Buried propagules in an old-growth forest and their response to experimental disturbances

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (5) ◽  
pp. 1156-1162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl A. Ingersoll ◽  
Mark V. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Forest Disturbance ◽  
Seedling Emergence ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Significant Decline ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Greenhouse Condition ◽  
Old Growth Forest ◽  
Surface Burning ◽  
Experimental Treatments

Soil blocks collected from an old-growth Pseudotsuga menziesii forest were subjected to three types of disturbances (shade removal, surface burning, and soil churning) in a factorial experiment. Most émergents (88%) were vegetative sprouts. Total emergence and emergence of vegetative sprouts were significantly higher in the undisturbed (control) treatment than in any other treatment. As intensity of disturbance (measured by the number of disturbance factors applied) increased, the number of emergents declined. Exposure to sun caused a significant decline in emergence of each of the six most abundant species; the effects of burning and churning varied by species. Burning decreased the emergence of species with shallow regenerating structures. None of the experimental treatments significantly affected seedling emergence. Density of émergents (both seedlings and vegetative sprouts) was higher under greenhouse condition (411.7/m2) than in the experimental treatments (94.6/m2), indicating that greenhouse emergence is more suitable for quantifying the buried propagule bank. Key words: seed bank, propagules, old-growth forest, disturbance, fire.

scholarly journals Secondary disturbance following a deposit of volcanic tephra: A 30 year record from old-growth forest understory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald B Zobel ◽  
Joseph A. Antos ◽  
Dylan Grey Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Forest Disturbance ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Soil Disturbance ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Forest Understory ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Old Growth Forest ◽  
Volcanic Ejecta ◽  
Woody Litter

Forest disturbance is usually described by effects on trees, and small disturbances to forest understory are seldom studied. Nevertheless, effective analyses of succession need to consider both stand-replacing and subsequent “secondary” disturbances in both canopy and understory. We estimated characteristics of 13 types of secondary disturbance in old-growth forest understory, and of canopy cover, after the 1980 tephra (aerially transported volcanic ejecta) deposition from Mount St. Helens, Washington. We sampled 100 1-m2 plots at each of four sites for vegetation change and types of disturbance at ten times from 1980-2010; we sampled tree canopy above each plot in 1980 and 2016. The number of canopy gaps increased 23 % and mean gap dimension 68 % during 36 years, mostly from loss of Abies amabilis. Secondary disturbance in understory affected 1.4 % of stand area per year. The areas affected by soil disturbance and effects of woody litter were similar. Erosion, greater in deep than in shallow tephra, peaked in 1981, whereas most litter-caused disturbances increased after 2000. Less frequent litter-based disturbances covered greater area. Our results differ from conclusions about non-volcanic understory disturbances. Secondary disturbances are variable, need more study, and are likely to affect many other systems.

Germination and survival of tree species in disturbed forests of the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (10) ◽  
pp. 1309-1318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angélica Camacho-Cruz ◽  
Mario González-Espinosa ◽  
Jan H.D Wolf ◽  
Bernardus HJ De Jong
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Seedling Survival ◽  
Seedling Emergence ◽  
Persea Americana ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Old Growth Forest ◽  
Native Tree Species ◽  
Natural Recruitment ◽  
Direct Sowing

