Ground vegetation composition and diversity in drained Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stands 50 years after whole-tree harvesting management: case study in Latvia

The long-term (50 years) effect of whole-tree harvesting (stump harvesting) on ground vegetation in experimental drained Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stands was studied. We used a chronosequence approach to assess the long-term impact of whole-tree harvesting (WTH) on stands’ ground vegetation. WTH stands were compared with four control stands with different age and with the same forest type: young stand (15 years), middle-aged stand (45 years), mature stand (110 years) and over-mature stand (140 years). Species richness was similar between the WTH stand and middle-aged stand (61 and 60 species, respectively). Shannon-Wiener diversity indices in the WTH and middle-aged stand (3.40 and 3.19, respectively) indicated that the stands were similar to each other. A community similarity analysis showed that the composition of vegetation was similar between the WTH and middle-aged stand, although some species like Lycopodium clavatum and Diphasiastrum complanatum occurred only in the WTH stand. The study showed that a period of 50 years is sufficient for ground vegetation of a typical drained spruce forest to recover after WTH management.