Variations in humus and fine root properties related to development stages in a temperate natural Beech forest
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Variations in humus and fine root properties related to development stages in a temperate natural Beech forest Mojtaba Azaryan1 · Kambiz Abrari Vajari2 · Beitollah Amanzadeh3 Received: 11 August 2020 / Revised: 12 October 2020 / Accepted: 4 November 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Understanding variations in soil humus and fine root properties in Oriental beech (Fagus orientalis L.) stand in response to development stages in temperate Hyrcanian forests is essential for sustainable forest management. The development stages of beech stand (initial, optimal and decay) were determined, and three plots of 100 × 100 m (1 ha) were chosen at each development stage. Five subplots in size 20 × 20 m were randomly selected at plots of 1 ha. The concentrations of humus elements (C, P, K, Mg, Fe and Zn) differed significantly among the development stages in spring and autumn seasons within Beech forest. The comparison of mean chemical compounds of humus layer in spring and autumn seasons using t test showed significant difference for each the development stage. Differences in C, N and P concentrations and also C/N and N/P ratios in fine roots of beech trees were significant among development stages, while C/P ratio was insignificant. The mean values of N and P for initial stage were higher, but C and N/P ratio were higher for optimal stage. The highest C/N value was observed in decay stage. There were statistically significant effects of development stages on fine root biomass and morphology traits at different diameter classes in beech trees. No statistically significant impacts of development stages were observed on fine root morphology of beech trees, except for fine root density. Our results reveal the important role that different development stages may play in Beech forest regarding variations in chemical properties of fine roots and soil humus. Keywords Fine root · Forest dynamics · Humus layer · Temperate forest
Introduction The stages of development are, in fact, the reaction to natural and human disturbances, and forest stands are positioned in each of these stages based on features including age, structure and functions (Goodell and Faber-Langendoen 2007). Development stages are recognized via vertical and horizontal structure, canopy gaps, volume, the amount of dead wood, reproduction and plant species composition (Zeller Communicated by Agustín Merino. * Kambiz Abrari Vajari [email protected]; [email protected] 1
Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran
2
Department of Forestry, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Lorestan University, Khoramabad, Iran
3
Research Division of Natural Resources, Gilan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center (AREEO), Rasht, Iran
and Pretzsch 2019). According to habitat conditions, variations in forest stand structure and length of development stages differ significantly (Krumm et al. 2012). Generally, three major stages o
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