Tree seedling response to LED spectra: implications for forest restoration

Abstract Riparian forest restoration can be severely constrained by tree seedling mortality. I evaluated the effects of tree shelters and planting density on herbivory and seedling mortality at a restoration site in the Lake Champlain Basin of Vermont. Eighteen experimental units were established along a 5th-order stream and planted with bare-root seedlings of seven species associated with northern hardwood floodplain forests. Two treatments were applied in a factorial design: shelters versus no shelters and high versus low planting density. Mortality and herbivory data were collected over three growing seasons. Survivorship declined to 56.4% after three growing seasons and varied significantly by species. Planting density, presence/absence of shelters, and their interaction had significant effects on survival, browse, or girdling intensity when tested for all species combined. Browse rates were high (44%), whereas girdling rates were low (3.4%). Both browse (P < 0.001) and girdling (P = 0.022) contributed to seedling mortality. High rates of deer browse on seedlings in shelters were due, in part, to the short height (60 cm) of the shelters, suggesting a need for taller shelters. A large portion (39%) of dead seedlings were neither browsed nor girdled, signaling the importance of other mortality agents. An adaptive approach is recommended to compensate for high seedling mortality and the limited effectiveness of protective devices.

Download Full-text

Stochastic Economic Analysis of Investment Projects in Forest Restoration Involving Containerized Tree Seedlings in Brazil

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12101381 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (10) ◽

pp. 1381

Author(s):

Danilo Simões ◽

Jean Fernando Silva Gil ◽

Richardson Barbosa Gomes da Silva ◽

Rafaele Almeida Munis ◽

Magali Ribeiro da Silva

Keyword(s):

Survival Rate ◽

Forest Restoration ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Seedling Survival ◽

Investment Project ◽

Production Costs ◽

Tree Seedlings ◽

Tree Seedling ◽

Investment Projects ◽

Polyethylene Bags

Background: Experts in ecological restoration have discussed the cost reduction to make forest restoration financially feasible. This is very important in developing countries, such as Brazil, and for smallholder farmers; however, economic studies do not usually consider the uncertainties in their analysis. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze, under conditions of uncertainty, how tropical tree seedlings produced in polyethylene bags, polyethylene tubes, and biodegradable containers (Ellepot®) interfere with the costs of implementation and post-planting maintenance investment projects in a deforested tropical seasonal forest area in southern Brazil. Methods: We evaluated total costs, production costs, and equivalent annual uniform costs, and the probability distributions and estimated ranges of stochastic values were adjusted through Monte Carlo method simulation. Furthermore, the seedling survival rate was recorded over 12 months post-planting. Results: The costs with tree seedling acquisition and direct labor were the components that most impacted total costs in the three investment projects. The forest restoration investment project with tree seedlings produced in polyethylene bags was economically unfeasible in relation to other projects. Conclusions: The best economic alternative was observed in the investment project with tree seedlings produced in Ellepot®, which showed a survival rate >80% after one year and the lowest total cost, production cost, and equivalent uniform annual cost.

Download Full-text

Wildfire-contingent effects of fuel treatments can promote ecological resilience in seasonally dry conifer forests

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/cjfr-2013-0460 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 44 (8) ◽

pp. 843-854 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Jens T. Stevens ◽

Hugh D. Safford ◽

Andrew M. Latimer

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Forest Restoration ◽

Strong Support ◽

Ecological Resilience ◽

Tree Cover ◽

Ecological Change ◽

Conifer Forests ◽

Tree Seedling ◽

Fuel Treatments ◽

Seasonally Dry

Fire suppression has made many seasonally dry conifer forests more susceptible to high-severity wildfires, which cause large changes in forest structure and function. In response, management agencies are applying fuel reduction treatments to millions of acres of forest, with the goal of moderating fire behavior by reducing tree density and understory fuel loads. However, despite their wide application, we still lack basic information about the extent to which these treatments contribute to forest restoration by increasing forest resilience to recurring wildfire events. To address this question, we established 664 plots across 12 different sites in California, USA, where wildfire burned through fuel treatments, and measured a suite of forest characteristics relating to overstory structure, understory cover, and woody plant regeneration. We tested a “wildfire-contingency” hypothesis that there should be strong interactions between treatment and fire, specifically that the direction and magnitude of fuel treatment effects on forest characteristics will depend on subsequent disturbance. This interaction hypothesis had strong support, driven largely by effects on trees: without wildfire, live-tree cover was lower in treated stands than in untreated stands, but after wildfire, it was higher in treated stands than in untreated stands. Treated stands had higher soil moisture and more shrub seedlings than untreated stands without wildfire but had greater soil moisture and fewer shrub seedlings than untreated stands after wildfire. Conversely, litter depth, litter cover, and tree seedling abundance were lower in treated stands than in untreated stands without wildfire but higher in treated stands than in untreated stands after wildfire. Ordination revealed that the magnitude of ecological change attributable to wildfire is lower in treated stands than in untreated stands. We conclude that properly implemented treatments can promote resilience to both first-entry and subsequent wildfires.

