scholarly journals Twentieth-century shifts in forest structure in California: Denser forests, smaller trees, and increased dominance of oaks

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 1458-1463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. McIntyre ◽  
James H. Thorne ◽  
Christopher R. Dolanc ◽  
Alan L. Flint ◽  
Lorraine E. Flint ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Forest Biomass ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
Demographic Shift ◽  
Small Tree ◽  
Breast Height ◽  
Large Tree ◽  
Climatic Water Deficit

We document changes in forest structure between historical (1930s) and contemporary (2000s) surveys of California vegetation through comparisons of tree abundance and size across the state and within several ecoregions. Across California, tree density in forested regions increased by 30% between the two time periods, whereas forest biomass in the same regions declined, as indicated by a 19% reduction in basal area. These changes reflect a demographic shift in forest structure: larger trees (>61 cm diameter at breast height) have declined, whereas smaller trees (<30 cm) have increased. Large tree declines were found in all surveyed regions of California, whereas small tree increases were found in every region except the south and central coast. Large tree declines were more severe in areas experiencing greater increases in climatic water deficit since the 1930s, based on a hydrologic model of water balance for historical climates through the 20th century. Forest composition in California in the last century has also shifted toward increased dominance by oaks relative to pines, a pattern consistent with warming and increased water stress, and also with paleohistoric shifts in vegetation in California over the last 150,000 y.

scholarly journals Big trees drive forest structure patterns across a lowland Amazon regrowth gradient

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tassiana Maylla Fontoura Caron ◽  
Victor Juan Ulises Rodriguez Chuma ◽  
Alexander Arévalo Sandi ◽  
Darren Norris
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Natural Regeneration ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Significant Decline ◽  
Forest Regrowth ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Amazonian Forests ◽  
Mammal Diversity ◽  
Structure Patterns ◽  
Plot Type

AbstractDegraded Amazonian forests can take decades to recover and the ecological results of natural regeneration are still uncertain. Here we use field data collected across 15 lowland Amazon smallholder properties to examine the relationships between forest structure, mammal diversity, regrowth type, regrowth age, topography and hydrology. Forest structure was quantified together with mammal diversity in 30 paired regrowth-control plots. Forest regrowth stage was classified into three groups: late second-regrowth, early second-regrowth and abandoned pasture. Basal area in regrowth plots remained less than half that recorded in control plots even after 20–25 years. Although basal area did increase in sequence from pasture, early to late-regrowth plots, there was a significant decline in basal area of late-regrowth control plots associated with a decline in the proportion of large trees. Variation in different forest structure responses was explained by contrasting variables, with the proportion of small trees (DBH < 20 cm) most strongly explained by topography (altitude and slope) whereas the proportion of large trees (DBH > 60 cm) was explained by plot type (control vs. regrowth) and regrowth class. These findings support calls for increased efforts to actively conserve large trees to avoid retrogressive succession around edges of degraded Amazon forests.

scholarly journals Forest biomass and wood consumption In the lower course of the Amazon: a case study of rhe Urubueua Island

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akio TSUCHIYA ◽  
Mario HIRAOKA
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Forest Structure ◽  
Forest Biomass ◽  
Human Intervention ◽  
Terra Firme ◽  
Wood Volume ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Várzea Forests ◽  
Wood Consumption

Várzea and terra-firme forests in the lower course of the Amazon were compared in terms of forest structure, wood volume increments and forest biomass. The wood volume of várzea forests was smaller than that of terra-firme forests, particularly when severe human intervention such as the cultivation of açaí palm occurred. The difference was even greater in the forest weight comparison because of the lower wood density of várzea trees. These trees are not directly influenced by water stress during the dry season, while late wood with a high density is formed in the terra-firme trees. The annual forest disappearance area due to firewood for tile factories was estimated to be about 276 ha on the island investigated, which had an area of 36,200 ha. Assuming that the forests are rotatively cultivated every 25 to 30 years, the total deforestation area is 6,870-6,948 ha in 25 years and 8,244~8,337 ha in 30 years. This result means that the balance between forest biomass and utilization is not in crisis, however, this balance might be lost as long as substitutive energy such as electricity is not supplied.

