Fine-root growth in beech (Fagussylvatica) forest gaps

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate fine-root growth in gaps created for beech (Fagussylvatica L.) regeneration. Fine-root growth was measured using the ingrowth core technique. Measurements were carried out in gaps 30 m in diameter, which were either untreated or treated with lime, and in a mature beech stand. Ingrowth core experiments showed that growth of beech fine roots in gap centres was negligible during the 2nd and 3rd year after gap creation, indicating that although fine roots from stumps stayed alive long after trees were cut, they did not grow. It also indicated that trees surrounding gaps did not effectively grow fine roots that reached 10 m into the gap centre. At the edge of unlimed gaps (5 m away from the stems), fine-root growth was one-third that of the mature stand. In the stand the amount of live fine roots in ingrowth cores (390 g•m−2) had attained the standing crop level after 16 months. In limed gaps, where herbaceous vegetation had established, herbaceous root growth was 800–970 g•m−2 after 16 months. Neither fine-root growth nor aboveground biomass of herbaceous plants was substantial in untreated gaps. The slow recovery of biomass production in unlimed gaps showed that the resistance of this beech forest to nutrient losses following disturbance is low.