Comparative Study of Forest-Dwelling Bats' Abundances and Species Richness between Old-Growth Forests and Conifer Plantations in Nikko National Park, Central Japan

Mammal Study ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 189-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoko Yoshikura ◽  
Sachiko Yasui ◽  
Takashi Kamijo
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
National Park ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Central Japan ◽  
Conifer Plantations ◽  
Old Growth Forests

Understory patch dynamics and ungulate herbivory in old-growth forests of Olympic National Park, Washington

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward G. Schreiner ◽  
Kirsten A. Krueger ◽  
Douglas B. Houston ◽  
Patricia J. Happe
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Standing Crop ◽  
National Park ◽  
Patch Dynamics ◽  
Percent Cover ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Patch Type ◽  
Ungulate Herbivory ◽  
Olympic National Park ◽  
Old Growth Forests

The relationship between native ungulates (mainly Roosevelt elk, Cervuselaphus L.) and the occurrence of three patch types in an old-growth (220- to 260-year-old) Sitka spruce (Piceasitchensis (Bong.) Carrière)–western hemlock (Tsugaheterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) temperate coniferous rain forest was investigated on the South Fork Hoh River in Olympic National Park. The distribution, frequency, and size of two understory patches (grass, moss) and patches where shrubs had escaped herbivory (refugia) were sampled along transects. Vegetation standing crop, percent cover, species richness, and equitability along transects were compared with conditions in two 8-year-old 0.5-ha ungulate exclosures. Ungulate herbivory profoundly affected the distribution and abundance of understory patch types. Grass-dominated patches disappeared following 8 years of protection from ungulate herbivory. Ungulates maintained a reduced standing crop, increased forb species richness, and determined the distribution, morphology, and reproductive performance of several shrub species. There is clearly a dynamic relationship between patch type, tree fall, and ungulate herbivory in these old-growth forests. Our results show that ungulate herbivory is a driving force shaping vegetation patterns in coastal coniferous forests.

scholarly journals Degradation of Ecosystem Services and Deforestation in Landscapes With and Without Incentive-Based Forest Conservation in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paúl Eguiguren ◽  
Richard Fischer ◽  
Sven Günter
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
Carbon Stocks ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Timber Volume ◽  
Ecuadorian Amazon ◽  
Old Growth Forests ◽  
Successional Forests

Anthropogenic activities such as logging or forest conversion into agricultural lands are affecting Ecuadorian Amazon forests. To foster private and communal conservation activities an economic incentive-based conservation program (IFC) called Socio Bosque was established. Existing analyses related to conservation strategies are mainly focused on deforestation; while degradation and the role of IFC to safeguard ecosystem services are still scarce. Further on, there is a lack of landscape-level studies taking into account potential side effects of IFC on different forest types. Therefore we assessed ecosystem services (carbon stocks, timber volume) and species richness in landscapes with and without IFC. Additionally, we evaluated potential side-effects of IFC in adjacent forest types; hypothesizing potential leakage effects of IFC. Finally, we tested if deforestation rates decreased after IFC implementation. Forest inventories were conducted in 72 plots across eight landscapes in the Ecuadorian Central Amazon with and without IFC. Plots were randomly selected within three forest types (old-growth, logged and successional forests). In each plot all individuals with a diameter at breast height greater than 10 cm were measured. Old-growth forests in general showed higher carbon stocks, timber volume and species richness, and no significant differences between old-growth forests in IFC and non-IFC landscapes were found. Logged forests had 32% less above-ground carbon (AGC) and timber volume in comparison to old-growth forests. Surprisingly, logged forests near IFC presented higher AGC stocks than logged forests in non-IFC landscapes, indicating positive side-effects of IFC. Successional forests contain 56% to 64% of AGC, total carbon and timber volume, in comparison to old-growth forests, and 82% to 87% in comparison to logged forests. Therefore, successional forests could play an important role for restoration and should receive more attention in national climate change policies. Finally, after IFC implementation deforestation rate decreased on parish level. Our study presents scientific evidence of IFC contribution to conserving ecosystem services and species richness. In addition IFC could help indirectly to reduce degradation effects attributed to logging, indicating potential compatibility of conservation aims with forest activities at a landscape level.

