scholarly journals Canopy Disturbances Catalyse Tree Species Shifts in Swiss Forests

Ecosystems ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Scherrer ◽  
Davide Ascoli ◽  
Marco Conedera ◽  
Christoph Fischer ◽  
Janet Maringer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Species Turnover ◽  
Castanea Sativa ◽  
National Forest Inventory ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
Insect Outbreaks ◽  
Tree Species Composition

AbstractWidely observed inertia of forest communities contrasts with climate change projections that suggest dramatic alterations of forest composition for the coming decades. Disturbances might be a key process to catalyse changes in tree species composition under environmental change by creating opportunities for ‘new’ species to establish. To test this assumption, we compared two assessments (1993–1995, 2009–2017) from the Swiss National Forest Inventory to evaluate which forests were opened by natural canopy disturbance (that is, wind, insect outbreaks, fire and drought) and if these disturbances altered tree species composition both in terms of species-specific basal area and recruitment densities. Natural disturbances affected 14% of the Swiss forests within 25 years, with wind and insect outbreaks being the most frequent (75%) and fire and drought being rare (< 1.5%). Disturbances led to a shift from conifer to broadleaf tree species at low elevation, in particular in dense Picea abies stands, but no change was observed at higher elevations. The composition of undisturbed sites persisted during the same period. Our results demonstrate that undisturbed forests widely resist changes in tree species composition as an effect of direct ingrowth by stand-forming species. Disturbance events seem necessary to create opportunities for climatically ‘better suited and site-adapted’ species to (re-)establish and therefore potentially catalyse tree species turnover under environmental changes. We detected a reduction of tree species that were—centuries ago—cultivated outside their primary natural range, in particular P. abies, or depended on traditional management practices (Pinus sylvestris, Castanea sativa), which may inform us on how the projected increase in disturbance frequency and severity might filter tree species composition and hereby alter forest structure.

Structural changes in protected forests in Sweden: implications for conservation functionality

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 1215-1224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per-Ola Hedwall ◽  
Grzegorz Mikusiński
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
National Forest Inventory ◽  
Active Management ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
Large Trees

Protected forest areas (PFAs) are key features of biodiversity conservation, and knowledge about long-term development is crucial in evaluating their efficiency and management needs. Longitudinal data on forest structure in PFAs is uncommon and often from small areas. Here we use data from the Swedish National Forest Inventory to study changes in more than 750 000 ha of PFAs over 60 years. Structures important for biodiversity, e.g., number of large trees and the volume of hard deadwood, including both standing and down wood, have more than doubled. The initial volume of deadwood, however, was very low. The overall tree species composition was stable over time, and only among the largest trees were there indications of a shift towards the late successional Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.). Deadwood increased independent of species, size of wood, and site characteristics. This increase was positively related to the volume of living trees and forest age. We conclude that Swedish PFAs, in the absence of active management and under fire suppression at the landscape scale, develop structural components that are crucial for conservation of biodiversity. However, although tree species composition appears stable, present disturbance regimes in the PFAs are considerably different from those in naturally dynamic forests, which may have implications for long-term biodiversity maintenance.

scholarly journals Remote-sensing support for the Estonian National Forest Inventory, facilitating the construction of maps for forest height, standing-wood volume, and tree species composition

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-97
Author(s):  
Mait Lang ◽  
Allan Sims ◽  
Kalev Pärna ◽  
Raul Kangro ◽  
Märt Möls ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Forest Inventory ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
National Forest Inventory ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Wood Volume ◽  
Forest Height

Abstract Since 1999, Estonia has conducted the National Forest Inventory (NFI) on the basis of sample plots. This paper presents a new module, incorporating remote-sensing feature variables from airborne laser scanning (ALS) and from multispectral satellite images, for the construction of maps of forest height, standing-wood volume, and tree species composition for the entire country. The models for sparse ALS point clouds yield coefficients of determination of 89.5–94.8% for stand height and 84.2–91.7% for wood volume. For the tree species prediction, the models yield Cohen's kappa values (taking 95% confidence intervals) of 0.69–0.72 upon comparing model results against a previous map, and values of 0.51–0.54 upon comparing model results against NFI sample plots. This paper additionally examines the influence of foliage phenology on the predictions and discusses options for further enhancement of the system.

