Floodplain large wood and organic matter jam formation after a large flood: investigating the influence of floodplain forest stand characteristics and river corridor morphology

Forest herb-layer vegetation responds sensitively to environmental conditions. This paper compares drivers of both taxonomic, i.e., species richness, cover and evenness, and functional herb-layer diversity, i.e., the diversity of clonal, bud bank and leaf-height-seed plant traits. We investigated the dependence of herb-layer diversity on ecological determinants related to soil properties, climatic parameters, forest stand characteristics, and topographic and abiotic and biotic factors associated with forest floor structure. The study was conducted in different forest types in Slovenia, using vegetation and environmental data from 50 monitoring plots (400 m2 each) belonging to the ICP Forests Level I and II network. The main objective was to first identify significant ecological predictors and then quantify their relative importance. Species richness was strongly determined by forest stand characteristics, such as richness of the shrub layer, tree layer shade-casting ability as a proxy for light availability and tree species composition. It showed a clear positive relation to soil pH. Variation in herb-layer cover was also best explained by forest stand characteristics and, to a lesser extent, by structural factors such as moss cover. Species evenness was associated with tree species composition, shrub layer cover and soil pH. Various ecological determinants were decisive for the diversity of below-ground traits, i.e., clonal and bud bank traits. For these two trait groups we observed a substantial climatic signal that was completely absent for taxonomy-based measures of diversity. In contrast, above-ground leaf-height-seed (LHS) traits were driven exclusively by soil reaction and nitrogen availability. In synthesis, local stand characteristics and soil properties acted as the main controlling factors for both species and trait diversity in herb-layer communities across Slovenia, confirming many previous studies. Our findings suggest that the taxonomic and functional facets of herb-layer vegetation are mainly influenced by a similar set of ecological determinants. However, their relative importance varies among individual taxonomy- and functional trait-based diversity measures. Integrating multi-faceted approaches can provide complementary information on patterns of herb-layer diversity in European forest plant communities.

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Effects of calcium silicate treatment on the composition of forest floor organic matter in a northern hardwood forest stand

Biogeochemistry ◽

10.1007/s10533-014-0043-6 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 122 (2-3) ◽

pp. 313-326 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Ankit Balaria ◽

Chris E. Johnson ◽

Peter M. Groffman ◽

Melany C. Fisk

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Calcium Silicate ◽

Forest Floor ◽

Forest Stand ◽

Hardwood Forest ◽

Northern Hardwood Forest ◽

Northern Hardwood

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Upper Mississippi River: seasonal and floodplain forest influences on organic matter transport

Hydrobiologia ◽

10.1007/bf00008163 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 174 (3) ◽

pp. 235-244 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Jack W. Grubaugh ◽

Richard V. Anderson

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Mississippi River ◽

Floodplain Forest ◽

Upper Mississippi River ◽

Matter Transport ◽

Organic Matter Transport

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The effect of forest stand characteristics on spider diversity and species composition in deciduous-coniferous mixed forests

Journal of Arachnology ◽

10.1636/cp13-75.1 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 42 (2) ◽

pp. 135 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Ferenc Samu ◽

Gábor Lengyel ◽

Éva Szita ◽

András Bidló ◽

Péter Ódor

Keyword(s):

Species Composition ◽

Forest Stand ◽

Mixed Forests ◽

Stand Characteristics

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Application of the new Morphological Quality Index in the Cordevole river (BL, Italy)

Journal of Agricultural Engineering ◽

10.4081/jae.2013.250 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 44 (2s) ◽

Author(s):

E. Rigon ◽

J. Moretto ◽

F. Delai ◽

L. Picco ◽

D. Ravazzolo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Index ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Morphological Characteristics ◽

Site Investigation ◽

Integrated Approach ◽

Large Wood ◽

River Types ◽

River Corridor ◽

The Eu

The evaluation of the morphological quality of rivers is essential to define the level of alteration and for implementing future management strategies that consider also hazards related to fluvial processes and channel dynamics. This type of evaluation is particularly significant for the Italian rivers, that, as in many other European countries, have a very high level of human pressure. Recently, in Italy, the National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research has promoted a methodology named IDRAIM for hydromorphological analysis of streams that pursues an integrated approach aimed at a harmonized implementation of both the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60/EC), and the EU Floods Directive (2007/60/EC). In this paper we present the application of the Morphological Quality Index (MQI) protocol, which is part of IDRAIM, to determine the assessment of the morphological quality of the Cordevole River. The water network (only collectors greater than thirdorder were considered), has been divided, through GIS software, into 132 river reaches of homogeneous morphological characteristics, according to the first phase of the method. At this stage the semi-automatic calculation of lateral confinement (defined by “degree of confinement” and a “confinement index”) was tried, in order to reduce the implementing time. The application of 28 indicators was made for 42 reaches representing the major river types and human pressures in the site investigation. The results showed that 48% of the analyzed reaches have a very good or good quality status, 38% have a moderate morphological quality, while only 14% have the characteristics of poor or very poor quality. The main causes that lead to a strong alteration of the terms of reference are linked to i) poor connectivity between hillslopes and river corridor, that is very important for the natural supply of sediment and large wood; ii) absence of vegetation in the river corridor, that is functional to a range of geomorphic processes; iii) presence of artificial elements, particularly the bedload interception structures in the catchment, bank protection along the reach, and the removal of sediment, large wood and vegetation.

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Relationships among burn severity, forest canopy structure and bat activity from spring burns in oak–hickory forests

International Journal of Wildland Fire ◽

10.1071/wf16159 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 26 (11) ◽

pp. 963 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Michael J. Lacki ◽

Luke E. Dodd ◽

Nicholas S. Skowronski ◽

Matthew B. Dickinson ◽

Lynne K. Rieske

Keyword(s):

Laser Scanning ◽

Forest Canopy ◽

Management Practice ◽

Canopy Structure ◽

Forest Stand ◽

Burn Severity ◽

Prescribed Fires ◽

Insectivorous Bats ◽

Conflicting Objectives ◽

Stand Characteristics

The extent to which prescribed fires affect forest structure and habitats of vertebrate species is an important question for land managers tasked with balancing potentially conflicting objectives of vegetation and wildlife management. Many insectivorous bats forage for insect prey in forested habitats, serving as the primary predators of nocturnal forest insects, and are potentially affected by structural changes in forests resulting from prescribed fires. We compared forest-stand characteristics of temperate oak–hickory forests, as measured with airborne laser scanning (light detection and ranging, LiDAR), with categorical estimates of burn severity from prescribed fires as derived from Landsat data and field-based Composite Burn Indices, and used acoustic monitoring to quantify activity of insectivorous bats in association with varying degrees of burn severity (unburned habitat, low severity and medium severity). Forest-stand characteristics showed greatest separation between low-severity and medium-severity classes, with gap index, i.e. open-air space, increasing with degree of burn severity. Greater mid-storey density, over-storey density and proportion of vegetation in the understorey occurred in unburned habitat. Activity of bats did not differ with burn severity for high-frequency (clutter-adapted or closed-space foragers) or low-frequency (edge or open-space foragers) bats. Results indicate that differing degrees of burn severity from prescribed fires produced spatial variation in canopy structure within stands; however, bats demonstrated no shifts in activity levels to this variation in canopy structure, suggesting prescribed fire during the dormant season, used as a management practice targeting desired changes in vegetation, is compatible with sustaining foraging habitat of insectivorous bats.

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