Belowground traits of herbaceous species in young coniferous forests of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington

1999 ◽  
Vol 77 (7) ◽  
pp. 936-943 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann L Lezberg ◽  
Joseph A Antos ◽  
Charles B Halpern
Keyword(s):  
Belowground Biomass ◽  
Lateral Spread ◽  
Forest Understory ◽  
Coniferous Forests ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Herbaceous Species ◽  
Olympic Peninsula ◽  
Evergreen Species ◽  
Closed Canopy ◽  
Vegetative Spread

Variation in belowground traits of herbaceous species may influence their ability to persist and spread during and after the closed-canopy period of forest development. In 40- to 60-year-old closed-canopy, coniferous forests of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, we excavated root and rhizome systems of 11 herbaceous species to compare morphology, vegetative spread, and proportion of biomass in belowground structures. All species were perennial and most were rhizomatous; four species were nonclonal. Of the seven clonal species, only two (Maianthemum dilatatum and Oxalis oregana) spread extensively (mean lateral spread >50 cm) by belowground perennating structures. The proportion of total biomass in belowground structures varied considerably among species (21-85%) and was higher for deciduous than for evergreen species. High variability in belowground traits suggests that multiple strategies may contribute to survival during closed-canopy conditions. For species with a high proportion of belowground biomass, we suggest that the ability to store resources or to acquire new resources through lateral spread may contribute to persistence in dense coniferous forests.Key words: biomass allocation, canopy closure, forest understory plants, rhizomes, root systems, succession.

Belowground traits of herbaceous species in young coniferous forests of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington

1999 ◽  
Vol 77 (7) ◽  
pp. 936-943 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann L. Lezberg ◽  
Joseph A. Antos ◽  
Charles B. Halpern
Keyword(s):  
Coniferous Forests ◽  
Herbaceous Species ◽  
Olympic Peninsula

Soil seed banks in young, closed-canopy forests of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington: potential contributions to understory reinitiation

1999 ◽  
Vol 77 (7) ◽  
pp. 922-935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles B Halpern ◽  
Shelley A Evans ◽  
Sarah Nielson
Keyword(s):  
Exotic Species ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Seed Banks ◽  
Forest Understory ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Olympic Peninsula ◽  
Understory Plants ◽  
Closed Canopy

During early stand development, coniferous forests of the coastal Pacific Northwest commonly pass through a period of dense shade and intense competition during which the abundance and diversity of understory plants decline dramatically. In young, managed forests, silvicultural thinning has been proposed to enhance the structural and floristic diversity of the understory. Although germination of buried seeds is likely to be stimulated by thinning, we know little about the composition of the soil seed bank in these forests. We used the greenhouse emergence method to assess the potential contribution of the seed bank to understory reinitiation in 40- to 60-year-old, closed-canopy forests on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. Seed banks were well developed (610-7009 germinants/m2), containing 46 native and exotic species representing a diversity of life forms. However, many common forest understory species were absent; only 11 species were typical understory plants and these comprised <10% of all germinants. In contrast, 30% of all species and 50% of all germinants were exotic, ruderal forbs. Wind-dispersed annuals and perennials dominated litter samples, whereas ruderal forbs and graminoids with limited dispersal dominated soil samples. Our results suggest that silvicultural thinning will enhance the establishment of ruderal, exotic species but will contribute little to the regeneration from buried seed of the vast majority of forest understory plants.Key words: canopy closure, forest understory, seed germination, soil seed bank, succession, understory reinitiation.

scholarly journals Stand structure links up canopy processes and forest management

2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-48
Author(s):  
Toomas Frey
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Stand Structure ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Stand Density ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Belowground Biomass ◽  
Unit Mass ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Mean Values

Stand structure links up canopy processes and forest management Above- and belowground biomass and net primary production (Pn) of a maturing Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) forest (80 years old) established on brown soil in central Estonia were 227, 50 and 19.3 Mg ha correspondingly. Stand structure is determined mostly by mean height and stand density, used widely in forestry, but both are difficult to measure with high precision in respect of canopy processes in individual trees. However, trunk form quotient (q2) and proportion of living crown in relation to tree height are useful parameters allowing describe stand structure tree by tree. Based on 7 model trees, leaf unit mass assimilation activity and total biomass respiration per unit mass were determined graphically as mean values for the whole tree growth during 80 years of age. There are still several possible approaches not used carefully enough to integrate experimental work at instrumented towers with actual forestry measurement. Dependence of physiological characteristics on individual tree parameters is the missing link between canopy processes and forest management.

