The impact of natural disturbance dynamics on lichen diversity and composition in primary mountain spruce forests

Multi-cohort management that creates or maintains an uneven structure within forest stands has been widely advocated as a means to attenuate the impact of forest harvesting. An experimental network was put in place in black spruce forests of northwestern Québec to test this assertion. Here we synthesize the biodiversity results in two main lessons: (1) at least 40% to 60% retention of pre-harvest basal area was required to maintain pre-harvest conditions for most species groups; (2) partial harvests showed the potential to be efficient deadwood delivery systems. In addition to these two main general conclusions, we emphasise that future research should examine whether partial harvest may be able to advance forest succession.

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Is there an inherent conflict in managing fire for people and conservation?

International Journal of Wildland Fire ◽

10.1071/wf16150 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 26 (6) ◽

pp. 455 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

P. D. Bentley ◽

T. D. Penman

Keyword(s):

Land Management ◽

Treatment Strategies ◽

Natural Disturbance ◽

Management Plan ◽

Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽

Burn Probability ◽

Eastern Australia ◽

Reduce Risk ◽

The Impact ◽

Current Risk

Wildfires are a natural disturbance in many ecosystems, creating challenges for land management agencies who need to simultaneously reduce risk to people and maintain ecological values. Here we use the PHOENIX RapidFire fire behaviour simulator to compare fuel treatment strategies that meet the twin objectives of reducing wildfire risk to human settlements and a fire sensitive endangered species, the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) in south-eastern Australia. The local koala population is in decline and a conservation management plan is being prepared to exclude wildfire for a 10-year period to assist with population recovery. Twelve scenarios developed by the land management agencies were compared using four indicators: wildfire size; burn probability; impact from exposure to fire; and treatment cost. Compared with the current risk setting, three treatment scenarios were found to reduce wildfire size and burn probability concurrently to both people and koalas. These strategies worked by increasing the landscape area treated, which came with increased financial cost. However, the impact from exposure to fire for both property and koala habitat remains high. Additional complementary strategies beyond landscape fuel reductions are needed to reduce impact from exposure in the event of a wildfire.

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The Impact of Browsing Animals on the Stand Dynamics of Monotypic Mountain Beech (Nothofagus solandri) Forests in Canterbury, New Zealand

Australian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1071/bt9940113 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 42 (2) ◽

pp. 113 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

GT Jane

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Cervus Elaphus ◽

Basal Area ◽

Stand Density ◽

Natural Disturbance ◽

Basic Relationship ◽

Basic Parameters ◽

The 1960S ◽

Logarithmic Relationship ◽

The Impact

Mountain beech is frequently the sole canopy species in the montane forests of Canterbury, New Zealand and often the only significant tree or shrub present over large areas and this allows examination of a very simple ecosystem. Data from remeasurement of over 400 permanent quadrats in six areas are examined to elucidate the impact of browsing animals on natural processes. The changes in basic parameters such as stand density and basal area over a decade form consistent patterns in both visual and statistical techniques and this allows identification of important quadrats for detailed study. The basic relationship between density and basal area follows well an established semi-logarithmic relationship, even in decade by decade changes on individual quadrats. Deviations in this pattern can be related to natural disturbance events. The impact of browsing animals, mainly red deer (Cervus elaphus) varied between the different areas. Although numbers peaked in the 1930s and 1940s and declined through commercial hunting in the 1960s-1980s, the impact on the vegetation remains and will persist for many decades.

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The Impact of Local Climate Change on Radial Picea abies Growth: A Case Study in Natural Mountain Spruce Stand and Low-Lying Spruce Monoculture

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12081118 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (8) ◽

pp. 1118

Author(s):

Vladimír Šagát ◽

Ivan Ružek ◽

Karel Šilhán ◽

Pavel Beracko

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Picea Abies ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Growing Season ◽

