doiSerbia

The effects of forty years of spruce cultivation in a zone of beech forest on mt. Maljen (Serbia)

Kostić Olga (Department of Ecology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, Belgrade)
Mitrović Miroslava (Department of Ecology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, Belgrade)
Jarić Snežana (Department of Ecology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, Belgrade)
Đurđević L. (Department of Ecology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, Belgrade)
Gajić Gordana (Department of Ecology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, Belgrade)
Pavlović Marija (Department of Ecology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, Belgrade)
Pavlović P. (Department of Ecology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, Belgrade)

This study investigates the effects of the forty-year cultivation of Picea abies on the floristic composition, physical and chemical soil characteristics, and the intensity of organic matter decomposition in a zone of mountainous beech forest (mt. Maljen, northwestern Serbia). The long-term cultivation of conifers in a deciduous habitat has caused a reduction in biodiversity, as well as changes in the soil which were most pronounced in the top soil layer. There were found to be lower soil moisture levels (p<0.05), lower active (p<0.01) and substitutional acidity (p<0.001), depletion of the adsorption complex in base cations (p<0.001), and lower levels of n, P and K (p<0.001) in the spruce stand in relation to the beech stand (control). The higher C/n ratio of spruce litter (p<0.001) caused its lower decomposition rate in comparison to beech litter (p<0.01). All these changes have led to degradation and a reduction in this ecosystem’s productivity.

Keywords: Degraded habitat, spruce plantation, beech, soil characteristics, biodiversity, mt. Maljen, Serbia

Acknowledgments. This work was supported by the ministry of education and Science of Serbia, grant no 173018