Assessment of phenolic composition of the forest underbrush

Abstract

Clear-cutting is a cutting technique widely used worldwide. The functioning and biodiversity of forest ecosystem are deeply related to its structural complexity [1,2]. The variation of the biodiversity and particularly of the chemical composition of the plants before and after the wood-cutting results useful for a better understanding of the modifications that the forest management technique used generates in the forest structural complexity. The research presented is focused on the screening and evaluation of the phenolic composition of the forest ecosystem before the cutting. It includes the phenolic composition analysis of several plants of the underbrush (Vaccinium myrtillus, Lycopodium clavatum, Calluna vulgaris, etc.) and the forest background, performed by Ultravioletvisible spectroscopic methods and by High Performance Liquid Chromatography analysis.