Local Climate ◽

Spruce Forests ◽

Spruce Stands ◽

Local Climate Change ◽

Positive Correlations ◽

The Impact

Picea abies L. Karst is undeniably one of the most important tree species growing in Slovakia. In addition to natural mountain spruce forests, monocultures planted in lower areas are also quite common. In this article, we analyze the climate–growth response differences between these two types of spruce stands in the context of local climate change consequences. The study area representing natural mountain spruce forests is located under Osobitá Mt. (Tatra Mountains, Slovakia), while the analyzed low-lying planted monoculture is situated near Biely kríž (Malé Karpaty Mountains, Slovakia). Temporal variation of the dendroclimatological relationships was expressed by the running Spearman correlation coefficient during the observed period 1961–2018. The results showed crucial differences in the dendroclimatological relationships between the selected study areas. For the natural mountain spruce stand, consistent, weak, and positive correlations to the temperature variables were typical, with negative relationships to precipitation during the growing season. In this case, the negative impact of a recent temperature rise was limited. In contrast, the monoculture reacted to the temperature variation during the growing season with fluctuations, while in the case of precipitation, almost no dependence was found. Such incoherency may be a consequence of worsened health conditions, as well as insufficient resiliency to climate-driven stress. The importance of this paper is in its wide applicability, mainly in forestry.

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Preindustrial reconstruction of a perhumid midboreal landscape, Anticosti Island, Quebec

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x10-040 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 40 (5) ◽

pp. 928-942 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Martin Barrette ◽

Louis Bélanger ◽

Louis De Grandpré

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Forest Dynamics ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Abies Balsamea ◽

Natural Disturbance ◽

Balsam Fir ◽

Dynamics Model ◽

Disturbance Dynamics ◽

Cyclic Model ◽

Anticosti Island

The knowledge of natural disturbance dynamics and preindustrial landscapes is essential to implement sustainable forest management. Recent findings identify the lack of a forest dynamics model, different from the standard cyclic model of Baskerville (1975. For. Chron. 51: 138–140), for balsam fir ( Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) ecosystems of maritime eastern Canada. With the use of historical forest maps and dendrochronology, we reconstructed the range of variability of the preindustrial landscape (6798 km2) and inferred on the natural disturbance dynamics of the balsam fir forest of Anticosti Island. The preindustrial landscape was characterized by a forest matrix of overmature softwood stands with inclusions of younger softwood stands ranging from 0.1 to 7837 ha in size. Widespread stand-initiating events were apparently rare in the preindustrial landscape over the last 160 years. Since our results were not well represented by the cyclic model, which predicts the occurrence of a mosaic of stands in different age classes, we proposed an alternative forest dynamics model for eastern balsam fir ecosystems near the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Forest management inspired by this alternative model may be more appropriate to maintain or restore ecological characteristics of balsam fir forests of this region within their range of natural variability.

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Natural disturbance dynamics in an old-growth forest: from tree to landscape

Procedia Environmental Sciences ◽

10.1016/j.proenv.2011.07.063 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 365-370 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Emanuele Lingua ◽

Matteo Garbarino ◽

Enrico Borgogno Mondino ◽

Renzo Motta

Keyword(s):

Natural Disturbance ◽

Old Growth ◽

Disturbance Dynamics ◽

Old Growth Forest

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Epiphytic lichen diversity in old-growth and managed Picea abies stands in Alpine spruce forests

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/j.foreco.2010.05.016 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 260 (5) ◽

pp. 603-609 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Juri Nascimbene ◽

Lorenzo Marini ◽

Pier Luigi Nimis

Keyword(s):

Picea Abies ◽

Old Growth ◽

Epiphytic Lichen ◽

Spruce Forests ◽

Lichen Diversity

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Natural regeneration and vegetation changes in wet spruce forests after natural and artificial disturbances

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x07-062 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 37 (10) ◽

pp. 1907-1914 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Magda Jonášová ◽

Ivona Matějková

Keyword(s):

Norway Spruce ◽

Bark Beetle ◽

Natural Regeneration ◽

Ips Typographus ◽

Tree Regeneration ◽

Vegetation Changes ◽

Natural Disturbances ◽

Spruce Forests ◽

The Impact

An extensive area of Norway spruce ( Picea abies (L.) Karst.) forests in the Šumava Mountains, Central Europe, has been affected by a massive bark beetle ( Ips typographus L.) outbreak since the mid-1990s. One part of the area was left without intervention and two types of intervention have been applied in other parts: (1) the classical forest approach, based on the logging of attacked trees and (2) “sanitation”, in which attacked trees were cut down, debarked, and left lying in the stand. The main goal of our research was to test the impact of nonintervention and both types of intervention on the regeneration of the Norway spruce forests. The Norway spruce forests influenced by natural disturbances (bark beetle outbreak and windfalls) regenerated very well if left without intervention. The bark beetle outbreaks and windfalls do not represent a threat to the long-term persistence of the forests. Clearcuts resulted in formation of pioneer stages with a postponed spruce regeneration. In sanitation plots, the reduction of both previous vegetation and tree regeneration was obvious. Generally, both interventions against bark beetle delayed the recovery of Norway spruce forests.