Loss of available soil organic carbon from afforestation plots: effect of tree species composition and warming

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenhui Jiang ◽  
Anna Gunina ◽  
Lucas Merz ◽  
Yihe Yang ◽  
Yakov Kuzyakov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Temperature Sensitivity ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Enzyme Activities ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
European Beech ◽  
Microbial Biomass C ◽  
Tree Species Composition

&lt;p&gt;Afforestation with pure and mixed-species is an important strategy to improve soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and restore degraded lands. However, what remains unclear is the stability of SOC to microbial degradation after afforestation and the effect of tree species composition. Moreover, it is important to reveal how sensitive the SOC in afforestation lands is to environmental changes, such as warming. To study the combined effects of warming and the tree species composition on decomposition of SOC by microorganisms and enzyme activities, soils were collected from the monocultural and mixtures of Silver birch (Betula Pendula) and European beech (Fagus Silvatica) (BangorDiversity, UK, 12 years since afforestation) and were incubated for 169 days at 0, 10, 20, 30 &amp;#176;C at 60 % of WHC. The field experiment is arranged into a completely randomized design with n=4. The CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; efflux was measured constantly, whereas activities of &amp;#946;-glucosidase, chitinase and acid phosphatase, and content of microbial biomass C (MBC) were obtained at the end of the incubation.&amp;#160;Results showed that soil cumulative CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; efflux increased by 34.7&amp;#8211;107% with the temperature. Potential enzyme activities were dependent on tree species composition. Warming, but not tree species exhibited a significant impact on the temperature sensitivity (Q10) of soil cumulative CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; efflux and enzyme activities. The greatest temperature sensitivity (Q&lt;sub&gt;10&lt;/sub&gt;) of total CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; efflux was found at 10&amp;#8211;20 &amp;#176;C and was 2.0&amp;#8211;2.1, but that of enzyme activities were found as 0.9&amp;#8211;1.1 at 0&amp;#8211;10 &amp;#176;C. These results suggest that warming has an asynchronous effect on the SOC decomposition and enzyme activity, and enzymes cannot account for the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration. Thus, thermal adaptations of SOC mineralization is independent of the adaptation of the enzyme pool.&lt;/p&gt;

Interactive influences of distance from seed source and management practices on tree species composition in conifer plantations

2012 ◽  
Vol 283 ◽  
pp. 48-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuo Nagaike ◽  
Taku Fujita ◽  
Seiichi Dejima ◽  
Tsunehide Chino ◽  
Seiji Matsuzaki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Seed Source ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Conifer Plantations

scholarly journals Die Zürcher Wälder um 1823 – Betriebsformen und Baumarten

2015 ◽  
Vol 166 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-31
Author(s):  
Mirjam Bader ◽  
Urs Gimmi ◽  
Matthias Bürgi
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Early 19Th Century ◽  
Coppice With Standards

The forests in the Canton of Zurich around 1823 – forest types and tree species Based on early forest management plans from 1823, this paper analyses forest management practices and tree species composition in the public forests of the Canton of Zurich in the early 19th century. Forest type distribution across the canton is reconstructed and detailed tree species composition is shown for 31 communities in the north-western part of the canton. For these communities, we compared the historical tree species composition with modern data from a regional forest inventory. The results show that coppice with standards was the most important forest type in the early 19th century. Tree species composition largely depends on the forest types. The highest diversity in tree species can be found in coppice and coppice-with-standards forests. The analyses reveal no clear relationship between tree species composition and environmental factors such as climate, topography and soil. This leads to the conclusion that in the early 19th century already management had a stronger influence on tree composition than natural conditions. During the last 200 years, tree species composition in the Canton of Zurich changed profoundly. Whereas today's forests are more natural in terms of species composition, they are less diverse in species. Knowing the tree species composition in the past can thus be helpful in conservation projects, e.g. in establishing coppice and coppice-with- standards forests in order to promote rare light-demanding plant and animal species.

