How dynamic are structural and compositional changes at different scales? An example from the strictly protected forests of Roztocze National Park in Poland
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15287/afr.2025.3845Keywords:
forest dynamics, fine-scale patches, basal area trajectories, primary forestsAbstract
In certain instances, forest managers are expected to emulate the structural patterns and disturbance regimes of primary forests. In this context, the forest cycle theory, established during the 20th century and widely adopted by many forest researchers and practitioners with little or no critique, suggests that particular patches (groups of trees) within an old-growth stand develop unidirectionally, progressing through stages from regeneration and initial growth to optimal and, finally, breakdown stage. However, due to the lack of long-term observations with detailed tree position data, little research has been conducted on this subject. Our study focused on proxy small-scale spatial dynamics based on patches of living trees for which exact positions and diameters were recorded from 1993 to 2023. First, we analyzed changes at the stand level in terms of diameter distributions and tree species composition over three decades. The distributions of European beech and silver fir remained relatively stable, while the cumulative distribution changed significantly due to a noticeable decrease in young trees of minor species. Secondly, we investigated the dynamics of basal area (BA) changes at the sub-stand level on small patches ranging from 0.01 ha to 0.0625 ha for each decade and over the entire observation period. At the decadal level, the values of Clark-Evans index indicated spatially random single-tree mortality as the predominant disturbance pattern. However, over a longer period, some of these small disturbances repeatedly occurred and concentrated at the same microlocations within the forest, which eventually resulted in spatially aggregated losses of BA by the end of the observation period. Another important finding from this study was that patches with non-directional BA dynamics were more common than those with continual positive BA accretion and/or continual negative BA trajectories. This finding significantly challenges the premises of unidirectional patch development.
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