UNDERSTORY FOLIAGE COVER IN AN HUNGARIAN OAK FOREST IN 2012

Abstract

The serious oak decline was reported for the 1979–80 period and 63.0% of adult oaks died in a mixed oak forest in the Síkfőkút site, in the northeastern part of Hungary. The data were used to obtain (1) quantitative information on shrub canopy, including foliage cover percentage of the shrub layer, mean cover of shrub species in 2012; (2) structural information on shrub foliage arrangement and (3) true description from the present ecological condition of the subcanopy layer. In the monitoring plot, the foliage cover condition of specimens only above 8.0 m was observed in 2012. The data relating to the projected foliage areas of high shrubs have been evaluated and foliage map waas digitized in ArcGis. It was measured a very low value of the foliage cover. The shrub layer cover was 61.5%, the duplex- and multiplex was 13.1% and only 76.8% total foliage cover in the understorey. The mean cover of the shrub species changed between 0.5 m2 and 6.4 m2 in the high shrub layer. The maximum mean cover values were recorded by the dominant woody species (Acer campestre, Acer tataricum and Cornus mas) in the shrub community. The GIS analysis confirmed that total foliage cover of the subcanopy layer and of the higher dominant woody individuals was 522.4 m2. Our results suggest that the foliage cover size of shrub layer was a very low in 2012 and was measured similar low mean cover values of shrub species.