The NEBIE plot network: Background and experimental design

The Intensive Management Science Partnership: NEBIE Plot Network is a stand-scale, multi-agency research project designed to compare the ecological effects of a range of silvicultural treatments in northern temperate and boreal forest regions of Ontario. The NEBIE plot network was established in 2001 with randomized complete block experiments installed at eight sites. The NEBIE acronym stands for Natural disturbance, and Extensive, Basic, Intensive, and Elite silviculture. Each NEBIE treatment was replicated at least three times at each site, using large experimental units (2-ha plots). The NEBIE plot network provides researchers with an opportunity to conduct long-term scientific studies at multiple scales and disciplines. The operational-scale treatment plots allow assessment of a variety of forest values in a context directly relevant to informing forest planning and management. In this paper, we document the experimental design and describe the sites and silviculture treatments. Information about sampling designs is provided, along with preliminary results, in a companion paper published in this edition of The Forestry Chronicle.

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Can forest management based on natural disturbances maintain ecological resilience?

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x06-132 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 36 (9) ◽

pp. 2285-2299 ◽

Cited By ~ 196

Author(s):

C Ronnie Drever ◽

Garry Peterson ◽

Christian Messier ◽

Yves Bergeron ◽

Mike Flannigan

Keyword(s):

Nutrient Dynamics ◽

Multiple Scales ◽

Critical Role ◽

Natural Disturbance ◽

Ecological Resilience ◽

Natural Disturbances ◽

Resilience Theory ◽

Managed Forests ◽

Spatial And Temporal Scales

Given the increasingly global stresses on forests, many ecologists argue that managers must maintain ecological resilience: the capacity of ecosystems to absorb disturbances without undergoing fundamental change. In this review we ask: Can the emerging paradigm of natural-disturbance-based management (NDBM) maintain ecological resilience in managed forests? Applying resilience theory requires careful articulation of the ecosystem state under consideration, the disturbances and stresses that affect the persistence of possible alternative states, and the spatial and temporal scales of management relevance. Implementing NDBM while maintaining resilience means recognizing that (i) biodiversity is important for long-term ecosystem persistence, (ii) natural disturbances play a critical role as a generator of structural and compositional heterogeneity at multiple scales, and (iii) traditional management tends to produce forests more homogeneous than those disturbed naturally and increases the likelihood of unexpected catastrophic change by constraining variation of key environmental processes. NDBM may maintain resilience if silvicultural strategies retain the structures and processes that perpetuate desired states while reducing those that enhance resilience of undesirable states. Such strategies require an understanding of harvesting impacts on slow ecosystem processes, such as seed-bank or nutrient dynamics, which in the long term can lead to ecological surprises by altering the forest's capacity to reorganize after disturbance.

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The NEBIE plot network: Highlights of long-term scientific studies

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc2017-019 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 93 (02) ◽

pp. 122-137

Author(s):

F. Wayne Bell ◽

Jennifer Dacosta ◽

Steven G. Newmaster ◽

Azim Mallik ◽

Shelley Hunt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Biological Diversity ◽

Forest Policy ◽

Companion Paper ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Carbon Cycles ◽

Pre Treatment ◽

Plot Network ◽

Post Harvesting

The NEBIE plot network is a stand-scale, multi-agency research project designed to compare the ecological effects of a range of silvicultural treatments in northern temperate and boreal forest regions of Ontario, Canada. While research on silviculture intensities has been previously conducted, the NEBIE plot network is at a larger scale, and covers a wider range of intensities in a variety of northern temperate and boreal forest types. Details about experimental design, treatment designs and research sites, are presented in a companion paper which is published in this edition of The Forestry Chronicle. The operational scale of treatment plots allow for assessment of a variety of forest values. We used a criteria and indicator approach to organize long-term research studies on the network sites, with the goal of providing scientific findings that would inform forest policy. Pre-treatment, and 2-, 5-, and 10-year post-harvesting data have been collected. These initial data add to existing information on the effects of intensification of silviculture on biological diversity, forest productivity, ecosystem health and vitality, soil and water resources, contribution of enhanced forest management global carbon cycles, and long-term multiple socio-economic benefits of northern forests.

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Long-term greenhouse gas emissions from hydroelectric reservoirs in tropical forest regions

Global Biogeochemical Cycles ◽

10.1029/1998gb900015 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 503-517 ◽

Cited By ~ 81

Author(s):

Corinne Galy-Lacaux ◽

Robert Delmas ◽

Georges Kouadio ◽

Sandrine Richard ◽

Philippe Gosse

Keyword(s):

Tropical Forest ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Hydroelectric Reservoirs ◽

Forest Regions

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Contrasting research approaches to managing mistletoes in commercial forests and wooded pasturesThis minireview is one of a collection of papers based on a presentation from the Stem and Shoot Fungal Pathogens and Parasitic Plants: the Values of Biological Diversity session of the XXII International Union of Forestry Research Organization World Congress meeting held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, in 2005.

