Influence of fire intensity on structure and composition of jack pine stands in the boreal forest of Quebec: Live trees, understory vegetation and dead wood dynamics

2008 ◽  
Vol 255 (7) ◽  
pp. 2916-2927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgeniya Smirnova ◽  
Yves Bergeron ◽  
Suzanne Brais
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Dead Wood ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Understory Vegetation ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Pine Stands

Soil organic layer combustion in boreal black spruce and jack pine stands of the Northwest Territories, Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xanthe J. Walker ◽  
Jennifer L. Baltzer ◽  
Steven G. Cumming ◽  
Nicola J. Day ◽  
Jill F. Johnstone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Organic Layer ◽  
Complete Combustion ◽  
Soil Organic Layer ◽  
Pine Stands ◽  
Burn Depth

Increased fire frequency, extent and severity are expected to strongly affect the structure and function of boreal forest ecosystems. In this study, we examined 213 plots in boreal forests dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana) or jack pine (Pinus banksiana) of the Northwest Territories, Canada, after an unprecedentedly large area burned in 2014. Large fire size is associated with high fire intensity and severity, which would manifest as areas with deep burning of the soil organic layer (SOL). Our primary objectives were to estimate burn depth in these fires and then to characterise landscapes vulnerable to deep burning throughout this region. Here we quantify burn depth in black spruce stands using the position of adventitious roots within the soil column, and in jack pine stands using measurements of burned and unburned SOL depths. Using these estimates, we then evaluate how burn depth and the proportion of SOL combusted varies among forest type, ecozone, plot-level moisture and stand density. Our results suggest that most of the SOL was combusted in jack pine stands regardless of plot moisture class, but that black spruce forests experience complete combustion of the SOL only in dry and moderately well-drained landscape positions. The models and calibrations we present in this study should allow future research to more accurately estimate burn depth in Canadian boreal forests.

Comparison of the understory vegetation in boreal forest types of southwest Quebec

2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (9) ◽  
pp. 1019-1027 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Légaré ◽  
Yves Bergeron ◽  
Alain Leduc ◽  
David Paré
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Cycling ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Ecosystem Processes ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Understory Vegetation ◽  
Light Transmittance ◽  
White Birch ◽  
Surface Deposit

Variation in canopy composition can influence ecosystem processes, such as nutrient cycling and light transmittance, even when environmental soil conditions are similar. To determine whether forest cover type influences species composition of the understory vegetation (herbs and shrubs), the composition of this layer was studied on two different surface deposits, clay and till, and under four different forest cover types dominated, respectively, by Populus tremuloïdes Michx. (aspen), Betula papyrifera Marsh. (white birch), Pinus banksiana Lamb. (jack pine), and Picea glauca (Moench) Voss – Abies balsamea (L.) Mill. (spruce–fir) over similar environmental conditions. Detrended correspondence analysis and analysis of variance performed on the ordination scores revealed that understory plant composition was highly affected by surface deposit and forest cover. The gradient observed in the correspondence analysis proceeds from aspen, white birch, spruce–fir, to jack pine. Indicator species were identified for each surface deposit and cover type, and most of them were associated with either jack pine or aspen. The richness, evenness, and diversity of the understory vegetation did not vary between cover types, but were affected by surface deposit. By controlling ecosystem processes such as light transmittance and nutrient cycling, forest cover influences understory composition.Key words: cover, understory, composition, boreal forest, environmental condition.

Understory vegetation in northern Ontario jack pine and black spruce plantations: 20-year successional changes

2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (9) ◽  
pp. 1791-1803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley L Hunt ◽  
Andrew M Gordon ◽  
Dave M Morris ◽  
George T Marek
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Detrended Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Understory Vegetation ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Northern Ontario ◽  
Pine Stands ◽  
Over Time

The 20-year successional development of understory vegetation was investigated in jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) and black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) plantations in northern Ontario, in relation to stand species composition, species diversity, and the rate of change in stands of different post-disturbance ages. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) ordination of plantation stands using species composition data from 1978 and 1998 indicated variation among stands in directions and rates of change in species composition over time. Rank correlations of environmental variables with the DCA axes suggested a light–moisture gradient along the first axis, driven by soil texture and overstory species, and a gradient representing time since disturbance and stand development along the second axis. Although overall beta diversity among stands remained constant over time, some convergence was found among a smaller group of stands, and divergence was noted between spruce and pine stands. Species composition also became more highly correlated with environmental variables through time. From 1978 to 1998, species richness increased in young, dry pine stands; decreased in older, dry pine stands; and decreased in young spruce stands. The understory vegetation in stands on mesic sites was more diverse than that on dry, sandy sites at both times. The rate of change in understory species composition slowed with time after disturbance, indicating an increasing stability in micro en vi ron men tal conditions as the influence of harvesting disturbance became weaker with time.

Loss and recovery of ecosystem carbon pools following stand-replacing wildfire in Michigan jack pine forests

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (9) ◽  
pp. 1908-1918 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E Rothstein ◽  
Zhanna Yermakov ◽  
Allison L Buell
Keyword(s):  
Gamma Function ◽  
Dead Wood ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Net Ecosystem Productivity ◽  
Ecosystem Productivity ◽  
C Stocks ◽  
Pine Stands

