scholarly journals Old growth forests and large old trees as critical organisms connecting ecosystems and human health. A review

Author(s):  
Melinda Gilhen-Baker ◽  
Valentina Roviello ◽  
Diana Beresford-Kroeger ◽  
Giovanni N. Roviello

AbstractOld forests containing ancient trees are essential ecosystems for life on earth. Mechanisms that happen both deep in the root systems and in the highest canopies ensure the viability of our planet. Old forests fix large quantities of atmospheric CO2, produce oxygen, create micro-climates and irreplaceable habitats, in sharp contrast to young forests and monoculture forests. The current intense logging activities induce rapid, adverse effects on our ecosystems and climate. Here we review large old trees with a focus on ecosystem preservation, climate issues, and therapeutic potential. We found that old forests continue to sequester carbon and fix nitrogen. Old trees control below-ground conditions that are essential for tree regeneration. Old forests create micro-climates that slow global warming and are irreplaceable habitats for many endangered species. Old trees produce phytochemicals with many biomedical properties. Old trees also host particular fungi with untapped medicinal potential, including the Agarikon, Fomitopsis officinalis, which is currently being tested against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Large old trees are an important part of our combined cultural heritage, providing people with aesthetic, symbolic, religious, and historical cues. Bringing their numerous environmental, oceanic, ecological, therapeutic, and socio-cultural benefits to the fore, and learning to appreciate old trees in a holistic manner could contribute to halting the worldwide decline of old-growth forests.

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (12) ◽  
pp. 1203-1206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Larson

Falling canopy debris causes injury and mortality of tree seedlings and understory plants in a wide variety of forests. Canopy structure and dynamics differ between young and old-growth forests: old forests are taller and have more aboveground biomass and greater annual mortality of bole biomass. I predicted that risk of damage caused by debris fall in the understory is greater in old-growth forests than in young forests. I tested this prediction by tracking for 1 year the fates of artificial seedlings placed in young (stand age 31 to 61 years) and old-growth (stand age circa 500 years) Pseudotsuga–Tsuga forests. The risk of physical damage caused by debris fall in old-growth forests was significantly greater than in young forests (P = 0.001). Seedling models were damaged by falling debris at a rate of 4.4%·year−1 and 0.8%·year−1 in old-growth and young forests, respectively. More seedling models were damaged by fallen coarse woody debris in old-growth forests than in young forests, although this trend was not significant (P = 0.134). Approximately 25% of seedling models in both young and old-growth forests were damaged by something other than fallen canopy debris, most likely snow accumulation.


Science ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 247 (4943) ◽  
pp. 699-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Harmon ◽  
W. K. Ferrell ◽  
J. F. Franklin

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 3098-3111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen Banner ◽  
Philip LePage

We sampled second-growth forests ranging in age from 28 to 98 years and compared them with old-growth forests to quantify rates of terrestrial vegetation recovery following harvesting on the northcentral coast of British Columbia. Species richness approximately doubles, while Simpson’s index of diversity increases from 0.81 to 0.91 from young to old forests. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordinations showed differentiation, with some overlap, of old-growth and second-growth forests and a fairly strong correlation of stand age with plot scores, driven by plant species presence and cover. Vegetation succession following logging disturbance is driven primarily by predisturbance species composition; most species found in the young forests are present in old forests and the higher species richness typical of old growth is largely due to the establishment of additional cryptogam and herb species of low cover and constancy. Significantly higher cover of shrub, herb, and bryophyte species differentiates old forests from second-growth forests. Forests 41–100 years old average 63%–73% similarity (depending on site type) to old-growth forests based on species presence–absence and 53%–58% similarity based on species cover. The scarcity of western redcedar ( Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don) in second-growth stands is of particular concern because of the high ecological, cultural, and economic importance of this tree species.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxence Martin ◽  
Miguel Montoro Girona ◽  
Hubert Morin