Botany ◽

10.1139/b08-109 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 87 (1) ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Nick Reid ◽

Simon F. Shamoun

Keyword(s):

Biological Control ◽

Fungal Pathogens ◽

Biological Diversity ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Classical Biological Control ◽

Dwarf Mistletoe ◽

Silvicultural Treatments ◽

Inundative Biological Control

Many mistletoe species are pests in agricultural and forest ecosystems throughout the world. Mistletoes are unusual “weeds” as they are generally endemic to areas where they achieve pest status and, therefore, classical biological control and broad-scale herbicidal control are usually impractical. In North American coniferous forests, dwarf mistletoe ( Arceuthobium spp.) infection results in major commercial losses and poses a public liability in recreation settings. Hyperparasitic fungi have potential as biological control agents of dwarf mistletoe, including species which attack shoots, berries, and the endophytic systems of dwarf mistletoe. Development of an inundative biological control strategy will be useful in situations where traditional silvicultural control is impractical or undesirable. In southern Australia, farm eucalypts are often attacked and killed by mistletoes ( Amyema spp.) in grazed landscapes where tree decline and biodiversity loss are major forms of land degradation. Although long-term strategies to achieve a balance between mistletoe and host abundance are promoted, many graziers want short-term options to treat severely infected trees. Recent research has revisited the efficiency and efficacy of silvicultural treatments and selective herbicides in appropriate situations. The results of recent research on these diverse management strategies in North America and Australia are summarized.

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Developing an Adaptive Management approach to prescribed burning: a long-term heathland conservation experiment in north-west Italy

International Journal of Wildland Fire ◽

10.1071/wf07114 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 18 (6) ◽

pp. 727 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Davide Ascoli ◽

Rachele Beghin ◽

Riccardo Ceccato ◽

Alessandra Gorlier ◽

Giampiero Lombardi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Experimental Design ◽

Adaptive Management ◽

Prescribed Burning ◽

Fire Regime ◽

Management Approach ◽

Detailed Measurement ◽

Research Issues ◽

North West ◽

Heathland Management

Calluna vulgaris-dominated heathlands are globally important habitats and extremely scarce outside of north-west Europe. Rotational fire, grazing and cutting by local farmers were dominant features of past heathland management throughout Europe but have been abandoned, altering the historical fire regime and habitat structure. We briefly review research on Calluna heathland conservation management and provide the background and methodology for a long-term research project that will be used to define prescribed fire regimes in combination with grazing and cutting, for management of Calluna heathlands in north-west Italy. We outline the ecological and research issues that drive the fire experiment, making explicit the experimental design and the hypotheses that will be tested. We demonstrate how Adaptive Management can be used to inform decisions about the nature of fire prescriptions where little formal knowledge exists. Experimental plots ranging from 600 to 2500 m2 are treated according to one of eight alternative treatments (various combinations of fire, grazing and cutting), each replicated four times. To date, all treatments have been applied for 4 years, from 2005 to 2008, and a continuation is planned. Detailed measurement of fire characteristics is made to help interpret ecological responses at a microplot scale. The results of the experiment will be fed back into the experimental design and used to inform heathland management practice in north-west Italy.

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Long-term investigation of a deep-seated creeping landslide in crystalline rock. Part I. Geological and hydromechanical factors controlling the Campo Vallemaggia landslide

Canadian Geotechnical Journal ◽

10.1139/t07-043 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 44 (10) ◽

pp. 1157-1180 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

L. Bonzanigo ◽

E. Eberhardt ◽

S. Loew

Keyword(s):

Complex Structure ◽

Companion Paper ◽

Crystalline Rock ◽

Fault Zones ◽

Swiss Alps ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Metamorphic Rocks ◽

Artesian Water ◽

Creep Deformations

Slope movements of the deep-seated Campo Vallemaggia landslide in the southern Swiss Alps have been reported for over 200 years. Surface and borehole investigations of the unstable mass reveal an up to 300 m deep complex structure incorporating 800 million cubic metres of disturbed metamorphic rocks divided into blocks along primary fault zones. An average slide velocity of approximately 5 cm/year can be calculated from various monitoring data recorded between 1892 and 1995. Block movements primarily involve mechanisms relating to multiple shear surfaces, but in cases where slide blocks are constrained by other blocks, creep deformations are observed. Borehole investigations revealed the presence of artesian water pressures, which when integrated with inclinometer and surface geodetic data, helped to provide key insights into the underlying instability mechanisms. This paper reports the findings of an extensive mapping, geophysical, and monitoring investigation carried out over a 20 year period. Results from the analysis are presented with respect to the hydromechanical factors controlling the unstable mass, the significance of which were instrumental in resolving conflicts with regards to the slope mitigation measures required to stabilize the slope. In Part II (see companion paper, this issue), the stabilization works performed at Campo Vallemaggia and their effectiveness are presented.

