We investigated changes in understory vegetation biodiversity in two old-growth Abies- Fagus forest reserves (Pečka and Strmec) in SE Slovenia between 1983 and 2015. Resurveys of 85 historical semipermanent vegetation plots were done using the same method (Piskernik phytosociological method) as was used in the original surveys. According to changes in diversity measures (species richness, Shannon diversity index and species evenness index) significant diversity losses during the study period were found in both reserves. The largest declines were observed for light-demanding species and phanerophytes highly susceptible to browsing, while diversity of shade-tolerant species, especially geophytes, showed little change. These changes were consistent with the canopy closure and increase in red deer densities in both reserves during the study period. In Pečka we also documented a decline of some shade-tolerant, moisturedemanding species and an overall decrease of community mean specific leaf area (SLA) values. We argue that this could be an influence of climate change (increase in mean annual temperatures and decrease in annual precipitation during study period), but this assumption clearly needs further investigation.
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