Germination and seedling survival of native tree species were studied in nursery (June-November 1998) and forest stands with varying dominance by pines in the central highlands of Chiapas (Mexico; June 1998 - November 1999). Species used are regarded as typical of mid- and late-successional habitats: Cornus disciflora Sessé & Mociño ex DC., Cornus excelsa H.B.K., Drimys granadensis L.f. var. mexicana (DC.) A.C. Smith, Liquidambar styraciflua L., Persea americana L., Quercus laurina H. & B., and Ternstroemia lineata (DC.) ssp. chalicophyla (Loesener) Bartholomew. Nursery treatments included presence and composition of litter collected from replicated plots of three forest types: old-growth forest, mixed pine-oak forest, and pine-dominated forest. Germination and seedling emergence of P. americana in the nursery were complete for all factor combinations. Cornus disciflora and L. styraciflua showed highest germination (p < 0.05) when sown in soil from old-growth forest and covered with litter of oak-broad-leaved species. In the field, differences (p < 0.05) among forest types (degree of pine dominance) were observed for C. disciflora (lowest germination in pinelands, 17%), D. granadensis (highest survival in old-growth forest, 23%), and Q. laurina (higher survival in pinelands, 54%). Natural recruitment and survival of seedlings were higher in old-growth forests. We conclude that oak litter may favor germination and early establishment of the studied species. However, the reintroduction of some of the studied species (C. excelsa, Q. laurina, and T. lineata) may be attempted with direct sowing on the forest floor of severely disturbed and species-poor pinelands.Key words: Cornus, Liquidambar, litter, Persea, Pinus, Quercus, seedling establishment, seeds.

scholarly journals The scuttle fly (Diptera: Phoridae) assemblages of a wildfire-affected hemiboreal old-growth forest in Tyresta (Sweden)

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Durska ◽  
James Bonet ◽  
Bert Viklund
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Species Dominance ◽  
Old Growth Forest ◽  
Dominance Structure ◽  
Disturbance Factor

In natural forests, fire is an important disturbance factor and many studies have been carried out concerning its effect on different ecosystems, but no studies have previously been done considering the scuttle flies in hemiboreal forests. Here, we carried out an ecological investigation of the scuttle fly assemblage in a hemiboreal old-growth forest in Tyresta National Park and Nature Reserve (Sweden) from material collected, using Malaise traps, after wildfires in 1997 and 1999. We evaluated abundances of species, dominance structure, species richness (by non-parametric species richness method — Chao 1) as well as phenology. The most abundant species of the dominant group (i.e. Megaselia pleuralis, M. nigriceps, M pulicaria-complex and M. brevicostalis) are multivoltine and saprophagous, displaying spring and late summer/autumn activity.

scholarly journals Wood-decaying fungi in old-growth boreal forest fragments: extinctions and colonizations over 20 years

Silva Fennica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Atte Komonen ◽  
Ilkka Puumala ◽  
Gergely Varkonýi ◽  
Reijo Penttilä
Keyword(s):  
Dead Wood ◽  
Species Turnover ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Fungal Species ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Old Growth Forest ◽  
The One ◽  
Study Species

According to ecology theory, isolated habitat fragments cannot maintain populations of specialized species. Yet, empirical evidence based on monitoring of the same fragments over time is still limited. We studied the colonization–extinction dynamics of eight wood-decaying fungal species in 16 old-growth forest fragments (<14 ha) over a 20-year period (1997–2017). We observed 19 extinctions and 5 colonizations; yet, the distribution of extinctions and colonizations did not differ from the one expected by chance for any of the species. Twenty-six percent of the extinctions took place in two natural fragments amid large forest–peatland complexes. (Romell) Bourdot and Galzin decreased and (P. Karst.) Bourdot increased in abundance (number of logs occupied). The volume of living spruce trees in the forest fragments correlated positively with the number of logs inhabited in five of the study species. Because fragment characteristics did not affect species turnover, it seems that stochastic processes governed colonizations and extinctions. Although the least abundant species in 1997 had declined, and the most abundant species had become more abundant, it appears that specialized wood-decaying fungi can persist for decades in isolated old-growth forest fragments, if suitable dead wood is continuously available.Phellinus nigrolimitatusPhellinus ferrugineofuscus

scholarly journals Old-Growth Forest Disturbance in the Ukrainian Carpathians

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedict D. Spracklen ◽  
Dominick V. Spracklen
Keyword(s):  
Image Analysis ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Forest Disturbance ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Old Growth Forest ◽  
Western Ukraine ◽  
Future Loss ◽  
Satellite Image Analysis

