Fig. 7

Effects of forest management on the vegetation in dolines in the Mecsek Mts, Hungary. The total number of species and the number of climate change vulnerable plant species (i.e. beech forest species) may change due to intensive logging. Doline bottoms covered with more than 90-year-old forests may provide important microhabitats for many beech forest species (see bar charts and Fig. 6). The number of these species may decrease at doline bottoms and increase on the slopes after 5–10 years of logging. The competitive effect of the dense and shady thickets of young trees upon understory herbs and shrubs during the forest regeneration phase may be responsible for the significant decrease in species richness of dolines. Most plant species associated with the oldest forest stands may re-establish within 90–120 years after a regeneration felling. Abbreviation: NB, number of beech forest species in the plots