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The double mosaic-regeneration of vegetation and soil after clearing, burning, and cultivation: lessons from the Forchtenberg experiment

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Abstract

A multidisciplinary experimental research programme has run since 1997 at an experimental test area on the Hohenlohe plain near Forchtenberg, southwest Germany, where a 3.5 ha area of a mixed Carpinus betulus, Fraxinus excelsior, Acer pseudoplatanus and Fagus sylvatica forest is being used to research into questions on the early steps of cultural landscape development in Central Europe. The experiments which are being conducted here include forest clearance, burning and cultivation, as well as the recording of the succession stages of vegetation and soil. With respect to vegetation development, the first stage is that of ordinary regrowth, starting with colonisation by grasses and herbs followed by a shrub cover, its topping by pioneer trees or by their re-growth from stumps, leading to a new tree layer. The first stages of this forest regeneration are already visible in the third year after felling, with respect to vegetation as well as soil surface development. The alternative pathway of regeneration of the vegetation is represented as the “ruderal way”, which is characterised by a monotypic colonisation by high forbs such as Eupatorium, Epilobium or mostly Cirsium, which slows the development of a shrub cover. Topsoil and soil surface recovery goes parallel to that of vegetation. A first stage of pellicular soil surfaces is followed by grass felts and later on by leaf overlays which are often mixed with bare crumbly surfaces as signs of rapid turnover. Charcoal may either be displaced by earthworms or concentrated and weathered in situ by the soil microfauna of enchytraeids, mites and collembols. Charcoal also records the earlier cultivation by forming an Ap horizon. The development of ruderal vegetation within the forest environment should be considered when reconstructing the development of cultural landscapes.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Würth and Stoll-Vita Foundations as well as to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for financial support. We also thank J. Rückert for help with the English language. Thanks also go to two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany

    Erhard Schulz

  2. Forstamt Hohenlohekreis, Stuttgarter Str. 21, 74653, Künzelsau, Germany

    Ulrich Vannina & Mathias Hall

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  1. Erhard Schulz
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  2. Ulrich Vannina
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Correspondence to Erhard Schulz.

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Communicated by R. Gerlach.

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Schulz, E., Vannina, U. & Hall, M. The double mosaic-regeneration of vegetation and soil after clearing, burning, and cultivation: lessons from the Forchtenberg experiment. Veget Hist Archaeobot 23 (Suppl 1), 19–36 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-014-0451-5

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