We used a 72-year chronosequence to study the loss and recovery of ecosystem C pools following stand-replacing wildfire in Michigan, USA, jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) forests. We quantified the amount of C stored in aboveground plant biomass, standing dead timber, downed dead wood, surface organic soil, and mineral soil in 11 jack pine stands that had burned between 1 and 72 years previously. Total ecosystem C ranged from a low of 59 Mg C·ha–1 in the 4-year-old stand to 110 Mg C·ha–1 in the 72-year-old stand. Changes in total ecosystem C across the chronosequence conformed to theoretical predictions, in which C stocks declined initially as decomposition of dead wood and forest-floor C exceeded production by regenerating vegetation, and then increased asymptotically with the development of a new stand of jack pine. This pattern was well described by the following "gamma" function: total ecosystem C (Mg·ha–1) = 112.2 – 39.6 × age0.351 × exp(–0.053 × age01.039); mean-corrected R2 = 0.976. Using the first derivative of this parameterized gamma function, we estimated that jack pine stands function as a weak source of C to the atmosphere for only ca. 6 years following wildfire, and reach a maximum net ecosystem productivity of 1.6 Mg C·ha–1·year–1 by year 16. We attribute the rapid transition from carbon source to carbon sink in these ecosystems to two factors: (i) stand-replacing wildfires in these xeric forests leave behind little respirable substrate in surface organic horizons, and (ii) jack pine is able to rapidly reestablish following wildfires via serotinous cones. Jack pine stands remained net sinks for C across the chronosequence; however, net ecosystem productivity had declined to 0.12 C ha–1·year–1 by year 72. Carbon sequestration by mature jack pine ecosystems was driven primarily by continued growth of overstory jack pine, not by accumulation of detrital C.

Transversal tracheid dimension in thinned black spruce and Jack pine stands in the boreal forest

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 477-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelia Krause ◽  
Sandy Laplante ◽  
Pierre-Y. Plourde
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Pine Stands

Nutrient accumulation for postfire jack pine and hardwood succession patterns in New Brunswick

1977 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. MacLean ◽  
Ross W. Wein
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Soil Horizon ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Regression Equations ◽  
Nutrient Accumulation ◽  
Accumulation Pattern ◽  
Tree Layer ◽  
Pine Stands

Distribution of N, P, K, Ca, and Mg in the tree, understory, forest floor, and mineral soil horizons was determined for two series of postfire forest stands in northeastern New Brunswick. Twelve pure jack pine stands (Pinusbanksiana Lamb.) and 11 mixed hardwood stands aged 7–57 years were examined. Regression equations relating aboveground tree nutrient content to diameter for eight tree species were calculated. The jack pine stands demonstrated variable stand density, but adjustment to normal stocking produced a sigmoid nutrient accumulation pattern in the tree layer during the 60-year period. Nutrient accumulation in the tree layer of both series of stands closely approximated biomass accumulation. Understory nutrients formed a significant fraction of the total aboveground pool, particularly in the younger stands. Organic and mineral soil horizon nutrients were found to be highly variable for both series of stands; this was postulated to be a result of the fire origin of the stands, with varying fire intensity and postfire conditions resulting in different nutrient losses from the site.

Woody debris volumes and carbon accumulation differ across a chronosequence of boreal red pine and jack pine stands

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 768-775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Allard ◽  
Andrew Park
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Banksiana ◽  
Dead Wood ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Carbon Accumulation ◽  
Red Pine ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Data Set ◽  
C Storage ◽  
Pine Stands

Boreal forests are thought to store more than 30% of the world’s terrestrial carbon (C), much of it in the form of dead wood. Harvesting, stand transformation, and climate change the storage capacity of this carbon pool and improved quantification of C storage is needed to improve the accuracy and coverage of C accounting in Canadian forests. In this study, we compared wood volumes and C storage in coarse woody debris (CWD), fine woody debris (FWD), and standing dead wood (snags) in a 94-year chronosequence of jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) and red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) stands in the Sandilands Provincial Forest, southeastern Manitoba. In our data set of 20 jack pine and 17 red pine stands, jack pine stands supported higher volumes of CWD, snags, and sparsely distributed FWD than red pine stands. Mean CWD volume and C mass were, respectively, 18.6 m3·ha−1 and 2.6 tonnes (t)·ha−1 for jack pine and 11.3 m3·ha−1 and 1.1 t·ha−1 for red pine. Snag volumes and C mass were, respectively, 1.8 m3·ha−1 and 0.25 t·ha−1 for jack pine and 0.26 m3·ha−1 and 0.04 t·ha−1 for red pine. CWD loads in jack pine stands followed a U-shaped distribution with stand age, and snag loads in jack pine increased linearly with time. No such significant trends for CWD or snags were observed in red pine. Our results confirm that stand conversion from fire-origin jack pine to red pine plantations has the potential to significantly reduce and alter temporal patterns of dead wood accumulation across the landscape.

Soil carbon stabilization in jack pine stands along the Boreal Forest Transect Case Study

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 480-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. NORRIS ◽  
S. A. QUIDEAU ◽  
J. S. BHATTI ◽  
R. E. WASYLISHEN
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Carbon Stabilization ◽  
Pine Stands ◽  
Soil Carbon Stabilization ◽  
Forest Transect

Estimation de la production de jeunes plantations de pin rouge et de pin gris du sud du Québec

1976 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 478-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. A. Bolghari
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Regression ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Red Pine ◽  
Pine Plantations ◽  
Regression Equations ◽  
Pine Plantation ◽  
South Shore ◽  
Pine Stands ◽  
Natural Stands ◽  
St Lawrence River

Multiple regression equations have been developed to predict yield from young red pine and jack pine plantations. Data from 446 sample plots representing young red pine and jack pine stands located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River between Quebec and Montreal were analysed. The red pine plantation yielded more than the jack pine. However, in plantation both species yield more than in natural stands. Taking into account the age and spacing of the sampled plantations, the equation obtained can provide information on yield of red pine and jack pine stands the maximum spacing of which is 3 × 3 m, up to the age of 45 and 35 years respectively. The equations will allow the construction of preliminary yield tables for both species.

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