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.

Transformation of Ground Vegetation under the Effect of Fires in Pine Forests of Middle Siberia

Abstract: In Siberia, pine forests are widespread and grow in diverse habitats. Under zonal conditions, pine shows a wide amplitude of ecological flexibility, being an edificator species in areas with different soils, from shallow podzols with a low base exchange capacity to soddy calcareous soils. The expansion of pine forests far beyond the limits of the zone with a true forest (boreal) climate is apparently explained by the ability of pine to take full advantage of local edaphic conditions, thereby alleviating the impact of adverse climatic factors and broadening its potential climatic range. In this respect, pine is superior to other conifers (Shumilova, 1962). The range of pine forests in Siberia is mainly confined to the Angara basin in its upper and lower reaches and to the watershed separating it from the upper reaches of the Podkamennaya Tunguska, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska rivers. These forests are typologically diverse, but forest types with green mosses, lichens, and mesoxerophytic herbs dominating in the ground vegetation are more widespread. Fires in boreal forests are a permanent natural factor accounting for the formation of their structure and species diversity. In pine forests, they have always been a factor of evolutionary significance, since these forests are characterized by a high fire frequency. The vegetation of pine forests had been exposed to selection by fires for many millennia, which provided for the development of a variety of adaptations to the impact of fires in pine and produced a significant effect on the composition and properties of its ecobiomorphs, species, and biotypes (Sannikov, 1973). The frequency of fires in pine forests depends on their zonal location and the degree of landscape isolation. In pine forests of Central Siberia, the average interval between fires was estimated at 38.5 years (McRae et al., 2006). A relatively simple structure, ecological flexibility, and high fire frequency in pine forests make them a convenient object for studying the dynamics of postfire succession. The purpose of this study was to reveal changes in the species diversity and structure of ground vegetation at early stages of pyrogenic succession after fires of different intensities. Studies were performed in a dwarf shrub‐lichen‐ green moss pine forest growing on an island in a bog located on the right bank of the Togulan River, which flows into the Yenisei in its middle reaches. This forest occupies a low ridge with a depression in the middle, at an elevation of 60 m a.s.l. The uneven-aged pine stand (10P) is of quality classes 4 and 5, with tree diameter and height averaging 26 cm and 22 m. The undergrowth (10P) is also uneven-aged, up to 0.5 m high; its distribution is uniform. The shrub layer is sparse and consists of Rosa acicularis and Salix caprea . Ground vegetation is differentiated according to microenvironmental conditions. The moss layer is dominated by Pleurozium schreberi , with its coverage ranging from 60 to 100%. In the lichen layer (20‐100% coverage), Cladina arbuscula, Cl. rangiferina, and Cl. stellaris are dominant. The herb‐dwarf shrub layer is 20‐35 cm high, and its coverage varies from 15‐20% to 40%. Dominance belongs to mesophytic dwarf shrubs. The main dominants are Vaccinium vitis-idaea in relatively welldrained biotopes, Vaccinium myrtillis in mesotrophic biotopes, and Ledum palustre and Vaccinium uliginosum in overmoistened sites.

Small mammal communities in forest ecosystems affected by urbanization

Abstract: A set of characters has been used to evaluate transformations in forest phytocenoses and their small mammal communities affected by urbanization, compared to conditionally undisturbed phytocenoses (communities) In park forests of the city of Yekaterinburg, the understory and subordinate shrub and herb- dwarf shrub layers of phytocenosis are transformed to a greater extent The undergrowth of conifer forest� forming species is as a rule sparse or absent, and that of deciduous trees often consists mainly of invasive spe� cies Small mammal communities in pine forests transformed under the effect of urbanization also undergo changes leading to the formation of relatively stable (for an urbanized environment) zoocenoses differing both in species composition and in parameters characterizing community diversity

Diversity of Forest Undergrowth of North Eastern Region of Bangladesh

Abstract: The d iversity of undergrowth (shrubs, herbs and grasses) of forested north east ern region (part of Sylhet forest division) of Bangladesh was assessed and di scussed. The study area identified major 14 species of 12 families of shrubs and 25 species of 16 families of herbs and grasses. The result revealed that Gramineae family was dominated with 5 s pecies and Verbenaceae was dominated with 3 species followed by Leguminosae family with 3 species and t he family Araceae, Umbelliferae, Piperaceae, Cimpositae contains 2 s pecies each. Among the shrubs the highest density (53.57 pl ants/100 m ) and 2

Природне поновлення дуба і граба під наметом насаджень та на зрубах на дп "корсунь-шевченківське лісове господарство"

Abstract: The reproduction of hornbeam both natural and cultural is an important issue nowadays. Seed propagation for this species is considered to be the best way to reproduce. The regularities of the process of regeneration under the canopy of oak and hornbeam forests and log cabins in fresh oak forests in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi forestry are the key problems of the research presented. After having conducted the research we have obtained the results stating that in mature stands of the Korsun-Shevchenko forestry fresh oak dominated for fullness of the cover. Furthermore, all log cabins show intense natural seed recovery. However, the composition of the natural seed recovery is not always correlated with the composition of the felled tree stand. The feature of beech seed recovery is that it undergrowth kept under a tent spaces, self-seeding and appears in log cabins after logging parent stand. Thus we shoul summarize that forest recovery process in fresh oak and hornbeam forests of state enterprise "Korsun-Shevchenko forestry" is satisfactory. In normal conditions oak and hornbeam of forestry bloom and bear fruit every year, but abundant crops depend on weather conditions once in 3-5 years. Under a canopy of plantations of populations of the common oak in blocks of Korsun-Shevchenko forestry through intensive expansion of grass cover and shrubs, and with not enough seats of oak and lack of proper care resumes is unsatisfactory. The most successful is a natural renewal of hornbeam populations.