristics of coarse woody debris in primary Norway spruce stands in Slovakia

Sujan Timsina

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Deadwood has great ecological importance in the forest ecosystem. It is a source of nutrients and habitat for thousands of dead woods depending organisms. Deadwood contributes as a fundamental element for carbon storage, regeneration of the forest and biodiversity protection, etc. Moreover, it is very well for soil development, water retention and protection against soilerosion. The main objective of this study is to find out the effect of disturbance regimes on the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of CWD. We studied the role of disturbance history (Percentage of canopy area removal) on the total volume of CWD and volume of lying dead wood (amount of dead wood) in different decay classes and the stand characteristics from the 2 different forest stands dominated by Norway spruce. Unmanaged forest from central Slovakia from two different localities, Koprová dolina (KOP, High Tatras) and Jánošíkova Kolkáreň (JAK, Large Fatras) was chosen for the study. Altogether 33 plots were established using a stratified random sampling approach. Line transit method was used to measure the amount of lying dead wood. CWD was classified by 5 decay classes degrees. In average lying dead wood volume from the locality KOP is 191 m3/ha whereas an average volume of lying dead wood from the locality JAK is 155 m3/ha. The disturbance history was reconstructed as canopy area removal percentage using tree ring series. Decay class 3,4 and 5 covers a high percentage of lying deadwood volume. The correlation between the total volume of lying dead wood was statistically significant in the early stages of stand development before 1900. We found the statically significant correlation for different decay classes in different periods. The pattern of correlation between the disturbance regime and volume of CWD in different decay classes was not so clear for the locality JAK. We found a clearer pattern in the locality KOP when increasing grade of CWD decay classes was following by temporal pattern shift. The Result from the correlation between the disturbance history and lying dead wood shows that there was an effect of historical disturbance during the stand development. The continuity of dead wood volume in all decay classes is important for biodiversity conservation.

Keywords

JAK (large fatras), primary forest, temperate zone, dead wood, disturbance, forest dynamics, decay class, CWD, KOP (high tatras)

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 18. 4. 2019

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Ing. Pavel Janda, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences

Master programme / field:
Forestry Engineering / Forestry, Water and Landscape Management