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Effects of understorey vegetation on tree establishment and growth in a silvopastoral system in northern Greece

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Abstract

The interaction between understorey plants and trees in a young silvopastoral system was studied in a sub-humid Mediterranean environment with cold winters in northern Greece. The experimental design was a split-split plot with three replications and included: three understorey treatments (grass, legume and control), two tree species (Acer pseudoplatanus and Pinus sylvestris) and two spacings (2.5×2.5 m and 3.5×3.5 m). The competition between herbaceous plants and trees resulted in significant differentiation in tree growth while their spacing did not produce any significant differences. The influence of trees on herbage yield either by plant species or spacing was not significant. During the early stages of establishment, a significant positive correlation was observed between sycamore growth and soil moisture, leaf weight, leaf area and leaf number as well as nitrogen and potassium concentration in leaves. Six years after planting the height increase of the sycamore trees was largest in the control treatment (415%), lowest in the grass treatment (134%) and intermediate (192%) in the legume treatment. Much higher was the increase obtained for the diameter, 161%, 207% and 536% respectively for the grass, legume and control treatments. The Scots pine trees grew faster than sycamore over the course of the experiment. Height increased by 397%, 351% and 400% and diameter by 518%, 443% and 683% respectively for the grass, legume and control treatments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. District of Thessaly, Forest Directorate of Magnesia Prefecture, 38333, Volos, Greece

    Stergios Gakis

  2. Laboratory of Rangeland Ecology, Department of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University, 54006, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Konstantinos Mantzanas & Vasilios P. Papanastasis

  3. Laboratory of Forest Soils, Department of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University, 54006, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Dimitrios Alifragis, Athanasios Papaioannou & Dimosthenis Seilopoulos

  4. Range Science Section, National Agricultural Research Foundation, Forest Research Institute, 57006, Vasilika, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Panagiotis Platis

Authors
  1. Stergios Gakis
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  2. Konstantinos Mantzanas
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  3. Dimitrios Alifragis
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  4. Vasilios P. Papanastasis
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  5. Athanasios Papaioannou
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  6. Dimosthenis Seilopoulos
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  7. Panagiotis Platis
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Correspondence to Stergios Gakis.

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Gakis, S., Mantzanas, K., Alifragis, D. et al. Effects of understorey vegetation on tree establishment and growth in a silvopastoral system in northern Greece. Agroforestry Systems 60, 149–157 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:AGFO.0000013275.30617.ad

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