AbstractOld-growth forests play a major role in conserving biodiversity, protecting water resources, sequestrating carbon, and these forests are indispensable resources for indigenous societies. To preserve the ecosystem services provided by these boreal ecosystems, it becomes necessary to develop novel silvicultural practices capable of emulating the natural dynamics and structural attributes of old-growth forests. The success of these forest management strategies depends on developing an accurate understanding of natural regeneration dynamics. Our goal was therefore to identify the main patterns and the drivers involved in the regeneration dynamics of old-growth forests, placing our focus on boreal stands dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana (L.) Mill.) and balsam fir (Balsam fir (L.) Mill.) in eastern Canada. We sampled 71 stands in a 2200 km2 study area located within Quebec’s boreal region. For each stand, we noted tree regeneration (seedlings and saplings), structural attributes (diameter distribution, deadwood volume, etc.), and abiotic (topography and soil) factors. We observed that secondary disturbance regimes and topographic constraints were the main drivers of balsam fir and black spruce regeneration. Furthermore, the regeneration dynamics of black spruce appeared more complex than those of balsam fir. We observed distinct phases of seedling production first developing within the understory, then seedling growth when gaps opened in the canopy, followed by progressive canopy closure. Seedling density, rather than the sapling density, had a major role in explaining the ability of black spruce to fill the canopy following a secondary disturbance. The density of balsam fir seedlings and saplings was also linked to the abundance of balsam fir trees at the stand level. This research helps explain the complexity of old-growth forest dynamics where many ecological factors interact at multiple temporal and spatial scales. This study also improves our understanding of ecological processes within native old-growth forests and identifies the key factors to consider when ensuring the sustainable management of old-growth boreal stands.


2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jussi Kanervo ◽  
Gergely Várkonyi

We aim to assess habitat and host-tree preferences of psocids (Insecta: Psocoptera) sampled in old-growth-forest biodiversity studies conducted during 1997–2003 in central and southern Finland. Thirty-one out of the recognized sixty-nine Finnish species were found in the samples, four of which (Elipsocus abdominalis, Reuterella helvimacula, Stenopsocus lachlani and Trichadenotecnum majus) might be associated with old-growth forests or with old trees. Psocidus flavonimbatus, a rare taiga species only previously known from the 19th century holotype from Estonia, was repeatedly collected in Kuhmo region, eastern Central Finland. This species is possibly associated with boreal spruce-dominated old-growth forests and likely to prefer Norway spruce as a host tree. We also provide new distribution data for several species and discuss their host-tree preferences.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Colangelo ◽  
Jesus Julio Camarero ◽  
Antonio Gazol ◽  
Marco Borghetti ◽  
Michele Baliva ◽  
...  

<p>Mediterranean mountainous forest ecosystems are key hotspots to study the impact of climate change, thus understanding the species-specific growth response is of great relevance. In this study, we take advantage of the few remnant patches of old-growth forests located in the Pollino Massif (southern Italy), to evaluate how the growth of conspecific young and old trees responded to climate. Indeed, thanks to their remote critical topographic conditions in which these patches are located, they have remained nearly untouched from human pressure over the last centuries. We compared two conifer species (Abies alba, Pinus heldreichii var. leucodermis) vs. two hardwood species (Fagus sylvatica, Quercus cerris) in four stands situated along an altitudinal gradient. Younger trees grew faster than their conspecific oldest trees during their juvenile stage, regardless of the environmental conditions and species studied, highlighting more favorable recent climatic and environmental conditions for growth compared to the past. Rising temperature had a positive effect on growth rate in high-elevation young and old P. leucodermis individuals. However, F. sylvatica, inhabiting mesic sites at lower elevation, had slow growth with the least difference in growth rates between young and old trees. Similarly, the growth rates of old tree species found at lower elevation (Q. cerris and A. alba, respectively) tended to be relatively stable since 1950, except for A. alba, increased over the last two decades. Climate sensitivity in recent decades differed between young and old trees in some of the species, with younger trees tending to be more sensitive in Pinus and Abies, and older trees being more sensitive in Fagus. Such disparity in climate sensitivity and long-term growth reactions to climate should be recognized and considered when forecasting the future dynamics of old-growth forests.</p>


2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Moeur ◽  
Janet L. Ohmann ◽  
Robert E. Kennedy ◽  
Warren B. Cohen ◽  
Matthew J. Gregory ◽  
...  

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael H. McClellan ◽  
Douglas N. Swanston ◽  
Paul E. Hennon ◽  
Robert L. Deal ◽  
Toni L. de Santo ◽  
...  

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