scholarly journals Forest Structure, Composition and Above Ground Biomass of Tree Community in Tropical Dry Forests of Eastern Ghats, India

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudam Charan SAHU ◽  
H.S. SURESH ◽  
N.H. RAVINDRANATH
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Eastern Ghats ◽  
Tropical Dry Forests ◽  
Above Ground Biomass ◽  
Importance Value ◽  
Shorea Robusta ◽  
Ground Biomass ◽  
C Stocks

The study of biomass, structure and composition of tropical forests implies also the investigation of forest productivity, protection of biodiversity and removal of CO2 from the atmosphere via C-stocks. The hereby study aimed at understanding the forest structure, composition and above ground biomass (AGB) of tropical dry deciduous forests of Eastern Ghats, India, where as a total of 128 sample plots (20 x 20 meters) were laid. The study showed the presence of 71 tree species belonging to 57 genera and 30 families. Dominant tree species was Shorea robusta with an importance value index (IVI) of 40.72, while Combretaceae had the highest family importance value (FIV) of 39.01. Mean stand density was 479 trees ha-1 and a basal area of 15.20 m2 ha-1. Shannon’s diversity index was 2.01 ± 0.22 and Simpson’s index was 0.85 ± 0.03. About 54% individuals were in the size between 10 and 20 cm DBH, indicating growing forests. Mean above ground biomass value was 98.87 ± 68.8 Mg ha-1. Some of the dominant species that contributed to above ground biomass were Shorea robusta (17.2%), Madhuca indica (7.9%), Mangifera indica (6.9%), Terminalia alata (6.9%) and Diospyros melanoxylon (4.4%), warranting extra efforts for their conservation. The results suggested that C-stocks of tropical dry forests can be enhanced by in-situ conserving the high C-density species and also by selecting these species for afforestation and stand improvement programs. Correlations were computed to understand the relationship between above ground biomass, diversity indices, density and basal area, which may be helpful for implementation of REDD+ (reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and foster conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks) scheme.

Vegetation responses to conifer encroachment in a western Cascade meadow: a chronosequence approach

2007 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan D. Haugo ◽  
Charles B. Halpern
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Light Availability ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Tree Age ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Conifer Encroachment ◽  
Forest Herbs ◽  
Meadow Species ◽  
Chronosequence Approach

Conifer invasion of mountain meadows is pervasive in western North America, but its consequences for plant composition and diversity have not been studied. We used a chronosequence approach to reconstruct temporal patterns of vegetation change in response to ~200 years of conifer encroachment of a dry, montane meadow in the western Cascade Range, Oregon. Tree age distributions, forest structure, light, and vegetation composition were determined for three hundred and fifty-six 10 m × 10 m samples representing a gradient from open meadow to old forest (>90 years). Nonmetric multidimensional scaling revealed strong turnover in species composition from open meadow to old forest. Ordination axes were highly correlated with light availability and density/basal area of encroaching grand fir, Abies grandis (Dougl. ex D. Don) Lindl., and lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. Cover of meadow species declined steeply with establishment of A. grandis ; richness declined more gradually and extirpations of meadow species were rare. Forest herbs colonized within two decades of tree establishment and within 60–80 years dominated the understory flora. In contrast with meadow species, changes in richness and cover of forest herbs were weakly related to changes in forest structure. Rapid replacement of meadow by forest species and long-term effects of trees on soils may limit potential for restoration of these unique habitats.

scholarly journals EFICIÊNCIA DE DUAS VARIAÇÕES ESTRUTURAIS DO MÉTODO DE AMOSTRAGEM DE ÁREA FIXA EM PLANTAÇÕES DE Pinus taeda

FLORESTA ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 621
Author(s):  
João Paulo Druszcz ◽  
Nelson Yoshihiro Nakajima ◽  
Sylvio Pellico Netto ◽  
Sebastião do Amaral Machado ◽  
Nelson Carlos Rosot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Taeda ◽  
Relative Efficiency ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Average Diameter ◽  
Breast Height ◽  
Variable Diameter ◽  
Randomized Block Design ◽  
Fixed Area ◽  
Pinus Taeda L