Human activity has greatly reduced the area of old-growth forest in Europe, with some of the largest remaining fragments in the Carpathian Mountains of south-western Ukraine. We used satellite image analysis to calculate old-growth forest disturbance in this region from 2010 to 2019. Over this period, we identified 1335 ha of disturbance in old-growth forest, equivalent to 1.8% of old-growth forest in the region. During 2015 to 2019, the average annual disturbance rate was 0.34%, varying with altitude, distance to settlements and location within the region. Disturbance rates were 7–8 times lower in protected areas compared to outside of protected areas. Only one third of old-growth forest is currently within protected areas; expansion of the protected area system to include more old-growth forests would reduce future loss. A 2017 law that gave protection to all old-growth forest in Ukraine had no significant impact on disturbance rates in 2018, but in 2019 disturbance rates reduced to 0.19%. Our analysis is the first indication that this new legislation may be reducing loss of old-growth forest in Ukraine.

The palm Syagrus coronata proliferates and structures vascular epiphyte assemblages in a human-modified landscape of the Caatinga dry forest

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 123-132
Author(s):  
Leila J.B. Gonçalves ◽  
Edgar E. Santo-Silva ◽  
Maria Fabíola Barros ◽  
Kátia F. Rito ◽  
Inara R. Leal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fold Increase ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Forest Stands ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Human Disturbances ◽  
Vascular Epiphytes ◽  
Old Growth Forest ◽  
Forest Sites ◽  
Vascular Epiphyte

AbstractThe proliferation of disturbance-adapted species in human-modified landscapes may change the structure of plant communities, but the response of biodiversity to human disturbances remains poorly understood. We examine the proliferation of the palm, Syagrus coronata, in disturbed forest stands and its impacts on the structure of vascular epiphyte assemblages in a human-modified landscape of Brazilian Caatinga dry forest. First, we compared S. coronata density between old-growth and regenerating forest stands. We then surveyed vascular epiphytes on 680 phorophytes (S. coronata and non-palm/control species) across five habitat types with different disturbance levels. There was an eight-fold increase in S. coronata density in regenerating areas compared with in old-growth forest. Syagrus coronota supported richer epiphyte assemblages at local (i.e. per palm) and landscape (i.e. pooling all palms) scale than control phorophytes, supporting more than 11 times the number of species of control phorophytes at both scales. Epiphyte assemblages were more abundant, species-rich and dominated by abiotically dispersed species in forest sites with intermediate disturbance levels (regenerating forest stands). More than simply operating as an exclusive phorophyte for more than 90% of the epiphyte species we recorded here, S. coronata favours epiphyte persistence and structures their assemblages across human-modified landscapes of the Caatinga forest.

Tradable Disturbance Permits for Old-growth Forest Conservation: Experimental Evaluation of Implementation Options

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 73-107
Author(s):  
Orsolya Perger ◽  
Curtis Rollins ◽  
Marian Weber ◽  
Wiktor Adamowicz ◽  
Peter Boxall
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evaluation ◽  
Forest Conservation ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Old Growth Forest

Old-growth forest reserves in Slovenia: the past, present, and future

2012 ◽  
Vol 163 (6) ◽  
pp. 240-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Nagel ◽  
Jurij Diaci ◽  
Dusan Rozenbergar ◽  
Tihomir Rugani ◽  
Dejan Firm
Keyword(s):  
Stand Structure ◽  
Growth Conditions ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Forest Reserves ◽  
The Past ◽  
Old Growth Forest ◽  
Forest Remnants ◽  
Basic Characteristics

Old-growth forest reserves in Slovenia: the past, present, and future Slovenia has a small number of old-growth forest remnants, as well as many forest reserves approaching old-growth conditions. In this paper, we describe some of the basic characteristics of these old-growth remnants and the history of their protection in Slovenia. We then trace the long-term development of research in these old-growth remnants, with a focus on methodological changes. We also review some of the recent findings from old-growth research in Slovenia and discuss future research needs. The conceptual understanding of how these forests work has slowly evolved, from thinking of them in terms of stable systems to more dynamic and unpredictable ones due to the influence of natural disturbances and indirect human influences. In accordance with this thinking, the methods used to study old-growth forests have changed from descriptions of stand structure to studies that address natural processes and ecosystem functions.

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