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Structure of Dominance among Tree Species in Relic Swiss Stone Pine (Pinus cembra L.) Forests in Tatra Mountains

ABSTRACT Pinus cembra forests are limited to the Alps and Carpathians. Although several studies regarding their structure were carried out in some locations in the Tatra Mts. it required further investigations. Therefore, the aims of this study were to describe the stand and shrub structure of P. cembra forests, compare their structure with the Picea abies forests and analyse differences between silicate and calcicolous P. cembra forests in the Tatra Mts. The data were collected on the 16 sampling plots (500 m2), in the Swiss stone pine and Norway spruce forests. We measured the diameter at breast height (dbh) of each tree and recorded the young trees and shrubs. In order to compare species composition between silicate and calcicolous P. cembra forests, we made 91 relevés in their entire range of distribution (917 ha). Furthermore, we examined the share of main tree species along the altitude and inclination gradients, using the GAM models. The tree density in the P. cembra forests reaches 618 stems per ha, whereas their basal area (BA) 23.17 m2 ha-1. Main tree species are P. cembra and P. abies. P. cembra dominates in the higher thickness classes. The BA and dbh structure varies significantly between P. cembra and P. abies forests. The most abundant juveniles are P. abies and Sorbus aucuparia. The differences between forests growing on different substrate are relatively low. The altitude has a significant impact on the share of P. cembra (increase) and P. abies (decrease). The inclination has a significant impact on the increase of share of P. cembra.