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Impact of bushfire and climate variability on streamflow from forested catchments in southeast Australia

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/hessd-10-4397-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 4397-4437 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Y. Zhou ◽

Y. Zhang ◽

J. Vaze ◽

P. Lane ◽

S. Xu

Keyword(s):

Climate Variability ◽

Forest Disturbance ◽

Natural Disturbance ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Climate Impacts ◽

Water Yield ◽

Hydrological Models ◽

Forested Catchments ◽

Southeast Australia ◽

The Impact

Abstract. Most of the surface water for natural environmental and human water uses in southeast Australia is sourced from forested catchments located in the higher rainfall areas. Water yield of these catchments is mainly affected by climatic conditions, but it is also greatly affected by vegetation cover change. Bushfires are a major natural disturbance in forested catchments and potentially modify the water yield of the catchments through changes to evapotranspiration (ET), interception and soil moisture storage. This paper quantifies the impacts of bushfire and climate variability on streamflow from three southeast Australian catchments where Ash Wednesday bushfires occurred in February 1983. The hydrological models used here include AWRA-L, Xinanjiang and GR4J. The three models are first calibrated against streamflow data from the pre-bushfire period and they are used to simulate runoff for the post-bushfire period with the calibrated parameters. The difference between the observed and model simulated runoff for the post-bushfire period provides an estimate of the impact of bushfire on streamflow. The hydrological modelling results for the three catchments indicate that there is a substantial increase in streamflow in the first 15 yr after the 1983 bushfires. The increase in streamflow is attributed to initial decreases in ET and interception resulting from the fires, followed by logging activity. After 15 yr, streamflow dynamics are more heavily influenced by climate effects, although some impact from fire and logging regeneration may still occur. It is shown that hydrological models provide reasonable consistent estimates of forest disturbance and climate impacts on streamflow for the three catchments. The results might be used by forest managers to understand the relationship between forest disturbance and climate variability impacts on water yield in the context of climate change.

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Monitoring Selected Species of Mammals in Grand Teton National Park in 1999

The UW National Parks Service Research Station Annual Reports ◽

10.13001/uwnpsrc.1999.3387 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 23 ◽

pp. 124-130

Author(s):

Brian Miller ◽

Hank Harlow

Keyword(s):

Environmental Change ◽

Ecological Model ◽

Vegetation Type ◽

Mammalian Species ◽

Natural Disturbance ◽

Ecological Monitoring ◽

Habitat Choice ◽

Abundance And Diversity ◽

Mammal Communities ◽

The Impact

Studies that investigate community relationships among mammals typically require large temporal and areal scales (Krebs et al. 1995; Estes 1996; Terborgh et al. 1999). Despite the difficulties presented by larger scales, such studies are valuable to decision-makers (Sinclair 1991; Smith et al. 1999). Understanding abundance, distribution, habitat choice, and ecological interactions of mammalian species can promote management decisions that benefit overall ecosystem health. Monitoring programs that build an ecological model of the landscape, and assess the trends in relation to biotic and abiotic changes, are essential to adaptive management, yet are seldom a standard part of management activities (Sinclair 1991; Noss and Cooperrider 1994; Lancia et al. 1996; Noss et al. 1996). Indeed, a conservation plan requires a longÂterm obligation to standardized ecological monitoring so that actions can be adjusted according to new information (Noss et al. 1996). Over the long term, this standardized monitoring plan will provide information on small and medium-sized mammals that will (1) assess species use of habitat, (2) monitor changes in species composition as a result of environmental change, (3) produce predictive models of small and mediumÂsized mammal distribution based on vegetation type, and (4) analyze the impact of wolf (Canis lupus) colonization on the mammal (and plant) community. Such standardized monitoring techniques for mammal communities have not been done in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The abundance and diversity of mammals can be greatly affected by a number of factors. These include plant productivity (Hunter and Price 1994; Krebs et al. 1995; Polis and Strong 1996), climate (Pinter 1996; Hoogland 1995; Post et al. 1999), natural disturbance (Pickett and White 1985), disease (Dobson and May 1986), and expected or unexpected environmental change (Lancia et al. 1996; Thompson et al. 1998).

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