Este estudo foi conduzido em três diferentes condições de plantações de Pinus taeda L., sem desbastes, com 10, 9 e 7 anos de idade, 2.000 árvores por hectare e diferentes inclinações no terreno, localizados no Estado do Paraná. O objetivo foi avaliar a eficiência do inventário florestal, utilizando-se a amostragem de área fixa com a estrutura de parcela circular (PC) e conglomerado em cruz (CC), através da análise do comportamento quanto às precisões e eficiências relativas nas estimativas das seguintes variáveis: diâmetro médio (cm), número de árvores por ha, área basal (m2/ha) e volume total (m3/ha). Para isso, utilizou-se o delineamento em blocos casualizados com 40 unidades amostrais para a PC e 10 unidades para o CC, sendo este composto por 4 subunidades circulares. Concluiu-se que, para as variáveis diâmetro médio (cm), número de árvores (N/ha), área basal (m2/ha) e volume total (m3/ha), indica-se a utilização do método de área fixa com PC, tendo em vista a maior eficiência no levantamento dessas variáveis.Palavras-chave: Eficiência relativa; precisão; reflorestamento. AbstractStructural efficiency of two variations of method of sampling of fixed area in plantations of Pinus taeda. This study was carried out in three different stands of Pinus taeda L., unthinned and aged 10, 9 and 7 years. The stands have 2.000 trees per hectare and are located in Parana State. The aim was to evaluate the efficiency of inventories using circular plot (PC) and cross cluster (CC) by analyses of behavior towards accuracies and relative efficiencies for estimation of the following variables: average diameter at breast height, number of trees, basal area and total volume per hectare. For this study, it was taken a sample of 40 units to the PC structure and 10 units for the CC structure, which is composed of four circular subunits, and it was used the randomized block design. It was concluded that for the variable diameter (cm), number of trees (ha), basal area (m2/ha) and total volume (m3/ha) it is indicated the use of PC, since its greater efficiency in the survey of these variables.Keywords: Relative efficiency; accuracy; reforestation.

scholarly journals Deriving Stand Structural Complexity from Airborne Laser Scanning Data—What Does It Tell Us about a Forest?

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1854
Author(s):  
Dominik Seidel ◽  
Peter Annighöfer ◽  
Martin Ehbrecht ◽  
Paul Magdon ◽  
Stephan Wöllauer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Airborne Laser Scanning ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Box Dimension ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
3D Point Clouds ◽  
Airborne Laser

The three-dimensional forest structure is an important driver of several ecosystem functions and services. Recent advancements in laser scanning technologies have set the path to measuring structural complexity directly from 3D point clouds. Here, we show that the box-dimension (Db) from fractal analysis, a measure of structural complexity, can be obtained from airborne laser scanning data. Based on 66 plots across different forest types in Germany, each 1 ha in size, we tested the performance of the Db by evaluating it against conventional ground-based measures of forest structure and commonly used stand characteristics. We found that the Db was related (0.34 < R < 0.51) to stand age, management intensity, microclimatic stability, and several measures characterizing the overall stand structural complexity. For the basal area, we could not find a significant relationship, indicating that structural complexity is not tied to the basal area of a forest. We also showed that Db derived from airborne data holds the potential to distinguish forest types, management types, and the developmental phases of forests. We conclude that the box-dimension is a promising measure to describe the structural complexity of forests in an ecologically meaningful way.

scholarly journals Forest Compositional Changes after a Decade of Emerald Ash Borer

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 949
Author(s):  
Jordan M. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Emerald Ash Borer ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Plant Succession ◽  
Invasive Pest ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
Green Ash ◽  
Insect Communities ◽  
Compositional Changes ◽  
Understory Trees

Emerald ash borer is an invasive pest in North American forests. Ecological impacts of ash mortality from emerald ash borer are wide-ranging, including shifts in insect communities and wildlife behavior. Additionally, loss of ash from forests may have important implications regarding plant succession. Surveys of overstory, midstory, and understory trees within forests in northeastern Indiana, Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and northwestern Ohio were conducted to quantify the change in forest composition over a 10 year period. Interpolation of ash dominance illustrated inversion of live and dead ash values between 2007 and 2017. Even though more than 83% of overstory live ash basal area was lost across the study area, green ash was the most abundant midstory and understory species representing regeneration. Additionally, loss of ash from many of the sites resulted in compositional changes that were greater than merely the subtraction of ash. Due to the relatively large number of forest types with which ash species are associated, loss of ash will have broad ecological consequences, including on community composition.

