Ancient temperate rain forest research in British Columbia

2006 ◽  
Vol 138 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neville N. Winchester
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Vancouver Island ◽  
Habitat Specialization ◽  
Forest Diversity ◽  
Stable Conditions ◽  
Temperate Rain Forest ◽  
Ancient Forests

AbstractThis paper is a tribute to Dr. R.A. Ring upon his retirement. During the past 12 years (1993–2005), an emerging canopy research program has established a wealth of baseline information on the structure and functioning of temperate rain forest canopy arthropod communities. Studies from research sites on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, have shown that ancient temperate rain forest canopy ecosystems contain a largely undescribed fauna that is specific to habitat features found only in these canopies. In particular, diverse assemblages of free-living mites have been shown to dominate conifer species and canopy microhabitats. For example, oribatid mites are the dominant arthropod fauna on branches, branches with attached lichens, and suspended soil accumulations. Species composition differs significantly between the ground and the canopy at both the family and the species level. Arboreal specificity may be due to intrinsic variation in habitat quality, habitat architecture, patchiness, and (or) resource availability. The prevalent patterns of habitat specialization, low vagility, and restricted distribution displayed by a large percentage of the resident canopy microarthropods are features often associated with forest ecoregions that have enjoyed relatively stable conditions for long periods of time, as have the ancient forests on Vancouver Island. Investigators in the “one-Ring lab” continue to document the diversity and abundance of canopy arthropods of temperate forests in British Columbia. In particular, studies are concerned with defining the organizing principles that elicit community patterns associated with the various levels of complexity in arboreal communities. Our long-term goal is to provide a greater degree of predictability when addressing temperate forest diversity issues. To meet the stated goals of sustainable forest management and retention of biodiversity, an extensive plan of ecological research that features arthropods is needed. This plan, fostered by Dr. Ring, should have as a priority the inventory and cataloguing of species assemblages and should address dynamic processes such as organismal dispersal and the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on arthropods in ancient forests.

Upper canopy pollinators of Eucryphia cordifolia Cav., a tree of South American temperate rain forest

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (9) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Smith-Ramírez ◽  
Paula Martínez ◽  
Iván Díaz ◽  
Marcelo Galaz ◽  
Juan J. Armesto
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Temperate Forest ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Forest Understory ◽  
South American ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Flower Visitors ◽  
Temperate Rain Forest ◽  
Tall Tree ◽  
Pollinator Assemblage

Ecological processes in the upper canopy of temperate forests have been seldom studied because of the limited accessibility. Here, we present the results of the first survey of the pollinator assemblage and the frequency of insect visits to flowers in the upper branches of ulmo, Eucryphia cordifolia Cav., an emergent 30-40 m-tall tree in rainforests of Chiloé Island, Chile. We compared these findings with a survey of flower visitors restricted to lower branches of E. cordifolia 1- in the forest understory, 2- in lower branches in an agroforestry area. We found 10 species of pollinators in canopy, and eight, 12 and 15 species in understory, depending of tree locations. The main pollinators of E. cordifolia in the upper canopy differed significantly from the pollinator assemblage recorded in lower tree branches. We conclude that the pollinator assemblages of the temperate forest canopy and interior are still unknown.

Bryophyte community differences between edge and interior environments in temperate rain-forest fragments of coastal British Columbia

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 580-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyn K Baldwin ◽  
Gary E Bradfield
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Functional Groups ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Edge Zone ◽  
Temperate Rain Forest

The species richness, community composition, and abundance of bryophytes within taxonomic and functional groups were examined in relation to habitat conditions in forest edge and interior habitats of nine old-growth temperate rain-forest patches remaining after logging in the Nimpkish River Valley of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Bryophytes were sampled at a fine scale using 0.1 m × 0.3 m microplots to examine responses of species abundance on the forest floor, downed logs, and tree bases and at a coarser scale using 10 m × 2 m belt transects to determine changes in patterns of species richness and distribution. Edge habitats, sampled to a depth of 45 m into the forest fragments, were characterized by greater windthrow disturbance. Within the edge zone, increases in the richness of clearing-affiliated functional groups were associated primarily with the location of windthrown trees and tip-up mounds, rather than with distance from the edge per se. Interior habitats had both greater abundance of old-growth-associated functional groups and total bryophyte cover. The extension of the edge zone to at least 45 m into remnant patches carries implications for minimum patch size requirements in the context of variable-retention logging of coastal temperate rain forests.

