Forest composition and structure after 200 years of succession following the eruption of Mount Tambora (Indonesia)

AbstractForests in Northeast China in the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains (GKM and LKM) account for nearly 1/3 of the total state-owned forests in the country. Regional and historical comparisons of forest plants and macrofungi will favor biological conservation, forest management and economic development. A total of 1067 sampling plots were surveyed on forest composition and structure, with a macrofungi survey at Liangshui and Huzhong Nature Reserves in the center of two regions. Regional and historical differences of these parameters were analyzed with a redundancy ordination of their complex associations. There were 61–76 families, 189–196 genera, and 369–384 species, which was only 1/3 of the historical records. The same dominant species were larch and birch with Korean pine (a climax species) less as expected from past surveys in the LKM. Shrub and herb species were different in the two regions, as expected from historical records. There was 10–50% lower species diversity (except for herb evenness), but 1.8- to 4-time higher macrofungi diversity in the GKM. Compared with the LKM, both tree heights and macrofungi density were higher. Nevertheless, current heights averaging 10 m are half of historical records (> 20 m in the 1960s). Edible macrofungi were the highest proportion in both regions, about twice that of other fungal groups, having important roles in the local economy. A major factor explaining plant diversity variations in both regions was herb cover, followed by shrubs in the GKM and herb-dominant species in the LKM. Factors responsible for macrofungi variations were tree density and shrub height. Vaccinium vitis-idaea and Larix gmelinii in the GKM but tree size and diversity were important factors in the LKM. Our findings highlighted large spatial and historical differences between the GKM and LKM in plant-macrofungal composition, forest structure, and their complex associations, which will favor precise conservation and management of forest resources in two region in the future.

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Using a Forest Stand Simulation Model to Examine the Ecological and Climatic Significance of the Late-Quaternary Pine-Spruce Pollen Zone in Eastern Virginia, U.S.A.

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1016/0033-5894(90)90019-h ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 204-218 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Gordon B. Bonan ◽

Bruce P. Hayden

Keyword(s):

Simulation Model ◽

Air Temperature ◽

General Circulation ◽

Late Quaternary ◽

General Circulation Models ◽

Annual Precipitation ◽

Forest Composition ◽

Pollen Record ◽

Composition And Structure ◽

Atmospheric General Circulation Models

AbstractFull-glacial pollen records from southeastern United States are composed primarily of pine and spruce, with lesser amounts of fir, birch, and oak. A simulation model of forest dynamics was used to reconstruct the composition and structure of these forests on the Delmarva Peninsula of Virginia, where pollen data were available to test the model, and climate and soils data were available to drive the model. Reconstructed annual precipitation and summer air temperature were consistent with modern analog estimates from the pollen record. Annual precipitation was also consistent with climates simulated by atmospheric general circulation models, but summers were colder. Correcting these simulated climates for possible errors resulted in summer air temperature consistent with our estimate. However, two alternative parameter sets relating simulated tree growth to air temperature sums precluded robust forest reconstructions. With one parameter set, the species dominating the simulated forests were not consistent with the pollen record. The other parameter set produced forests more consistent with paleoecological data, indicating that the climate was correct. These differences in simulated forest composition reflected inadequacies in the parameterization of air temperature effects in forest models.

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Red Spruce Death: Effects on Forest Composition and Structure on Whiteface Mountain, New York

Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club ◽

10.2307/2996730 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 119 (4) ◽

pp. 418 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

John J. Battles ◽

Arthur H. Johnson ◽

Thomas G. Siccama ◽

Andrew J. Friedland ◽

Eric K. Miller

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Red Spruce ◽

Forest Composition ◽

Composition And Structure ◽

Whiteface Mountain

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Influence of Markets and Forest Composition on Lumber Production in Pennsylvania

Northern Journal of Applied Forestry ◽

10.1093/njaf/23.2.87 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 87-93 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

William G. Luppold ◽

Matthew S. Bumgardner

Keyword(s):

Regional Differences ◽

Forest Composition ◽

Hardwood Lumber ◽

Composition And Structure

Abstract In this study, we examine regional differences in the hardwood timber resources of Pennsylvania and how the combined changes in inventory volume, forest composition, and lumber prices have influenced regional lumber production. Isolation of these relationships is important because shifts in lumber production reflect changes in harvesting activity. In turn, harvesting influences long-term forest composition and structure. We define three hardwood regions in Pennsylvania based on forest composition and present a chronology of regional changes in sawtimber volumes, sawtimber composition, and lumber production. Regional changes in hardwood lumber production were found to be positively related to changes in the price of No. 1 Common lumber adjusted for changes in forest composition between 1970 and 1999. This finding supports our contention that regional changes in lumber production are influenced by a combination of changes in interspecies lumber price and changes in species availability.

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Forest regeneration standards: are they limiting management options for Alberta's boreal mixedwoods?

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc84076-1 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 84 (1) ◽

pp. 76-82 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Victor J Lieffers ◽

Glen W Armstrong ◽

Kenneth J Stadt ◽

Eckehart H Marenholtz

Keyword(s):

Forest Composition ◽

Deciduous Trees ◽

Stand Development ◽

Management Options ◽

Management Planning ◽

Forest Management Planning ◽

Mixedwood Forests ◽

Composition And Structure ◽

Boreal Mixedwood Forest ◽

Boreal Mixedwoods

Regeneration standards in Alberta have developed incrementally over the last 40 years to ensure that cutover areas are regenerated with commercially valuable species that will contribute to timber yield. These standards have been controversial for the boreal mixedwood forest, because they do not appear to be producing forests that are similar in composition and structure to those found naturally. In this paper we discuss several components of the standards that are problematic: the issue of landbase designations that force relatively pure stands of spruce onto the landscape early in stand development compared to natural conditions where spruce establishes below deciduous canopies; the need for the free-to-grow standard, which requires removal of a large proportion of the deciduous trees in these mixedwood forests; and the overall philosophy that stands should be managed to maintain relatively simple composition and canopy structures. Regeneration standards need to be better-linked with forest management planning to allow managers to produce stands of a range of composition and structure. Key words: policy, free-to-grow, competition, forest composition, succession

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Effects of an introduced pathogen on resistance to natural disturbance: beech bark disease and windthrow

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x05-116 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 35 (8) ◽

pp. 1832-1843 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Michael J Papaik ◽

Charles D Canham ◽

Erika F Latty ◽

Kerry D Woods

Keyword(s):

Community Dynamics ◽

Species Coexistence ◽

Basal Area ◽

Natural Disturbance ◽

Fagus Grandifolia ◽

Forest Composition ◽

Direct Result ◽

Betula Alleghaniensis ◽

Beech Bark Disease ◽

Composition And Structure

In forests of eastern North America, introduced pathogens have caused widespread declines in a number of important tree species, including dominant species such as American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.). Most studies have focused on changes in forest composition and structure as a direct result of mortality caused by a pathogen. Our field studies of windthrow resistance in forests of northern New York and northern Michigan demonstrate that resistance of beech trees to windthrow is severely reduced by beech bark disease (BBD). This reduced resistance was primarily due to the increase in the probability of stem breaks of moderately and highly infected beech trees. The severity of BBD infection on individual trees has a significant negative effect on resistance to windthrow. We tested potential consequences of this for long-term composition and structure in these forests by using a simulation model, SORTIE. We found that species such as yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) and eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.) increased in basal area primarily because of the effect BBD had on the creation of new seedbed substrates. Our results highlight the indirect effects that host-specific pathogens can have on community dynamics and species coexistence in forests.

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