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Productivity dynamics of herb layer in the thermophilous oakwood in the Nature Reservation Na Voskopě (Czech Karst) with respect to the solar radiation intensity
Mevald, Ondřej ; Černý, Tomáš (advisor) ; Josef, Josef (referee)
The Nature Reserve Na Voskopě is a special site where a long-term experiment was established in 2013, dealing with the switch of a long abandoned coppice back to its actively managed form. The project aims to examine the long-term impact of the proposed measures on the structure and diversity of plant species in herb layer especially in lighter woods at lower altitudes. The specific aim of this study was to examine the hypothesized crucial role of light conditions on the dynamics of plant biomass production in the undergrowth of such experimentally opened up thermophilous oak-dominated stand. A design was set up based on 40 permanent plots, where there were taken biomass samples from the herb layer in 2015. Further on, hemispherical images of forest canopy were photographed in the centre of each permanent plot. These images were evaluated in the analytical program WinScanopy, which calculates the amount of direct and diffuse radiation. The obtained datasets were evaluated by the regression analysis. The only decisive variable affecting the productivity of the herb layer turned to be diffuse radiation. The biomass data were also compared with light conditions sampled in the previous season (2014) as a part of ongoing experimental research. Season 2014 is characterized as a normal one and we managed to find a much stronger relationship between light conditions in 2014 and biomass productivity in 2015. Light conditions in season 2015 were significantly affected by the extremely dry and hot weather leading to strong defoliation of forest canopy. Still, we managed to demonstrate the positive impact of light conditions for the production of herb layer biomass. Weather extremes may also indicate an increase in biomass production in the next season, since a significant proportion of nutrients remained unused in the soil due to stopping the growth of vegetation. The current composition of the vegetation is very often determined by the extreme events in the abiotic environment occurring not long ago. Hemispherical images also proved as a very effective way to determine the light conditions, so it is also recommended to use for further research.

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