Distribution and density of glochidia of the freshwater mussel Anodonta kennerlyi on fish hosts in lakes of the temperate rain forest of Vancouver Island

2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
André L Martel ◽  
Jean-Sébastien Lauzon-Guay
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Larval Density ◽  
Cutthroat Trout ◽  
Freshwater Mussel ◽  
Vancouver Island ◽  
Oncorhynchus Clarkii ◽  
Dolly Varden Salvelinus Malma ◽  
Temperate Rain Forest ◽  
Primary Habitat

We examined the distribution and abundance of glochidia of the freshwater mussel Anodonta kennerlyi Lea, 1860 on local fishes in three temperate rain forest lakes near Bamfield, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Fishes involved in the life cycle of the mussel were the prickly sculpin (Cottus asper Richardson, 1836), threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L., 1758), Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma (Walbaum, 1792)), and cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii (Richardson, 1836)). For each lake, we assessed which fish was the most important for larval propagation and recruitment of the mussel by considering the fish's primary habitat, the percentage of fish in a sample with glochidia, and the abundance of glochidia on sampled fish. Also, an alternative method for quantifying the glochidia's "preference" for a host consisted of measuring the number of glochidia per unit area of fish body surface (larval density). We digitized the surface area of fins and head, i.e., the areas used by glochidia for settlement. Every fish species in each lake dispersed the glochidia. There was, however, a sharp gradient in the intensity of the fish–mussel linkage among fishes. Fishes that co-occurred most often with mussels, such as sculpins and sticklebacks, had the highest density of glochidia. Larval density on fishes also revealed the existence of between-lake differences in glochidia preference.

scholarly journals 13,000 years of fire history derived from soil charcoal in a British Columbia coastal temperate rain forest

Ecosphere ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Hoffman ◽  
D. G. Gavin ◽  
K. P. Lertzman ◽  
D. J. Smith ◽  
B. M. Starzomski
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Soil Charcoal ◽  
Temperate Rain Forest

Structural – compositional variation in three age-classes of temperate rainforests in southern coastal British Columbia

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Arsenault ◽  
Gary E. Bradfield
Keyword(s):  
Principal Component Analysis ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Forest Structure ◽  
Canonical Correlation ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Age Classes ◽  
Temperate Rain Forest ◽  
Coastal British Columbia

Relationships between forest structure and species composition were examined in three age-classes of temperate rain forest in southern coastal British Columbia. Old forests (> 250 years) exhibited greater structural and compositional heterogeneity than young (31–60 years) and mature (61–80 years) forests. Size-class distributions of living and dead standing trees in the three age groups suggested both qualitative and quantitative differences in regeneration and mortality processes. The canonical correlation between structure and composition was high (Rc = 0.84), but a substantial amount of total variation remained unexplained by the analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) axis 1 of species composition separated the lower elevation (warmer and drier) mature forests from the higher elevation (cooler and wetter) young and old forests. PCA axis 1 of structure separated the young and mature forests as a group from the old forests. PCAs of the separate age-classes indicated weaker compositional – structural linkages than with all age-classes combined. Study area differences explained greater proportions of variation in young and mature forests (up to 53%) than in old forests (< 10%). The results indicate a slow recovery process following impacts from human disturbance in coastal forests. Key words: canonical correlation analysis, old-growth temperate rain forest, principal component analysis, species composition, forest structure.

Ecological legacies of anthropogenic burning in a British Columbia coastal temperate rain forest

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (12) ◽  
pp. 2903-2915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kira M. Hoffman ◽  
Ken P. Lertzman ◽  
Brian M. Starzomski
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Temperate Rain Forest ◽  
Ecological Legacies

ARCHITECTURE OF A COOL-TEMPERATE RAIN FOREST CANOPY

Ecology ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 82 (10) ◽  
pp. 2719-2730 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Olesen
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Temperate Rain Forest ◽  
Cool Temperate

Vegetation Damage Caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi on Disturbed Sites in Temperate Rain-Forest in Western Tasmania

1989 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 443 ◽  
Author(s):  
FD Podger ◽  
MJ Brown
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Phytophthora Cinnamomi ◽  
Field Inoculation ◽  
Temperate Rain Forest ◽  
Cool Temperate ◽  
Soil Temperatures ◽  
External Sources ◽  
The Common ◽  
Greenhouse Tests

Phytophthora cinnamomi has been isolated directly from 558 diseased plants among 39 species including 1 fern, 4 graminoids and 34 woody dicotyledons, all indigenous to the cool temperate rainforest of Tasmania. Pathogenicity has been proved by greenhouse tests (20 spp.) and by field inoculation at two localities (19 spp.). Of the 142 species in the rainforest flora, 69 were rated for the susceptibility of field populations; 30% were highly susceptible and less than 5% highly resistant. High proportions of susceptible species occurred in Epacridaceae, Eucryphiaceae and Proteaceae. All 93 isolates tested were the common A2 mating type. The fungus was constantly associated with disease at 47 survey localities. Diseased plants were widely but patchily distributed along exposed road and track edges within unburned rainforest and in recently burned rainforest. The fungus was not recovered from samples taken beneath healthy roadside regeneration, beneath undisturbed rainforest or above 900 m elevation. The disease has the characteristics of attack by a recent invader and appears to be dependent upon disturbance which elevates soil temperatures above 15°C, the lower threshold for infection by P. cinnamomi. Post-fire recovery of forest canopy is expected to allow re-establishment from external sources of seed of those susceptible species which are both efficiently dispersed and tolerant of shade. Species lacking such characteristics are at risk of local elimination but no single rainforest species appears to be under threat of extinction from this pathogen.

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