Download Full-text

Tree Seedling Survival Depends on Canopy Age, Cover and Initial Composition: Trade-offs in Forest Restoration Enrichment Planting

Ecological Restoration ◽

10.3368/er.36.1.52 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 52-61 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Daniel C. Laughlin ◽

Bruce D. Clarkson

Keyword(s):

Forest Restoration ◽

Seedling Survival ◽

Initial Composition ◽

Tree Seedling ◽

Enrichment Planting ◽

Trade Offs

Download Full-text

Influence of tree species and salvaged soils on the recovery of ectomycorrhizal fungi in upland boreal forest restoration after surface mining

Botany ◽

10.1139/cjb-2014-0132 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 93 (5) ◽

pp. 267-277 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Shanon L. Hankin ◽

Justine Karst ◽

Simon M. Landhäusser

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Community Composition ◽

Populus Tremuloides ◽

Tree Species ◽

Pinus Banksiana ◽

Forest Restoration ◽

Surface Mining ◽

Growth Chamber ◽

Tree Seedling ◽

Host Identity

Surface mining in the Canadian boreal forest involves the removal of vegetation and soils, resulting in the local loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi are critical to ecosystem processes; however, their recovery following reclamation is not well understood. This study investigated the importance of reclamation cover soils (forest floor material, peat, and subsoil) and tree seedling species (Populus tremuloides Michx., Pinus banksiana Lamb., and Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) in structuring the community composition of EM fungi. We used 1-year-old seedlings to assay cover soils in the field for 3 months, and grew seedlings in each of the cover soils in a growth chamber assay for 5 months. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling indicated host identity structured the community composition of EM fungi in the field, while both host identity and cover soil influenced the composition of EM fungi in the growth chamber. However, pre-colonization of seedlings by nursery fungi complicates interpretation of field results. The rate of EM fungus colonization of seedlings collected across both assays was relatively low, approximately 23%. Our results indicate cover soils used in reclamation of surface-mined landscapes retain propagules of EM fungi, and using a wide variety of tree species in upland boreal forest restoration may increase the diversity of EM fungi recovered.

Download Full-text

Dry Forest Restoration and Unassisted Native Tree Seedling Recruitment at Auwahi, Maui

Pacific Science ◽

10.2984/68.1.3 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 68 (1) ◽

pp. 33-45 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

A. C. Medeiros ◽

E. I. von Allmen ◽

C. G. Chimera

Keyword(s):

Forest Restoration ◽

Seedling Recruitment ◽

Dry Forest ◽

Tree Seedling ◽

Native Tree ◽

Dry Forest Restoration

Download Full-text

Ectomycorrhizae and tree seedling nitrogen nutrition in forest restoration

New Forests ◽

10.1007/s11056-015-9488-2 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 46 (5-6) ◽

pp. 747-771 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

B. J. Hawkins ◽

Melanie D. Jones ◽

J. M. Kranabetter

Keyword(s):

Forest Restoration ◽

Nitrogen Nutrition ◽

Tree Seedling

Download Full-text

Can current native tree seedling production and infrastructure meet an increasing forest restoration demand in Brazil?

Restoration Ecology ◽

10.1111/rec.12470 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 509-515 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Ana P. Moreira da Silva ◽

Daniella Schweizer ◽

Henrique Rodrigues Marques ◽

Ana M. Cordeiro Teixeira ◽

Thaiane V. M. Nascente dos Santos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Forest Restoration ◽

Seedling Production ◽

Tree Seedling ◽

Native Tree

Download Full-text

Tree seedling responses to leaf‐cutting ants herbivory in Atlantic Forest restoration sites

Biotropica ◽

10.1111/btp.12808 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 52 (5) ◽

pp. 884-895

Author(s):

Jéssica Magon Garcia ◽

Alexandre de Mello Bordignon ◽

Géssi de Sousa Gonzaga ◽

José Marcelo Domingues Torezan

Keyword(s):

Atlantic Forest ◽

Forest Restoration ◽

Tree Seedling ◽

Leaf Cutting

Download Full-text

Prescribed burning of canopy gaps facilitates tree seedling establishment in restoration of pine-dominated boreal forests

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/cjfr-2014-0460 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 45 (9) ◽

pp. 1225-1231 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Hannes Pasanen ◽

Virve Rehu ◽

Kaisa Junninen ◽

Jari Kouki

Keyword(s):

Scots Pine ◽

Boreal Forests ◽

Forest Restoration ◽

Prescribed Burning ◽

Study Groups ◽

Canopy Gaps ◽

Canopy Gap ◽

Tree Seedlings ◽

Tree Seedling ◽

Tree Species Composition

Because many currently protected forests are former timber production areas, restoration activities are often used to re-establish their natural structures. In this experimental study, we monitored the establishment of tree seedlings in previously managed but currently protected Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) dominated stands in boreal forests 5 years after restoration measures. The study included eight study areas (115 sample plots) in southern Finland. We compared seedling abundance between five study groups: untreated control forest, unburned canopy gap, burned full-canopy forest, burned canopy gap, and thinned and burned forest. Density of tree seedlings was highest in burned canopy gaps (mean 25.4 seedlings/100 m2 compared with 6.0 seedlings/100 m2 in control sites). In particular, birch (Betula spp.) and Scots pine were significantly more abundant within burned canopy gaps than in unburned gaps. We conclude that opening within-stand canopy gaps, especially in combination with prescribed burning, can be useful in forest restoration as the gaps diversify age-class structure and tree species composition of single-cohort pine stands.

Download Full-text