Woodland restoration and forest structure affect nightjar abundance in the Ozark Highlands

AbstractThe complexity of forest structures plays a crucial role in regulating forest ecosystem functions and strongly influences biodiversity. Yet, knowledge of the global patterns and determinants of forest structural complexity remains scarce. Using a stand structural complexity index based on terrestrial laser scanning, we quantify the structural complexity of boreal, temperate, subtropical and tropical primary forests. We find that the global variation of forest structural complexity is largely explained by annual precipitation and precipitation seasonality (R² = 0.89). Using the structural complexity of primary forests as benchmark, we model the potential structural complexity across biomes and present a global map of the potential structural complexity of the earth´s forest ecoregions. Our analyses reveal distinct latitudinal patterns of forest structure and show that hotspots of high structural complexity coincide with hotspots of plant diversity. Considering the mechanistic underpinnings of forest structural complexity, our results suggest spatially contrasting changes of forest structure with climate change within and across biomes.

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Stand-Level Forest Structure and Avian Habitat: Scale Dependencies in Predicting Occurrence in a Heterogeneous Forest

Forest Science ◽

10.1093/forestscience/54.1.36 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 54 (1) ◽

pp. 36-46

Author(s):

Katherine Manaras Smith ◽

William S. Keeton ◽

Therese M. Donovan ◽

Brian Mitchell

Keyword(s):

Forest Structure ◽

Stand Structure ◽

Site Occupancy ◽

Territory Size ◽

Weight Of Evidence ◽

Habitat Models ◽

Point Counts ◽

Forest Stand Structure ◽

Habitat Scale

Abstract We explored the role of stand-level forest structure and spatial extent of forest sampling in models of avian occurrence in northern hardwood-conifer forests for two species: black-throated blue warbler (Dendroica caerulescens) and ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus). We estimated site occupancy from point counts at 20 sites and characterized the forest structure at these sites at three spatial extents (0.2, 3.0, and 12.0 ha). Weight of evidence was greatest for habitat models using forest stand structure at the 12.0-ha extent and diminished only slightly at the 3.0-ha extent, a scale that was slightly larger than the average territory size of both species. Habitat models characterized at the 0.2-ha extent had low support, yet are the closest in design to those used in many of the habitat studies we reviewed. These results suggest that the role of stand-level vegetation may have been underestimated in the past, which will be of interest to land managers who use habitat models to assess the suitability of habitat for species of concern.

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Effects of diverse mangrove management practices on forest structure, carbon dynamics and sedimentation in North Sumatra, Indonesia

Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science ◽

10.1016/j.ecss.2021.107467 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 107467

Author(s):

Bayu B. Hanggara ◽

Daniel Murdiyarso ◽

Yohanes RS. Ginting ◽

Yessica L. Widha ◽

Grace Y. Panjaitan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Forest Structure ◽

Management Practices ◽

Carbon Dynamics ◽

North Sumatra

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Big trees drive forest structure patterns across a lowland Amazon regrowth gradient

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-83030-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Tassiana Maylla Fontoura Caron ◽

Victor Juan Ulises Rodriguez Chuma ◽

Alexander Arévalo Sandi ◽

Darren Norris

Keyword(s):

Forest Structure ◽

Natural Regeneration ◽

Basal Area ◽

Significant Decline ◽

Forest Regrowth ◽

Large Trees ◽

Amazonian Forests ◽

Mammal Diversity ◽

Structure Patterns ◽

Plot Type

AbstractDegraded Amazonian forests can take decades to recover and the ecological results of natural regeneration are still uncertain. Here we use field data collected across 15 lowland Amazon smallholder properties to examine the relationships between forest structure, mammal diversity, regrowth type, regrowth age, topography and hydrology. Forest structure was quantified together with mammal diversity in 30 paired regrowth-control plots. Forest regrowth stage was classified into three groups: late second-regrowth, early second-regrowth and abandoned pasture. Basal area in regrowth plots remained less than half that recorded in control plots even after 20–25 years. Although basal area did increase in sequence from pasture, early to late-regrowth plots, there was a significant decline in basal area of late-regrowth control plots associated with a decline in the proportion of large trees. Variation in different forest structure responses was explained by contrasting variables, with the proportion of small trees (DBH < 20 cm) most strongly explained by topography (altitude and slope) whereas the proportion of large trees (DBH > 60 cm) was explained by plot type (control vs. regrowth) and regrowth class. These findings support calls for increased efforts to actively conserve large trees to avoid retrogressive succession around edges of degraded Amazon forests.

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