Authors: Kovács, Bence; Horváth, Csenge Veronika ;Tinya, Flóra;Németh, Csaba;Ódor, Péter;

Stable below-canopy microclimate of forests is essential for biodiversity and ecosystem functionality. Forest management modifies the buffering capacity of woodlands but comparative studies focusing on the effects of different silvicultural treatments on microclimate or the recovery after interventions are still scarce.
With two field experiments, the effects of four different forestry treatments (clear-cutting, retention tree group, preparation cutting, gap-cutting) and gap attributes (shapes and sizes) on microclimate were studied in Hungarian oak-dominated stands.
We found that microclimate changed immediately after the harvests; the effect sizes among treatment types were consistent throughout the years; the climatic recovery time for variables appeared to be far more than three years and the applied silvicultural methods diverged mainly among temperature maxima. By establishing gaps with different sizes (small, large) and shapes (circular, elongated) we revealed that size was the primary driver of light, soil moisture was determined by shape, while temperature changes were influenced by both irradiation and soil moisture. Spatial analyses identified circular patterns for diffuse light and opposing north-south gradients in the case of direct light and soil moisture across gap types.
Spatially heterogeneous and fine-scaled treatments of continuous cover forestry are recommended for maintaining the local climate mitigating capacities of forests.