Implementation constraints limit benefits of restoration treatments in mixed-conifer forests

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie M. Lydersen ◽  
Brandon M. Collins ◽  
Carolyn T. Hunsaker
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Forest Structure ◽  
Forest Restoration ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Trade Offs

Forest restoration treatments seek to increase resilience to wildfire and a changing climate while avoiding negative impacts to the ecosystem. The extent and intensity of treatments are often constrained by operational considerations and concerns over uncertainty in the trade-offs of addressing different management goals. The recent (2012–15) extreme drought in California, USA, resulted in widespread tree mortality, particularly in the southern Sierra Nevada, and provided an opportunity to assess the effects of restoration treatments on forest resilience to drought. We assessed changes in mixed-conifer forest structure following thinning and understorey burning at the Kings River Experimental Watersheds in the southern Sierra Nevada, and how treatments, topography and forest structure related to tree mortality in the recent drought. Treatments had negligible effect on basal area, tree density and canopy cover. Following the recent drought, average basal area mortality within the watersheds ranged from 5 to 26% across riparian areas and 12 to 44% across upland areas, with a range of 0 to 95% across all plots. Tree mortality was not significantly influenced by restoration treatments or topography. Our results suggest that the constraints common to many restoration treatments may limit their ability to mitigate the impacts of severe drought.

Response of Nine-Year-Old Plantation Sweetgum to Nitrogen Fertilization in Mississippi

1992 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 146-150
Author(s):  
L. E. Nelson ◽  
G. L. Switzer
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Fertilization ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Woody Biomass ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Maximum Growth ◽  
Liquidambar Styraciflua ◽  
Stem Volume ◽  
Breast Height ◽  
Seed Sources ◽  
N Rates

Abstract Nine-year-old planted sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua L.) consisting of four half-sib seed sources were refertilized with nitrogen in 1981 at the beginning of the tenth field-growing season. Increases in periodic annual height, diameter at breast height, basal area, stem volume (ob),and woody biomass increments of all four half-sib seed sources from applied nitrogen were observed during the 9 years following application. Periodic annual stem volume (ob) increments averaged over all half-sib seed sources were 120, 152, 192, and 266 ft³/ac/yr for the 0, 89, 178, and356 lb/ac N rates, respectively. The half-sib seed sources from alluvial sites were superior to those from upland sites in terms of productivity and response to N. The response of all half-sibs to N was immediate, occurring during the year of application; however, the increased growth ratesdue to N persisted for only 3 years. This suggests that on responsive sites, applications of N may be necessary every fourth year to maintain maximum growth rates. South. J. Appl. For. 16(3):146-150.

scholarly journals The Impact of Forest Management Restrictions on Aspen Harvest Levels and Forest Structure in Itasca County, Minnesota

1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 177-184
Author(s):  
Joan M. Nichols ◽  
Dietmar W. Rose ◽  
Syed A. Husain
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
Timber Supply ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Spatial Attributes ◽  
Management Policies ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract Potential management policies of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) designed to enhance nontimber values were examined to estimate their impact on permissible harvest levels, forest composition and spatial attributes of aspen in Itasca County, Minnesota. An allowable cut equal to the Long Run Sustained Yield (LRSY) was estimated and used as the target harvest level for each management policy. Results were analyzed in a number of ways including Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The study illustrates that the selection of specific management policies can have significant impacts on timber supply as well as forest structures. Therefore, any suggested policy should always be reviewed for its potential impacts and associated trade-offs before implementation. North. J. Appl. For. 16(4):177-184.

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