Dynamics of changes in the structure of the forest edge in Slovakia

Abstract

Forest edges generally represent a very important element of ecological stability. The goal of this paper is to classify the types of anthropogenic forest edges in the area of Starohorské Mountains and to analyse anthropogenic impacts on the selected attributes of forest edges. We evaluated the attributes of abiocomplex, type of forest edge, its structure, consistence, species composition and other factors. The differences in environment variables and anthropic impact were influenced by singularities in the composition and species variability of vegetation. In the monitored areas we defined seven types and four subtypes of forest edges according to its vertical and horizontal structure. With the help of detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) we also interpreted organization relevés and species by gradients of environment variables, and with the help of canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) we tested their statistical significance. From the results of our research, there is a clear tendency for high diversity of living species in the forest edge. Environmental variables interpreting the highest volume of species variability are the altitude and transect position.