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Undergrowth

About: Undergrowth is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 795 publications have been published within this topic receiving 11911 citations. The topic is also known as: understorey & underbrush.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results suggest that those compounds are able to work as allelopathic agents and may prevent from the invasion of herbaceous plants into the forests by inhibiting their growth.

28 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: Microhabitat selection by three small mammal species was studied in oak-elm forest using the catch-mark-release (CMR) method and Clethrionomys glareolus was found to prefer non-fragmented tree microhabitats, highlighting the importance of undergrowth for C. glareolUS.
Abstract: Between 1996 and 1998, microhabitat selection by three small mammal species was studied in oak-elm forest using the catch-mark-release (CMR) method. Microhabitat selection by these species was assessed by Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) and Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA). Apodemus flavicollis was shown to prefer dense young forest and shrubs, but the presence of dead woody material was also important. In Microtus arvalis the data confirmed a negative relationship with stands with higher tree and shrub cover and a preference for open meadows. Clethrionomys glareolus was found to prefer non-fragmented tree microhabitats, preferring sites with developed undergrowth and ample hiding places amongst fallen logs and branches. Although C. glareolus did not change its microhabitat requirements during the year (spring to autumn), within forest stands it was connected with undergrowth regardless of species composition; this highlights the importance of undergrowth for C. glareolus. Seasonal changes in microhabitat selection could not be confirmed unambiguously.

28 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a semi-empirical water use model, HYLUC, was used to determine the change in water balance with increasing natural pine colonisation, and the results showed that natural pine woodland interception may be similar to plantation stands although the physical structure of the natural and plantation forests are different.
Abstract: . Recently, changing land-use practices in the uplands of Scotland have resulted in increased re-colonisation of wet heath moorland by natural Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) woodland. The simple semi-empirical water use model, HYLUC, was used to determine the change in water balance with increasing natural pine colonisation. The model worked well for 1996. However, values of soil moisture deficit simulated by HYLUC diverged significantly from measurements in 1997 when rainfall quantity and intensities were less. Measured interception by the forest canopy (interception by the undergrowth was not measured) was very different from HYLUC simulated values. By changing interception parameters to those optimised against measured canopy interception, HYLUC simulated changing soil moisture deficits better and gave more confidence in the resulting transpiration values. The results showed that natural pine woodland interception may be similar to plantation stands although the physical structure of the natural and plantation forests are different. Though having fewer storage sites for interception in the canopy, the natural pine woodland had greater ventilation and so evaporation of intercepted rainfall was enhanced, especially during low intensity rainfall. To understand the hydrological changes that would result with changing land-use (an expansion of natural forests into the wet heath land), the modelled outputs of the wet heath and mature forest sites were compared. Evaporation, a combination of transpiration and interception, was 41% greater for the forest site than for the wet heath moorland. This may have significant consequences for the rainfall-runoff relationship and consequently for the hydrological response of the catchment as the natural woodland cover increases Keywords: Evaporation; interception; transpiration; water balance; Scots pine; forest

28 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present evidence complementary to pollen analysis or be the main source on past vegetation change in areas where no pollen preservation is available, using wood charcoal (anthracological) remains accumulated in archaeological deposits for reconstruction of past local vegetation and its use.

27 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The development of the populations of permanent constituents of the forest under the canopy of light-seeded trees, and the non-creation of a new generation of pioneer species points to the imminent end of the process of regeneration in the forest communities of Bialowieza National Park.
Abstract: Communities of broadleaved forest subject to strong pressure from large herbivores underwent degeneration. The relief of this pressure led to regeneration of the community, in which an important role was played by the sallow Salix caprea and other light-seeded pioneer species of tree ( Populus tremula , Betula pendula and B. pubescens ). Regeneration involving Salix caprea proceeded following the conservatorial protection of the degenerate stands in a reserve and later in Bialowieza National Park. The emergence and development of the population of Salix caprea proceeded following the invasion of spruce, which coincided with the period of enhanced animal pressure on broadleaved forest. Salix caprea filled all the gaps in the tree stand arising as a result of the destruction of trees and undergrowth by herbivores (in the years 1892-1915). It also appeared en masse on old, at that time unforested, clearings and felled areas. In these places, Salix caprea created very abundant populations, with particular trees being in good condition, with a habit typical of forest trees and attaining considerable heights. The majority of trees were 50-60 years old at the time of death, although individuals reached 74 years of age. The process of extinction of the sallow population - observed over 19 years on permanent plots and fixed trees - proceeded very quickly, especially in the first decade of observation. It led to the almost complete disappearance of sallow for the forest communities of Bialowieza National Park. The death of individual trees is preceded by impairment of their health and reduced annual increments in the 4-9 last years of life. The extinction of the population is associated with the loss of its primary phenological differentiation and with a change in the sex structure of the population from a prevalence of female trees to a near even distribution of the two sexes. The development of the populations of permanent constituents of the forest ( Carpinus betulus , Tilia cordata , Acer platanoides and Ulmus glabra ) under the canopy of light-seeded trees, and the non-creation of a new generation of pioneer species points to the imminent end of the process of regeneration in the forest communities of Bialowieza National Park.

27 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202337
202293
202133
202030
201934
201836