TY - JOUR
TI - Masting and regeneration dynamics of Abies cephalonica, the Greek endemic silver fir
AU - Daskalakou, E.N.
AU - Koutsovoulou, K.
AU - Ioannidis, K.
AU - Koulelis, P.P.
AU - Ganatsas, P.
AU - Thanos, C.A.
JO - Seed Science Research
PY - 2019
VL - 29
TODO - 4
SP - 227-237
PB - Cambridge University Press
SN - 0960-2585, 1475-2735
TODO - 10.1017/S0960258519000205
TODO - null
TODO - Masting and regeneration dynamics were investigated in a long-term perspective using Abies cephalonica as a study tree species. Extensive fieldwork was implemented in Parnitha National Park, Greece, following a large-scale wildfire. Annual cone production was monitored for a 5-year period in 130 tagged trees, in 13 plots with 10 individuals each, established both within the unburned part of the forest and in surviving fragments of the burned area. In the most recent masting year, a high percentage (88%) of cone-bearing trees was recorded, along with a sizeable, average cone production (40.8 cones per tree). In the intermediate, non-masting years, the corresponding values ranged from 2% to 55% and 0.08 to 5.9 cones per tree, respectively. The reproduction process is affected by both tree density and regional climatic conditions, in particular temperature during spring of the maturation year and precipitation during spring and summer of the previous year. For the first time according to our knowledge, natural regeneration was recorded for a 4-year period, in 13 permanent transects within the monitoring plots, in relation with a masting event and the additional implications of a preceding wildfire. Highest mean density of seedlings and saplings (11.4 per m2) was observed during the first spring after masting. In the non-masting years, the corresponding value ranged from 2.1 to 2.9 per m2. Seedling survival during their first summer was considerable (30-76%) but stabilized afterwards (1-3 years) at a lower level (10-20%). The particular post-masting seedling flush was followed by an extremely high mortality rate (88.6%) and cannot represent a major recruitment event. © 2019 Cambridge University Press.
ER -