Forests beech

Zealand. In the North Island, at moderate altitudes (300-600 m), the hard beech (Nothofagus truncata) may be the sole and dominant species of the forest. Since the mid-1970s there has been a marked dieback of Nothofagus, without replacement and particularly at lower altitudes. 

Pentachlorophenol applied to beech forest soils every 2 months for 2 years at the rate of 1.0 g/m2 markedly reduced populations of soil organisms. At 5.0 g/m2, it drastically reduced most of the soil animal species and also the microflora (Zietz et al. 1987). Reduction of the soil metabolism by PCP retards decomposition and affects the overall nutrient balance of forest ecosystems (Zietz et al. 1987). Pentachlorophenol is more toxic to earthworms in soils with comparatively low levels of organic materials. The LC50 (14-day) value for Lumbricus rubellus was 1094 mg PCP/kg DW soils with 6.1% organic matter, and 883 mg/kg DW soils with 3.7% organic matter (Van Gestel and Ma 1988). The earthworm Eisenia fetida andrei is more sensitive than Lumbricus rubellus ... 

The receptors of interest are soils of agricultural (arable lands, grasslands) and non-agricultural (forests, steppes, heath lands, savanna, etc.) ecosystems. In non-agricultural ecosystems, the atmospheric deposition is the only input of heavy metals. Regarding the Forest ecosystems, a distinction should at least be made between Coniferous and Deciduous Forest ecosystems. When detailed information on the areal distribution of various tree species (e.g., pine, fir, spruce, oak, beech and birch) is available, this should be used since tree species influence the deposition and uptake of heavy metals and the precipitation excess. On a world scale, soil types can be best distinguished on the basis of the FAO-UNESCO Soil Map of the World, climate and ecosystem data from NASA database (1989). 

Planting native species in the yard to replace turfgrass represents an effort to restore traditional and locally viable ecological communities on a small scale. Such species include not only historic and prehistoric forest species mixes (oak-hickory, and beech-maple for example), but also wddflower meadows, as well as tall and shortgrass prairie. The advantages of such landscapes are that they tend to be low-maintenance, resist weeds, and attract birds and other wildlife. Native landscaping also can be used to produce yards with fmit, nut and berry... 

Ktlsel K, Wagner C, Drake HL. 1999a. Enumeration and metabolic product profiles of the anaerobic microflora in the mineral soil and litter of a beech forest. FEMS Microb Ecol 29 91-103. 

Figure 14.10. Principal component analysis of Py-FI mass spectra of (a) cold and (b) hot water extracts from the sequence of organic litter layers Oi-Oe-Oa in a beech stand (Fagus sylvat-ica) obtained before (-pre) and after (-post) aerobic incubation. The arrows indicate changes due to progressive decomposition top-down in the litter profile. Reprinted from Landgraf, D., Leinweber, P, and Makeschin, F. (2006). Cold and hot water extractable organic matter as indicators of litter decomposition in forest soils. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 169,76-82, with permission of Wiley-VCH.

Aluminum levels in soil also vary with different vegetation types. For example, aluminum levels in the soils of coniferous forests are often higher than in soils of beech forests since coniferous forests tend to have more acid soils (Brusewitz 1984). Alternate views of the data are that the acidic soil produced by conifers can preferentially mobilize aluminum from deeper layers toward surface soil, or that conifers over beech preferentially grow in soils rich in aluminum and it is their metabolic processes which produce more acidic soil. An analysis of aluminum in soils by depth could improve the understanding of this process. 

On the Caucasian coast, where the Gurian sediments were established, the climate at that time was warm and wet. The mean monthly temperatures in January and June were 5 °C and 25 °C, respectively beech and coniferous forests were characteristic [17]. 

Decomposition of N-labelled beech litter and fate of nitrogen derived from litter in a beech forest. Oecologia, 123, 550-9. 

Zeller, B., Colin-Belgrand, M., Dambrine, E. Martin, F. (2001). Fate of nitrogen released from N-labeled litter in European beech forests. Tree Physiology, 21, 153-62. 

