imprints of history in post-agricultural forests · imprints of history in post-agricultural...
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Imprints of history in
post-agricultural forests
Jaroslav Vojta
Charles University in Prague
Faculty of Sciences
Introduction
PAPER I. Relative importance of historical and natural factors influencing
vegetation of secondary forests in abandoned villages (Jaroslav Vojta -
Preslia 79: 223-244)
PAPER II. Land use legacies in post-agricultural forests in the Doupovské
Mountains, Czech Republic (Martin Kopecký & Jaroslav Vojta - Applied
Vegetation Science 12: 251–260)
PAPER III. Woody vegetation continuity, topography, and distance to ancient
forests have complex effects on the vegetation and species richness of
abandoned pastures (Lucie Drhovská & Jaroslav Vojta - submitted)
Tocov
about 1930
Introduction
Tocov
about 2000
Introduction
Introduction
Doupovské hory
Introduction
Abandoned villages
Introduction
Abandoned meadows and pastures
Introduction
Abandoned arable fields
Introduction
… and ancient forests
Questions
Questions
• Are there long-term effects of historical land use on soils in recent
forests?
- Papers I and II
• Does historical land use contribute to variability of forest vegetation?
- Papers I and II
• What are the causes of differences between ancient and recent forests?
- Papers I and III
Methods
Methods
• Use of historical maps
• Correction for initial environmental conditions
Methods; use of historical
maps
Use of historical maps
1st Military Survey (1780 - 1783) 2nd Military Survey (1836 – 1852)
Stable cadaster (1826-1843) Land use map from 1952
Methods; Correction for
initial environmental
conditions
Sampled points differ in in their history but also in their natural environment…
Sampled points differ in in their history but also in their natural environment…
Therefore, we need co-variables that are unlikely to be changed by human
activity. For example…
Methods; Correction for
initial environmental
conditions
Altitude
Methods; Correction for
initial environmental
conditions
Slope
Methods; Correction for
initial environmental
conditions
Wetness index
And more: potential direct solar radiation, terrain shape index…
Methods; Correction for
initial environmental
conditions
Results
Results
• Are there long-term effects of historical land use on soils in recent
forests?
• Does historical land use contribute to variability of forest vegetation?
• What are the causes of differences between ancient and recent forests?
Results; historical land
use and soils
Historical land use affects important soil properties
Locality Meadow Pasture Arable
field
N (g/kg) Tocov 4.4A 4.6A 2.7 B
Lipoltov 4.3A 3.3 AB 3.1 B
C (g/kg) Tocov 43.8A 49.6A 27.3 B
Lipoltov 40.4A 36.2A 30.3A
C:N ratio Both 9.7A 10.7 B 9.7A
The variability of current soil properties is influenced by former
inputs/outputs of nutrients.
Results; historical land
use and soils
Soil properties differs between centres and peripheries of the
villages
The different soil properties in village centre and village periphery
indicates different intensity of former human impact
VC VP
-6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
Ln_p2o5
Villlage centre - periphery
Ph
osp
ho
rus
Results; historical land
use and vegetation
Vegetation classification correlates with former land use
Selected char.
species
Pastures Mead. Arable f. Villages Totals
GRP1 Alnus glutinosa,
Ranunculus repens,
Filipendula ulmaria,
Cirsium oleraceum
2 (5) 18 (4.3) 1 (4.7) 0 (7) 21
GRP2 Fraxinus excelsior,
Milium effusum,
Stachys sylvatica,
Ranunculus auricomus
0 (5.4) 1 (4.7) 0 (5.2) 22 (7.7) 23
GRP3 Fraxinus excelsior,
Ribes uva-crispa,
Lysimachia nummularia,
Galium odoratum
8 (14.9) 8 (12.8) 5 (14.4) 42 (21) 63
GRP4 Corylus avellana,
Campanula persicifolia,
Galium odoratum,
Hieracium murorum
8 (3.1) 2 (2.6) 1 (3) 2 (4.3) 13
GRP5 Crataegus sp., Urtica dioica,
Festuca gigantea,
Geranium robertianum
27 (18.2) 17 (15.6) 20 (17.5) 13 (25.7) 77
GRP6 Crataegus sp.,
Agrostis capillaris,
Myosotis arvensis,
Knautia arvensis
11 (9.5) 2 (8.1) 27 (9.1) 0 (13.3) 40
Totals 56 48 54 79 237
Results; historical land
use and vegetation
The effect of former land-use partly overlap with the effect of
terrain attributes and soil properties
Results; Differences
between ancient and
recent forests
Abandoned
villages
contribute to
overall
variability of
forest
vegetation
DCA analysis. The
two ordination axes
explain 12.4% of
the species
variability (the first
axis explains
7.3%).
Results; Differences
between ancient and
recent forests
Significant
differences
between ancient
wooded pastures
and newly
owergrown
pastures
CCA analysis. The
two canonical axes
explain 4.7% of
the species
variability
Results; Differences
between ancient and
recent forests
Differences in species composition between ancient and recent
forests are similar despite different origins of recent forests
Results; Differences
between ancient and
recent forests
Correlation coefficients between species affinities to secondary
forests Ellenberg indicator values and dispersal capacity
Villages Pastures
R -0.04 -0.18
L 0.36 0.46
N -0.05 -0.14
M 0.48 0.09
Dispersal 0.56 0.64
Results; Differences
between ancient and
recent forests
Number of forest
species in recent
forests is influenced
particularly by
distance to ancient
forests but its
importance is
modified by other
conditions (e.g.
canopy cover).
Conclusions
Conclusions
• Soils are influenced by former agriculture in different ways. Levels of
Important nutrients could be lowered as well as elevated depending on the
manner and intensity of human influence.
• Information on past land use could help to interpret vegetation patterns as it
reflects disturbance regimes, suitable habitat patterns, nutrient inputs/outputs in
the past, and biotic legacies. These factors contribute to the variability of post-
agricultural forests.
• Also differences in successional age contribute to the overall diversity of
forests in landscapes. The differences between ancient and recent forests are
influenced by both environmental diffeences and constrains for species
migrations
Thank you for your
attention !