scholarly journals Shifts in community-level traits and functional diversity in a mixed conifer forest: a legacy of land-use change

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 1755-1765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert T. Strahan ◽  
Andrew J. Sánchez Meador ◽  
David W. Huffman ◽  
Daniel C. Laughlin
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest

scholarly journals Long-term demographic trends in a fire-suppressed mixed-conifer forest

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 745-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie R. Levine ◽  
Flora Krivak-Tetley ◽  
Natalie S. van Doorn ◽  
Jolie-Anne S. Ansley ◽  
John J. Battles
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Stand Density ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Homogeneous State ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest

In the western United States, forests are experiencing novel environmental conditions related to a changing climate and a suppression of the historical fire regime. Mixed-conifer forests, considered resilient to disturbance due to their heterogeneity in structure and composition, appear to be shifting to a more homogeneous state, but the timescale of these shifts is not well understood. Our objective was to assess the effects of climate and fire suppression on stand dynamics and demographic rates of an old-growth mixed-conifer forest in the Sierra Nevada. We used a Bayesian hierarchical analysis to quantify species and community rates of recruitment, growth, and mortality. Despite a warming climate, we found that stand density, basal area, and carbon have increased over 56 years. Fir recruitment and growth significantly exceeded the community-level median rates, whereas pine recruitment and growth was significantly lower than the community-level median rates. Shifts in species composition from a well-mixed stand to a more dense fir-dominated stand appear to be driven by low growth and recruitment rates of pines relative to firs. In forests such as these with consistent and relatively low mortality rates, we recommend that restoration and management activities be focused on promoting pine recruitment and growth.

Spatial variability in microclimate in a mixed-conifer forest before and after thinning and burning treatments

2010 ◽  
Vol 259 (5) ◽  
pp. 904-915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siyan Ma ◽  
Amy Concilio ◽  
Brian Oakley ◽  
Malcolm North ◽  
Jiquan Chen
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest ◽  
Before And After

Development of the mixed conifer forest in northern New Mexico and its relationship to Holocene environmental change

2008 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Scott Anderson ◽  
Renata B. Jass ◽  
Jaime L. Toney ◽  
Craig D. Allen ◽  
Luz M. Cisneros-Dozal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest ◽  
Jemez Mountains

Chihuahueños Bog (2925 m) in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico contains one of the few records of late-glacial and postglacial development of the mixed conifer forest in southwestern North America. The Chihuahueños Bog record extends to over 15,000 cal yr BP. AnArtemisiasteppe, then an openPiceawoodland grew around a small pond until ca. 11,700 cal yr BP whenPinus ponderosabecame established. C/N ratios,δ13C andδ15N values indicate both terrestrial and aquatic organic matter was incorporated into the sediment. Higher percentages of aquatic algae and elevated C/N ratios indicate higher lake levels at the opening of the Holocene, but a wetland developed subsequently as climate warmed. From ca. 8500 to 6400 cal yr BP the pond desiccated in what must have been the driest period of the Holocene there. C/N ratios declined to their lowest Holocene levels, indicating intense decomposition in the sediment. Wetter conditions returned after 6400 cal yr BP, with conversion of the site to a sedge bog as groundwater levels rose. Higher charcoal influx rates after 6400 cal yr BP probably result from greater biomass production rates. Only minor shifts in the overstory species occurred during the Holocene, suggesting that mixed conifer forest dominated throughout the record.

scholarly journals Changes in Nitrogen-Fixing and Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacterial Communities in Soil of a Mixed Conifer Forest after Wildfire

2005 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 2713-2722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris M. Yeager ◽  
Diana E. Northup ◽  
Christy C. Grow ◽  
Susan M. Barns ◽  
Cheryl R. Kuske
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Communities ◽  
Fragment Length Polymorphism ◽  
Rflp Analysis ◽  
Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria ◽  
Nitrogen Fixing ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest ◽  
In Fire ◽  
Sequence Types

ABSTRACT This study was undertaken to examine the effects of forest fire on two important groups of N-cycling bacteria in soil, the nitrogen-fixing and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. Sequence and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of nifH and amoA PCR amplicons was performed on DNA samples from unburned, moderately burned, and severely burned soils of a mixed conifer forest. PCR results indicated that the soil biomass and proportion of nitrogen-fixing and ammonia-oxidizing species was less in soil from the fire-impacted sites than from the unburned sites. The number of dominant nifH sequence types was greater in fire-impacted soils, and nifH sequences that were most closely related to those from the spore-forming taxa Clostridium and Paenibacillus were more abundant in the burned soils. In T-RFLP patterns of the ammonia-oxidizing community, terminal restriction fragments (TRFs) representing amoA cluster 1, 2, or 4 Nitrosospira spp. were dominant (80 to 90%) in unburned soils, while TRFs representing amoA cluster 3A Nitrosospira spp. dominated (65 to 95%) in fire-impacted soils. The dominance of amoA cluster 3A Nitrosospira spp. sequence types was positively correlated with soil pH (5.6 to 7.5) and NH3-N levels (0.002 to 0.976 ppm), both of which were higher in burned soils. The decreased microbial biomass and shift in nitrogen-fixing and ammonia-oxidizing communities were still evident in fire-impacted soils collected 14 months after the fire.

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