Table 13.11 Aboveground NPP without losses by herbivory in the investigated vlrzea stands, in a rain forest in Thailand and in a beech forest in the temperate zone.

With similar parent material (monzonitic granite) in Mont Lozere, France, the calcium flux was found to be almost 4 times greater from spruce forest (11 kgha yr ) than from beech thicket (3 kg ha yr ) (Lelong et al., 1990). Grassland... 

Kusel K. and Drake H. L. (1994) Acetate synthesis in soil from a Bavarian beech forest. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 60, 1370-1373. 

The American pine marten Mantes americana) ranges widely in conifer-dominated and mixed wood forests of North America. The closely related pine marten (M. mantes) occurs in similar habitats in northern Europe and Asia, as does the Japanese marten (M. melampus) of Japan. The fisher (M. pennanti) of North America is a larger species, as are the beech marten (M. foina) of Eurasia, the sable (M. zibellina) of northern Asia, and the Himalayan marten (M. flavigula) of mountainous regions of southern Asia. 

Shen Y, Strom L, Jonsson jA, and Tyler G. Low-molecular organic acids in the rhizosphere soil solution of beech forest (Fagus sylvatica L.) cambisols determined by ion chromatography using supported hquid membrane enrichment technique. Soil Biol. Biochem. 1996 28 1163-1169. 

The climate of the peninsula is cool-temperate maritime. Beech and oak forest is the dominant vegetation. Climate variation since the end of the Pleistocene has been slight, but has affected the vertical distribution of some plant communities (3). 

The deciduous trees and shrubs also known as the broad-leaved plants and the summer-green plants form the principal tropophytes. The deciduous forests, which include the oaks, the beeches, the ashes, the maples, the walnuts, the chestnuts, cover a great part of eastern and western China, central Europe (England, France, Belgium, Germany) and eastern Australia, and are coincident with the countries occupied by the most civilized races of man, such as the Americans, Europeans, Chinese and Japanese. The cold temperate climatic conditions which have determined the distribution of the forest trees have been influential also in the development of the energetic races of mankind. 

In the plains, Cambisols place the most drainage areas. These soils occupy the hilly plains and low mountain belts up to the 500-700 m elevation, where they coincide with the Broadleaf and Coniferous-Broadleaf Forest ecosystem types. In the most continental parts the oak forests are dominant. For instance, at the slopes of the Sikhote-Alin range Cedar-Broadleaf Forest and in Korean peninsula, the Oak-Maple Forest ecosystems are predominant. In Japan Beech Forest ecosystems are the most abundant. Heavy precipitation rates during wet season (up to 1000-1200 mm with P PE equal to 1) favor the increasing base saturation in the Luvic Cambisols. These ecosystems are characterized by a moderate rate of organic matter turnover with mean values of Cb equal to 2.5 C, is 0.67 and Cbr is 1.7. Such moderate rates are favorable to soil acidification with deposition input of sulfur and nitrogen acid forming compounds (NIES, 1996, Bashkin and Park, 1998). This process can be especially enhanced in... 

The northern part of the region is occupied by the South Canadian Birch-Beech-Maple Forest ecosystems, which has been largely felled. Large South Taiga Pine Forest ecosystems mixed with Broad-Leafed Forest ecosystems are preserved to a great extent. Cambisols are the main soil type that occurs most widely under Broad-Leafed Forest ecosystems in the plains as well as in the low hill belt. 

Some years ago the first reports appeared on forest die-back in heavily polluted areas. The impact of this information drew the attention on the situation of local forests, which encouraged research on acid deposition in many countries. The quantitative evaluation of damage and the monitoring of forest quality are difficult. Most theories have been based on visual inspections however, trends, actual damage and local effects can only be estimated on the basis of scientific measurements, enabling to make correlations between damage and measured pollutant concentrations. A prerequisite for this evaluation is the availability of representative CRMs. The BCR has hence developed for this purpose two reference materials, namely beech leaves and spruce needles, which have been certified for nutrients (e.g. Ca, Mg, K, P and N) and indicator elements (e.g. S, Cl, A1 and Mn) [17-19],... 

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