Microclimate conditions in gaps and mature stands of Dinaric silver fir-beech forests

Urša Vilhar and Primož Simončič and Lučka Kajfež-Bogataj and Klaus Katzensteiner and Jurij Diaci (2006) Microclimate conditions in gaps and mature stands of Dinaric silver fir-beech forests. Zbornik gozdarstva in lesarstva (81). pp. 21-36. ISSN 0351-3114

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Abstract

Microclimate conditions affect composition, structure, growth, health and dynamics of forest ecosystems. In the current study, microclimatic conditions of a Dinaric silver fir-beech forest in selected forest stands and different development stages in managed forest (Snežna jama) and virgin forest remnant (Rajhenavski Rog) were determined during two growing seasons in the years 2003and 2004. Air temperature, soil temperature, relative humidity, wind speedand direction were measured. Daily air temperatures 2 m above ground werelower in the virgin forest remnant than in the managed forest, but relative humidity was higher. Microclimate conditions in the managed forest were not more extreme in the Large gap (SVV) than in the Small gap (SMV), in contrast to our expectations. Microclimatic conditions are influenced not onlyby stand structure and shape of the forest edge in a gap but also by the karst relief characteristics: the inclination, exposition and shape of the terrain.

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