Competition and the response of three plant species to a salinity gradient

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (11) ◽  
pp. 2497-2502 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. C. Kenkel ◽  
A. L. McIlraith ◽  
C. A. Burchill ◽  
G. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Salt Tolerance ◽  
Interspecific Competition ◽  
Poa Pratensis ◽  
Salinity Gradient ◽  
Belowground Biomass ◽  
Peak Performance ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Salinity Response ◽  
Hordeum Jubatum ◽  
Puccinellia Nuttalliana

Three grasses (Poa pratensis, Hordeum jubatum, and Puccinellia nuttalliana) were grown in monoculture and three-species mixture at each of eight salinity levels in a controlled environment chamber. In monoculture, all species grew best when no salts were added to the nutrient medium. When salts were added the species showed differing degrees of salt tolerance. Percent decreases in total biomass with increasing salinity and shifts in aboveground to belowground biomass ratios suggested increased salt tolerance in the order P. pratensis < H. jubatum < P. nuttalliana. In mixture, all species showed a significant change in salinity response when compared with their responses in monoculture. Interspecific competition resulted in P. pratensis being suppressed at all but the lowest salinities. Hordeum jubatum showed the least suppression at intermediate salinities, while P. nuttalliana was least suppressed at the highest salinities. These results indicate that interspecific competition results in a shift in the peak performance of more salt-tolerant species toward the high end of the salinity gradient. The species distributions in our experimental mixtures reflected those observed in the field, suggesting that competition plays an important role in structuring inland saline plant communities. Key words: halophyte, glycophyte, community, Hordeum jubatum, Puccinellia nuttalliana, Poa pratensis.

scholarly journals Wetter is Better: Rewetting of Minerotrophic Peatlands Increases Plant Production and Moves Them Towards Carbon Sinks in a Dry Year

Ecosystems ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Schwieger ◽  
Juergen Kreyling ◽  
John Couwenberg ◽  
Marko Smiljanić ◽  
Robert Weigel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Biomass Production ◽  
Plant Material ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Belowground Biomass ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Carbon Sinks ◽  
Alder Forest ◽  
Organic Matter Accumulation

Abstract Peatlands are effective carbon sinks as more biomass is produced than decomposed under the prevalent anoxic conditions. Draining peatlands coupled with warming releases stored carbon, and subsequent rewetting may or may not restore the original carbon sink. Yet, patterns of plant production and decomposition in rewetted peatlands and how they compare to drained conditions remain largely unexplored. Here, we measured annual above- and belowground biomass production and decomposition in three different drained and rewetted peatland types: alder forest, percolation fen and coastal fen during an exceptionally dry year. We also used standard plant material to compare decomposition between the sites, regardless of the decomposability of the local plant material. Rewetted sites showed higher root and shoot production in the percolation fen and higher root production in the coastal fen, but similar root and leaf production in the alder forest. Decomposition rates were generally similar in drained and rewetted sites, only in the percolation fen and alder forest did aboveground litter decompose faster in the drained sites. The rewetted percolation fen and the two coastal sites had the highest projected potential for organic matter accumulation. Roots accounted for 23–66% of total biomass production, and belowground biomass, rather than aboveground biomass, was particularly important for organic matter accumulation in the coastal fens. This highlights the significance of roots as main peat-forming element in these graminoid-dominated fen peatlands and their crucial role in carbon cycling, and shows that high biomass production supported the peatlands’ function as carbon sink even during a dry year.

scholarly journals A Forest Model Intercomparison Framework and Application at Two Temperate Forests Along the East Coast of the United States

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Erickson ◽  
Nikolay Strigul
Keyword(s):  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Belowground Biomass ◽  
The United States ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Forest Biogeochemistry ◽  
Forest Models ◽  
C And N