Tree species diversity and composition relationship to biomass, understory community, and crown architecture in intensively managed plantations of the coastal Pacific Northwest, USA

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Austin Himes ◽  
Klaus Puettmann
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Crown Length ◽  
Management Interventions ◽  
Intensively Managed

Trends in land cover and the demand for ecosystem services suggest that plantation forests will be expected to provide a larger quantity and diversity of ecosystem services. We identified three measures indicative of diverse ecosystem services (aboveground biomass, understory biodiversity, and crown length) and compared their relationships to tree species composition in intensively managed forest plantations of the Coast Range mountains of the Pacific Northwest, United States. This study was conducted in stands of western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), and red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.), as well as in mixtures of the three species that were 35–39 years old. In this operational setting, we did not observe the positive relationship between species diversity and productivity observed in other studies, which we attributed to management practices that minimize interspecific interaction during most of the rotation. Crown length and understory species diversity were greater in mixtures of tree species than in (monospecific) monocultures. When multiple ecosystem components were considered simultaneously, mixtures of tree species outperformed monocultures. The observed relationships of the three responses to tree species composition and diversity are likely explained by differences in tree phenology, shade tolerance, disease susceptibility, and management interventions. Based on the results, management that is solely fixated on wood production homogeneously throughout the plantation may miss opportunities to provide other ecosystem services.

Langfristige Entwicklung von zwei Waldgesellschaften im Białowieża-Urwald

2008 ◽  
Vol 159 (4) ◽  
pp. 80-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bogdan Brzeziecki ◽  
Feliks Eugeniusz Bernadzki
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Stand Structure ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Structural Parameters ◽  
Forest Communities ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Strong Trend ◽  
Long Term Study

The results of a long-term study on the natural forest dynamics of two forest communities on one sample plot within the Białowieża National Park in Poland are presented. The two investigated forest communities consist of the Pino-Quercetum and the Tilio-Carpinetum type with the major tree species Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies, Betula sp., Quercus robur, Tilia cordata and Carpinus betulus. The results reveal strong temporal dynamics of both forest communities since 1936 in terms of tree species composition and of general stand structure. The four major tree species Scots pine, birch, English oak and Norway spruce, which were dominant until 1936, have gradually been replaced by lime and hornbeam. At the same time, the analysis of structural parameters indicates a strong trend towards a homogenization of the vertical stand structure. Possible causes for these dynamics may be changes in sylviculture, climate change and atmospheric deposition. Based on the altered tree species composition it can be concluded that a simple ≪copying≫ (mimicking) of the processes taking place in natural forests may not guarantee the conservation of the multifunctional character of the respective forests.

Effects of nitrogen deposition on nitrate leaching from forests of the northeastern United States will change with tree species composition

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 997-1009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine F. Crowley ◽  
Gary M. Lovett
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Nitrate Leaching ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
N Deposition ◽  
Red Oak ◽  
Northeastern United States ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
White Ash ◽  
Species Change

As tree species composition in forests of the northeastern United States changes due to invasive forest pests, climate change, or other stressors, the extent to which forests will retain or release N from atmospheric deposition remains uncertain. We used a species-specific, dynamic forest ecosystem model (Spe-CN) to investigate how nitrate (NO3–) leaching may vary among stands dominated by different species, receiving varied atmospheric N inputs, or undergoing species change due to an invasive forest pest (emerald ash borer; EAB). In model simulations, NO3– leaching varied widely among stands dominated by 12 northeastern North American tree species. Nitrate leaching increased with N deposition or forest age, generally with greater magnitude for deciduous (except red oak) than coniferous species. Species with lowest baseline leaching rates (e.g., red spruce, eastern hemlock, red oak) showed threshold responses to N deposition. EAB effects on leaching depended on the species replacing white ash: after 100 years, predicted leaching increased 73% if sugar maple replaced ash but decreased 55% if red oak replaced ash. This analysis suggests that the effects of tree species change on NO3– leaching over time may be large and variable and should be incorporated into predictions of effects of N deposition on leaching from forested landscapes.

scholarly journals Differences of tree species composition and microclimate between a mahogany(swietenia macrophyllaking) plantation and a secondary forest in Mt. Makiling, Philippines

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Kwon Lee ◽  
Don Koo Lee ◽  
Su‐Young Woo ◽  
Emmanuel Rodantes G. Abraham ◽  
Wilfredo M. Carandang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Secondary Forest ◽  
Tree Species Composition
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