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Utikuma Region Study Area (URSA) – Part 1: Hydrogeological and ecohydrological studies (HEAD)

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc2016-017 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 92 (01) ◽

pp. 57-61 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Kevin J. Devito ◽

Carl Mendoza ◽

Richard M. Petrone ◽

Nick Kettridge ◽

James M. Waddington

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Conceptual Understanding ◽

Natural Disturbance ◽

Spatially Explicit ◽

Forest Research ◽

Boreal Plains ◽

Process Studies ◽

Hydrogeological Studies ◽

Western Boreal Forest

The Utikuma Region Study Area (URSA) was initiated to develop spatially explicit modelling tools to predict the cumulative impacts of land use and natural disturbance on the Boreal Plains (BP) ecozone of the Western Boreal Forest. Research comprised several multi-year projects, spanning wet and dry climate periods that combined intensive detailed process studies at seven watersheds with extensive long-term ecohydrological and hydrogeological studies conducted across a 60-km transect representing the range of glaciated landforms characteristic of the sub-humid boreal forest in Alberta. These studies have improved our conceptual understanding and capacity to numerically model how climate and geology influence water and energy flow, and the hydrologic linkages and natural variability of the key processes influencing BP ecosystems. Eco-hydrogeological frameworks have been developed for designing, conducting, interpreting, and extrapolating research results for watershed management and construction across the Boreal Plain ecozone.

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Short-Term Effects of Silvicultural Treatments on Microsite Heterogeneity and Plant Diversity in Mature Tennessee Oak-Hickory Forests

Northern Journal of Applied Forestry ◽

10.1093/njaf/23.3.197 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 197-203 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Samuel W. Jackson ◽

Craig A. Harper ◽

David S. Buckley ◽

Bradley F. Miller

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Plant Diversity ◽

Prescribed Burning ◽

Canopy Cover ◽

First Year ◽

Herbaceous Plant ◽

Silvicultural Treatments ◽

Canopy Trees ◽

Microsite Heterogeneity

Abstract Growing emphasis on sustainability has increased the demand for information on effects of forest management on species diversity. We investigated the hypothesis that plant diversity is a function of microsite heterogeneity by documenting plant diversity and heterogeneity in canopy cover, light, and soil moisture produced by four silvicultural treatments during the first growing season following treatment: prescribed burning, wildlife retention cut with prescribed burning, wildlife retention cut, and shelterwood cutting. Treatments and controls were randomly assigned within four relatively undisturbed, 70–90-year-old oak-hickory stands. Heterogeneity in canopy cover and photosynthetically active radiation was greatest after shelterwood cutting, whereas the wildlife retention cut resulted in less removal of canopy trees and a smaller increase in heterogeneity of these factors. The addition of prescribed burning enhanced the effects of the wildlife retention cut. Prescribed burning alone had the least impact on heterogeneity of these factors. Soil moisture variability appeared to be independent of treatments. Shelterwood cutting increased first-year herbaceous plant diversity, and this increase was likely due, in part, to increased heterogeneity in canopy cover, light, and seedbed condition. These first-year results partially support the hypothesis that plant diversity is a function of microsite diversity in these forests. Long-term monitoring is underway.

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Combustion Effects of Coal Liquid and Other Synthetic Fuels in Gas Turbine Combustors: Part I — Fuels Used and Subscale Combustion Results

Volume 1A: General ◽

10.1115/80-gt-67 ◽

1980 ◽

Author(s):

P. P. Singh ◽

A. Cohn ◽

P. W. Pillsbury ◽

G. W. Bauserman ◽

P. R. Mulik ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gas Turbine ◽

Companion Paper ◽

Liquid Fuels ◽

Temperature Profiles ◽

Test Results ◽

Synthetic Fuels ◽

Unburned Hydrocarbons ◽

Combustion Tests ◽

Percent Nitrogen

Combustion tests on over twelve types of coal derived liquid fuels from the EDS, H-coal, SRC-I and SRC-II processes and three shale oil fuels have been conducted in gas turbine type combustors. Emission measurements were made of Nox, smoke, CO, and unburned hydrocarbons. Combustor wall temperature profiles were measured. The results are correlated with the fuel properties-percent nitrogen, hydrogen and aromaticity. This part of the paper discusses the fuels used in subscale combustion tests along with the test results. A companion paper (Part II) describes the results of full-scale combustor tests and a long term corrosion/deposition test.

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