Long-Term Forest Dynamics and Tree Growth at the TDE Site on Walker Branch Watershed

2003 ◽  
pp. 417-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Huston ◽  
Donald E. Todd ◽  
D. Gregory Barlar
Keyword(s):  
Tree Growth ◽  
Forest Dynamics ◽  
Walker Branch Watershed

scholarly journals Half-century evidence from western Canada shows forest dynamics are primarily driven by competition followed by climate

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (13) ◽  
pp. 4009-4014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Shongming Huang ◽  
Fangliang He
Keyword(s):  
Tree Growth ◽  
Forest Dynamics ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Western Canada ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Permanent Sample Plots ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
Long Term Changes

Tree mortality, growth, and recruitment are essential components of forest dynamics and resiliency, for which there is great concern as climate change progresses at high latitudes. Tree mortality has been observed to increase over the past decades in many regions, but the causes of this increase are not well understood, and we know even less about long-term changes in growth and recruitment rates. Using a dataset of long-term (1958–2009) observations on 1,680 permanent sample plots from undisturbed natural forests in western Canada, we found that tree demographic rates have changed markedly over the last five decades. We observed a widespread, significant increase in tree mortality, a significant decrease in tree growth, and a similar but weaker trend of decreasing recruitment. However, these changes varied widely across tree size, forest age, ecozones, and species. We found that competition was the primary factor causing the long-term changes in tree mortality, growth, and recruitment. Regional climate had a weaker yet still significant effect on tree mortality, but little effect on tree growth and recruitment. This finding suggests that internal community-level processes—more so than external climatic factors—are driving forest dynamics.

scholarly journals Tropical tree growth sensitivity to climate is driven by species intrinsic growth rate and leaf traits

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Bauman ◽  
Claire Fortunel ◽  
Lucas A. Cernusak ◽  
Lisa P. Bentley ◽  
Sean M. McMahon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Forest Dynamics ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
Growth Data ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Evaporative Demand

A better understanding of how climate affects growth in tree species is essential for improved predictions of forest dynamics under climate change. Long-term climate averages (mean climate) and short-term deviations from these averages (anomalies) both influence tree growth, but the rarity of long-term data integrating climatic gradients with tree censuses has so far limited our understanding of their respective role, especially in tropical systems. Here, we combined 49 years of growth data for 509 tree species across 23 tropical rainforest plots along a climatic gradient to examine how tree growth responds to both climate means and anomalies, and how species functional traits mediate these tree growth responses to climate. We showed that short-term, anomalous increases in atmospheric evaporative demand and solar radiation consistently reduced tree growth. Drier forests and fast-growing species were more sensitive to water stress anomalies. In addition, species traits related to water use and photosynthesis partly explained differences in growth sensitivity to both long-term and short-term climate variations. Our study demonstrates that both climate means and anomalies shape tree growth in tropical forests, and that species traits can be leveraged to understand these demographic responses to climate change, offering a promising way forward to forecast tropical forest dynamics under different climate trajectories.

Stand dynamics and species composition control long-term post-fire trends in evapotranspiration and streamflow from South-eastern Australia’s Temperate Eucalyptus forests

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Assaf Inbar ◽  
Richard Benyon ◽  
Patrick Lane ◽  
Shyanika Lakmali ◽  
Shane Haydon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Forest Dynamics ◽  
Simulation Analysis ◽  
Stocking Density ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Water Yield ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Acacia Dealbata ◽  
Eastern Australia

<p>Most of the water that ends up in Melbourne’s water supply catchments originates from wet Eucalyptus forests that are dominated by Eucalyptus regnans, the tallest known angiosperm on earth. Studies had shown that catchments that are dominated by these forests can experience a significant long-term (>100 years) reduction in streamflow after a stand-replacing fire, which was attributed to higher water-use of the dense overstory regrowth. However, despite several lines of evidence, the direction, extent and duration of post-fire hydrological behaviour vary significantly between catchments and between fire events. Here we propose that this variability is caused by initial stocking density and species composition after the fire, and the climatic conditions that prevail during forest regeneration that affect tree growth and mortality rates. In order to test the hypothesis, we formulated an ecohydrological model that simulates hydrology, growth and forest dynamics of E. regnans and Acacia dealbata, which are known to compete for resources during the initial stages of vegetation recovery. The new model shows high skill in predicting long-term streamflow when compared to observations using multiple sources of data. Simulation analysis shows that the direction, extent and duration of post-fire hydrological behaviour are sensitive to initial stocking density and to the relative abundance of species that regenerate after the fire, which influence the rate of self-thinning during stand development. Furthermore, simulation results show that the observed long-term reduction in streamflow is less likely to occur when the forest would have been less dense before the fire, which theoretically could only occur when a high proportion of the short-lived A. Dealbata regenerated after the previous fire. This highlights the importance of including mechanisms that control the effect of species composition on forest dynamics when modelling the effect of possible future climatic scenarios on water yield.</p>

Oak, chestnut and fire: climatic and cultural controls of long-term forest dynamics in New England, USA

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 1359-1379 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Foster ◽  
Susan Clayden ◽  
David A. Orwig ◽  
Brian Hall ◽  
Sylvia Barry
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Forest Dynamics

scholarly journals Biomass increases attributed to both faster tree growth and altered allometric relationships under long‐term carbon dioxide enrichment at a temperate forest

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 2519-2533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dohyoung Kim ◽  
David Medvigy ◽  
Chris A. Maier ◽  
Kurt Johnsen ◽  
Sari Palmroth
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Temperate Forest ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Enrichment ◽  
Allometric Relationships
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