State-of-the-art forest models are often complex, analytically intractable, and computationally expensive, due to the explicit representation of detailed biogeochemical and ecological processes. Different models often produce distinct results while predictions from the same model vary with parameter values. In this project, we developed a rigorous quantitative approach for conducting model intercomparisons and assessing model performance. We have applied our original methodology to compare two forest biogeochemistry models, the Perfect Plasticity Approximation with Simple Biogeochemistry (PPA-SiBGC) and Landscape Disturbance and Succession with Net Ecosystem Carbon and Nitrogen (LANDIS-II NECN). We simulated past-decade conditions at flux tower sites located within Harvard Forest, MA, USA (HF-EMS) and Jones Ecological Research Center, GA, USA (JERC-RD). We mined field data available from both sites to perform model parameterization, validation, and intercomparison. We assessed model performance using the following time-series metrics: Net ecosystem exchange, aboveground net primary production, aboveground biomass, C, and N, belowground biomass, C, and N, soil respiration, and species total biomass and relative abundance. We also assessed static observations of soil organic C and N, and concluded with an assessment of general model usability, performance, and transferability. Despite substantial differences in design, both models achieved good accuracy across the range of pool metrics. While LANDIS-II NECN showed better fidelity to interannual NEE fluxes, PPA-SiBGC indicated better overall performance for both sites across the 11 temporal and two static metrics tested (HF-EMS R 2 ¯ = 0.73 , + 0.07 , R M S E ¯ = 4.68 , − 9.96 ; JERC-RD R 2 ¯ = 0.73 , + 0.01 , R M S E ¯ = 2.18 , − 1.64 ). To facilitate further testing of forest models at the two sites, we provide pre-processed datasets and original software written in the R language of statistical computing. In addition to model intercomparisons, our approach may be employed to test modifications to forest models and their sensitivity to different parameterizations.

scholarly journals Stable isotope canopy effects for sympatric monkeys at Taï Forest, Côte d'Ivoire

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 20130466 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Krigbaum ◽  
Michael H. Berger ◽  
David J. Daegling ◽  
W. Scott McGraw
Keyword(s):  
Cote D'ivoire ◽  
Côte D’Ivoire ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Forest Understory ◽  
Cote D’Ivoire ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
Vertical Partitioning ◽  
Côte D'ivoire ◽  
Canopy Effect ◽  
Closed Canopy

This study tests the hypothesis that vertical habitat preferences of different monkey species inhabiting closed canopy rainforest are reflected in oxygen isotopes. We sampled bone from seven sympatric cercopithecid species in the Taï forest, Côte d'Ivoire, where long-term study has established taxon-specific patterns of habitat use and diet. Modern rib samples ( n = 34) were examined for oxygen ( δ 18 O ap ) and carbon ( δ 13 C ap ) from bone apatite (‘bioapatite’), and carbon ( δ 13 C co ) and nitrogen ( δ 15 N co ) from bone collagen. Results are consistent for C 3 feeders in a closed canopy habitat. Low irradiance and evapotranspiration, coupled with high relative humidity and recycled CO 2 in forest understory, contribute to observed isotopic variability. Both δ 13 C co and δ 13 C ap results reflect diet; however, δ 13 C values are not correlated with species preference for canopy height. By contrast, δ 18 O ap results are correlated with mean observed height and show significant vertical partitioning between taxa feeding at ground, lower and upper canopy levels. This oxygen isotope canopy effect has important palaeobiological implications for reconstructing vertical partitioning among sympatric primates and other species in tropical forests.

scholarly journals Partition of biomass and nitrogen in a potato crop under three nitrogen fertilization treatments

Siembra ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 057-068
Author(s):  
Pedro Manuel Villa ◽  
Lina Sarmiento ◽  
Fermín JR Rada ◽  
Alice Cristina Rodrigues ◽  
Nelson Márquez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Nitrogen Nutrition ◽  
Potato Crop ◽  
Belowground Biomass ◽  
Nitrogen Partitioning ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Adaptive Responses ◽  
Nitrogen Levels ◽  
Aboveground And Belowground Biomass ◽  
Determining Factors

Nitrogen nutrition considerably influences the process of growing and producing potato crops. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of nitrogen nutrition on the pattern of biomass and nitrogen partitioning during the growth of potato crop in Mérida, Mérida, Venezuela. Experimental land plots were set, with a randomized blocks design, and with three different fertilization treatment settings for the "Granola" cultivar. The first one without nitrogen (0-N), the next one with 133 Kg N Ha-1 (133-N), and the last one with 400 Kg N Ha-1 (400-N). In the main phenological stages of the crop, biomass and nitrogen levels were measured for each organ. The performance of the tubers and the total biomass are strongly influenced by the availability of nitrogen and assimilatory biomass. The total biomass production, as well as the biomass and nitrogen partitioning to each organ, showed the following sequence: 400-N > 133-N > 0-N. However, biomass and nitrogen partitioning to the roots and stolons was higher in the treatment with limited nitrogen levels. Proportional changes among aboveground and belowground biomass are adaptive responses to nitrogen deficit conditions, which, in their turn, are determining factors in crop production.

scholarly journals Comparison of Allometric Equation and Destructive Measurement of Carbon Storage of Naturally Regenerated Understory in a Pinus rigida Plantation in South Korea

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 425
Author(s):  
Si Ho Han ◽  
Byung Bae Park
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Stock ◽  
Allometric Equation ◽  
Allometric Equations ◽  
Forest Understory ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Biomass Equation ◽  
Quercus Acutissima ◽  
Plant Component ◽  
Pinus Rigida ◽  
Understory Trees

The forest understory plays an important role in the carbon and nutrient cycling and forest stability, but cost-efficient quantification of its biomass remains challenging. Most of the existing biomass allometric equations have been developed and designed only for mature forest trees (i.e., Diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 10 cm), and those for trees with DBH less than 10 cm are not readily available. In this study, we compared the biomass by plant component (i.e., foliage, branch, and stem) measured by a destructive method with those estimated by the existing biomass allometric equations for understory trees with DBH less than 10 cm in a Pinus rigida plantation. We also developed an allometric biomass equation for the identified understory tree species, namely, Quercus variabilis, Quercus acutissima, Quercus mongolica, Quercus serrata, and Carpinus laxiflora. The estimated biomass using allometric equations for foliage, branch, and stem was lower than the values obtained using the destructive method by 64%, 41%, and 18%, respectively. The biomass allometric equations developed in this study showed high coefficients of determination (mean R2 = 0.970) but varied depending on species and tree part (range: 0.824–0.984 for foliage, 0.825–0.952 for branch, and 0.884–0.999 for the stem, respectively). The computed biomass of the understory vegetation was 22.9 Mg ha−1, representing 12.0% of the total biomass of the P. rigida plantation. The present study demonstrates that understory trees with DBH less than 10 cm account for a considerable portion of carbon stock in forest ecosystems, and therefore suggests that more biomass allometric equations should be optimized for small-DBH trees to improve forest carbon stock estimation.

Mass, nutrient content, and decay rate of dead boles in rain forests of Olympic National Park

1982 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 511-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Lambert Graham ◽  
Kermit Cromack. Jr.
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Olympic Peninsula ◽  
Olympic National Park ◽  
N:P Ratios ◽  
Open Forest ◽  
Closed Forest ◽  
Closed Canopy

Analysis of dead boles of Piceasitchensis (Bong.) Carr. and Tsugaheterophylla (Raf.) Sarg. in open- and closed-canopy forests of the Olympic Peninsula Washington, U.S.A., revealed that hemlock mortality in both forest types was due mainly to windthrow, whereas spruce typically died upright. The open forest contained 120 t/ha of dead bole wood; the closed forest contained 161 t/ha. Hemlock boles decayed more rapidly than the larger spruce boles, although both showed considerable variability. On a per-hectare basis, 146–223 kg of N, 147–197 kg of Ca. 39–61 kg of K, 18–29 kg of Mg, 6–14 kg of Na, and 17–29 kg of P were contained in dead boles of the open- and closed-canopy forests, respectively. Except for N and Mg, the nutrient concentrations of the wood were not significantly different after 33–68 years of bole decay. The N:P ratios increased with increasing decay for both species.

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