Production-ecological analysis of herb layer in the softwood floodplain forests formed after the gabčíkovo waterwork construction and their characteristics

This paper is focused on phytocoenological characteristics and production analysis of herbaceous layer biomass of the softwood floodplain forests (Salici-Populetum (R. Tx. 1931) Meijer Drees 1936 association) and their phytocoenological characteristics. The sampling site was located in the young stands, which were formed after the Gabčíkovo Waterwork construction in 1992. Redirection of the major ratio of flow into the supply channel has caused essential decrease of water level in the old Danube riverbed. As a result of this, new bare sites have appeared having character of pioneer habitat. In the process of primary succession, new softwood floodplain forests have formed here within a few years. These stands are the subject of the study presented in this paper. We estimated herb layer biomass using indirect sampling modified for non-repeated field measurements (Kubíček, Brechtl, 1970). Total biomass of herbaceous layer was estimated to be 5577 kg ha−1, the aboveground biomass was 4065 kg ha−1 while the belowground biomass was 1512 kg ha−1. The results were compared with the data of Kubíček et al. (2009) and Kollár et al. (2010). Some attention was also paid to their phytocoenologic characteristics. Considering this, it seems that they represent full-value softwood floodplain forest of the Salici-Populetum association despite a bit higher occurrence of some synanthropic species. Such statement is supported by comparison with the data of Jurko (1958) and Šomšák (2003).