Long-term recovery of vegetation communities after harvesting in the coastal temperate rainforests of northern British Columbia

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 3098-3111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen Banner ◽  
Philip LePage
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Thuja Plicata ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Terrestrial Vegetation ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Second Growth ◽  
Old Growth Forests ◽  
Young Forests ◽  
Logging Disturbance

We sampled second-growth forests ranging in age from 28 to 98 years and compared them with old-growth forests to quantify rates of terrestrial vegetation recovery following harvesting on the northcentral coast of British Columbia. Species richness approximately doubles, while Simpson’s index of diversity increases from 0.81 to 0.91 from young to old forests. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordinations showed differentiation, with some overlap, of old-growth and second-growth forests and a fairly strong correlation of stand age with plot scores, driven by plant species presence and cover. Vegetation succession following logging disturbance is driven primarily by predisturbance species composition; most species found in the young forests are present in old forests and the higher species richness typical of old growth is largely due to the establishment of additional cryptogam and herb species of low cover and constancy. Significantly higher cover of shrub, herb, and bryophyte species differentiates old forests from second-growth forests. Forests 41–100 years old average 63%–73% similarity (depending on site type) to old-growth forests based on species presence–absence and 53%–58% similarity based on species cover. The scarcity of western redcedar ( Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don) in second-growth stands is of particular concern because of the high ecological, cultural, and economic importance of this tree species.

scholarly journals Porosty – wskaźniki niżowych lasów puszczańskich w Polsce [Lichens – indicators of lowland old-growth forests in Poland]

2014 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 223-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krystyna Czyżewska ◽  
Stanisław Cieśliński
Keyword(s):  
Human Activity ◽  
Native Species ◽  
National Park ◽  
Forest Species ◽  
Forest Environment ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Old Growth Forests ◽  
The Status ◽  
Białowieża National Park ◽  
And Function

Old-growth forests arę natural biocoenoses, which developed and function without apparent impacts of human activity, which are adjusted to their habitats and remain in perfect biocoenotic equilibrium. In a forest environment there occurs a high diversity of seminal and cryptogamic plants and fungi, including lichenized fungi (lichens). The disappearance of old-growth forests affected by human activity or their strong fragmentation and isolation are the greatest danger for numerous typically forest lichens. On the basis of selected lichens - indicators of old-growth forests we undertook an attempt at detecting well-preserved lowland areas, which are at present biocentres of typically forest species. The most important features of indicatory species were considered the following: they are native species growing exclusively in forest communities; they are permanent components of forest biocoenoses, while their biological-ecological properties are adjusted to the phytoclimate and biotopes of forest environment; they inhabit specific forest habitats; they are typical epiphytes and epixylites inhabiting old live trees and dead wood of various stages of decomposition; they do not grow in managed forests. A total of 71 species that will serve the function of obligatory indicators (IND) of old-growth forests were selected for Poland's natural lowland forests (see Table 1). 53 of these species are presently strongly threatened, possessing the status of the Red List Categories (CR, EN and VU). The following 10 forest areas were evaluated: Białowieża National Park (58 IND), the reserves of Budzisk (34 IND), and Starożyn (29 IND) in North-Eastern Poland, reserves of Borki (29 IND), Las Warmiński (17 IND) and Krutynia (18 IND) in Northern Poland, and the reserves of Spała (15 IND), Zagożdżon (13 IND), Białe Ługi (10 IND) and Żyznów (4 IND) in Central Poland (Table 2). The highest number of old-growth forests occur in the Białowieża National Park (84%). This value indicates that the Białowieża Ntional Park may now be considered a model comparitive object, the biocentre of epiphytic and epixylic forest species of old-growth forests representing the total ecological amplitude of biodiversity and occupied habitats. In all the 10 biocentres there occur 66 indicatory species of old-growth forests, the highest number of which, ca 88%, occur in the Białowieża National Park, while 51.5% in the Budzisk reserve in the Knyszyńska Forest.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document