Intermediate disturbances are a key driver of long-term tree demography across old-growth temperate forests.

ABSTRACT: Disentangling the relative influence of background versus disturbance related mortality on forest demography is crucial for understanding long-term dynamics and predicting the influence of global change on forests. Quantifying the rates and drivers of tree demography requires direct observations of tree populations over multiple decades, yet such studies are rare in old-growth forest, particularly in the temperate zone of Europe. We use multi-decade (1980-2020) monitoring of permanent plots, including observations of mode of mortality and disturbance events, to quantify rates and drivers of tree demography across a network of old-growth remnants in temperate mountain forests of Slovenia. Annual rates of mortality and recruitment varied markedly among sites and over time; census intervals t

SUBMITTER: Nagel TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8668780 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature