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1.
The effects of competition from red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) and northern hardwood tree species on white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) seedlings were examined on a clearcut site of the boreal mixedwood forest of the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. A controlled experiment involving a gradient of five vegetation densities on the basis of the leaf area index (LAI) was established in a completely randomized plot design with six replications. Each of the five levels of vegetation cover (including vegetation-free plots) were examined to evaluate how they affected environmental factors (quantity and quality of light reaching the spruce seedlings, and soil temperature), spruce growth (height, basal diameter, volume index, and above-ground biomass), spruce mortality, browsing damage, spruce foliar mineral nutrition, as well as the stand structural development, during the first 5 years after seedling planting.

Each spruce growth variable analyzed in this study, according to a RMANOVA procedure, followed a negative hyperbolic form of density dependence of competitive effects. Loss of growth in young white spruce plantations in competition with northern hardwoods is likely to occur with the first few competitors. In cases where higher levels of competing vegetation were maintained over time, loss of spruce growth was extremely severe, to an extent where the exponential growth character of the young trees has been lost. At the end of the fifth year, spruce growing with no interference were larger in mean total above-ground biomass by a factor of 9.7 than those growing with the highest level of vegetation cover. Spruce did not develop a strategy of shade avoidance by increasing tree height, on the contrary. Spruce mortality differed among treatments only in the fifth year, indicating that early evaluation of spruce survival is not a strong indicator of competitive effects, when compared to diameter growth. Spruce foliar N and Ca contents were significantly reduced by the first level of competing vegetation cover, while K increased with the density of the vegetation cover, and P and Mg were not affected. Nitrogen nutrition of young white spruce planted on recently disturbed sites is discussed in relation to the potential root discrimination of this species against soil nitrate, a reaction observed by Kronzucker et al. [Kronzucker, H.J., Siddiqi, M.Y., Glass, A.D.M., 1997. Conifer root discrimination against soil nitrate and the ecology of forest succession. Nature London 385, 59–61]. The effects of hardwood competition indicate a prevalence of competition for light over a competition for nutrients, as revealed by the substantial increase in the h/d ratio of white spruce. Two indicators, h/d ratio and the quantity of light received at the tree seedling level, are suggested as a basis for the management of hardwood competition in a white spruce plantation.

Analysis of the stand structural development indicates that spruce height distribution was affected only by moderate or dense cover of vegetation, while diameter distribution, when compared to competing vegetation-free plots, was affected by the lowest level of vegetation cover. This study shows that competition influenced the stand structural development in the same way as genetic and micro-site factors by aggravating the amplitude of size inequality. The impact of hardwood competition is discussed in view of reaching an equilibrium between optimal spruce plantation growth and benefits from further silvicultural treatments, and maintaining hardwood species known to improve long term site quality, within a white spruce plantation.  相似文献   


2.
This study reports 14th-year response of a boreal mixedwood stand to different harvest intensities (uncut, 50% partial cut with and without removal of residuals after 3 years, and clearcut), spot site preparation treatments (none and scalped), and chemical weeding frequencies (none, single, and multiple) in northeastern Ontario. The response variables include the survival and growth of planted white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), height and density of natural regeneration and shrubs, and cover of shrubs and non-woody vegetation. Harvesting and weeding generally improved survival and growth of planted trees, although white spruce survival did not significantly differ among the three weeding frequencies. Harvesting tended to increase heights of hardwood (mostly trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.)) and conifer (largely balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.).) natural regeneration, cover and density of shrubs, and cover of herbs, lichens, and ferns. Chemical weeding reduced height, density and cover of shrubs, height and density of hardwood regeneration, and fern cover, but increased moss and lichen cover. Spot scalping did not significantly affect planted seedling, natural regeneration, or the vegetation.Maximum survival and growth of planted white spruce and jack pine were achieved using a combination of clearcutting and multiple weeding. However, partial cutting followed by a single weeding produced acceptable survival and reasonable growth of planted trees, particularly for white spruce. Partial canopy removal alone substantially reduced the amount of hardwood regeneration, relative to clearcutting, but did not adequately suppress understory shrubs. Significant improvement in seedling growth following multiple weedings was evident primarily in the complete canopy removal treatments: 50% partial cut with removal of residuals after 3 years and clearcut. While the effects of harvesting and weeding on planted crop trees found in the 5th-year assessments generally persisted at year 14, survival decreased, likely due to light competition from developing hardwood and shrubs.  相似文献   

3.
Understanding the impacts of local and regional landscape characteristics on spatial distributions of wildlife species is vital for achieving ecological and economic sustainability of forested landscapes. This understanding is important because wildlife species such as white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have the potential to affect forest dynamics differently across space. Here, we quantify the effects of local and regional landscape characteristics on the spatial distribution of white-tailed deer, produce maps of estimated deer density using these quantified relationships, provide measures of uncertainty for these maps to aid interpretation, and show how this information can be used to guide co-management of deer and forests. Specifically, we use ordinary least squares and Bayesian regression methods to model the spatial distribution of white-tailed deer in northern hardwood stands during the winter in the managed hardwood-conifer forests of the central Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA. Our results show that deer density is higher nearer lowland conifer stands and in areas where northern hardwood trees have small mean diameter-at-breast-height. Other factors related with deer density include mean northern hardwood basal area (negative relationship), proportion of lowland conifer forest cover (positive relationship), and mean daily snow depth (negative relationship). The modeling methods we present provide a means to identify locations in forest landscapes where wildlife and forest managers may most effectively co-ordinate their actions.  相似文献   

4.
Effective utilization of a patch or cluster approach to growing aspen-white spruce mixtures in the boreal forest requires an understanding of how the faster growing aspen patches influence microclimate and spruce growth in adjacent spruce patches. In this paper we examine, how young (11–13 year old) aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx) patches influence microclimatic conditions in adjacent openings and how these are reflected in the growth of white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss) on three boreal mixedwood sites in west-central Alberta, Canada. Light levels increased continuously across the aspen stand boundary and reached maximum levels within the opening, while soil moisture was highest near the edge of the opening and then decreased with distance into the aspen stand or into the adjacent opening north of the aspen stand. Light levels were reduced over a greater distance when moving north from aspen stand edges compared to openings located south of the young aspen. These young aspen stands provided growing season frost protection within one tree length from the edge. The growth of white spruce was positively related to initial crown size and either light levels or distance from the edge. Stem volume growth was best predicted by initial tree size and the light levels at the midcrown of seedlings.  相似文献   

5.
In the boreal forest of Alberta, fire and wind often open gaps in the canopy where late-successional species can establish and over time cause a shift in the species distribution from deciduous (e.g., trembling aspen) dominated to mixedwood, to shade-tolerant conifer (e.g., white spruce) dominated stands. This study attempted to understand the change of density-dependent competition in a boreal chronosequence and the role of tree competition in affecting stand structure and mortality. Four 1-ha stem-mapped plots were established to represent a chronosequence comprised of aspen dominated, mixedwood, and spruce dominated stands in Alberta. Second order spatial point-pattern analysis using Ripley's K(t) function showed that intraspecific competition is a prevailing force causing conspecific tree mortality and thus shaping the stand structure. The results of bivariate K(t) function analysis did not reveal sufficient evidence of interspecific competition. This suggested that competitive interaction among heterospecific trees was not strong enough to cause significant tree mortality, but the analysis of marked correlation function revealed that interspecific competition could have a negative impact on tree growth. This study highlights the importance of density-dependent competition in understanding stand dynamics of boreal forests over succession.  相似文献   

6.
From 1989 to 2003, a widespread outbreak of spruce beetles (Dendroctonus rufipennis) in the Copper River Basin, Alaska, infested over 275,000 ha of forests in the region. During 1997 and 1998, we measured forest vegetation structure and composition on one hundred and thirty-six 20-m × 20-m plots to assess both the immediate stand and landscape level effects of the spruce beetle infestation. A photo-interpreted vegetation and infestation map was produced using color-infrared aerial photography at a scale of 1:40,000. We used linear regression to quantify the effects of the outbreak on forest structure and composition. White spruce (Picea glauca) canopy cover and basal area of medium-to-large trees [≥15 cm diameter-at-breast height (1.3 m, dbh)] were reduced linearly as the number of trees attacked by spruce beetles increased. Black spruce (Picea mariana) and small diameter white spruce (<15 cm dbh) were infrequently attacked and killed by spruce beetles. This selective attack of mature white spruce reduced structural complexity of stands to earlier stages of succession and caused mixed tree species stands to lose their white spruce and become more homogeneous in overstory composition. Using the resulting regressions, we developed a transition matrix to describe changes in vegetation types under varying levels of spruce beetle infestations, and applied the model to the vegetation map. Prior to the outbreak, our study area was composed primarily of stands of mixed white and black spruce (29% of area) and pure white spruce (25%). However, the selective attack on white spruce caused many of these stands to transition to black spruce dominated stands (73% increase in area) or shrublands (26% increase in area). The post-infestation landscape was thereby composed of more even distributions of shrubland and white, black, and mixed spruce communities (17–22% of study area). Changes in the cover and composition of understory vegetation were less evident in this study. However, stands with the highest mortality due to spruce beetles had the lowest densities of white spruce seedlings suggesting a longer forest regeneration time without an increase in seedling germination, growth, or survival.  相似文献   

7.
Prévost  Marcel  Charette  Lise 《New Forests》2019,50(4):677-698

Vast areas of hardwood and mixedwood forests of eastern North America have been high-graded in the past and need silvicultural treatments to increase their value and productivity. To rehabilitate a high-graded temperate mixedwood stand, in Quebec, Canada, we used a split–split-split plot design with three replicates to assess different seed-tree and strip cutting systems, in combination with scarification and planting. The experiment consisted of three regeneration cuts in main plots: 10 seed-trees/ha, 40 seed-trees/ha and a 40-m wide strip clearcut (0 seed-tree/ha) with 60 seed-trees/ha in leave strips, thereby resulting in four levels of tree retention, and all included understory brushing. We applied two types of scarification (patch scarification or disk-trenching) to subplots, two regeneration modes (natural regeneration or planting with white spruce [Picea glauca]) to sub-subplots and two mechanical release treatments (softwood or mixedwood production) to planted sub–sub-subplots. Density of seed-trees did not affect the natural regeneration dynamics after 5 years, but disk-trenching was more efficient for the establishment of yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum). Few seed-trees of desirable white spruce were present and most died standing, confirming the importance of supplemental planting. Height growth of planted seedlings was 15% higher in the 0 and 10 (26–27 cm/year) than in the 40 and 60 (23 cm/year) seed-trees/ha treatments, and release doubled mean height growth (33.1 vs. 16.6 cm/year). Despite intensive site preparation, pre-established beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta) and mountain maple (Acer spicatum) were present at high densities in the regeneration stratum. Controlling this recalcitrant layer might be the greatest challenge for rehabilitating degraded stands of the mixedwood forest, especially since the use of herbicides is prohibited on Quebec’s public lands.

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8.
Many studies have recently been devoted to the study of landscape change, and some have even focused on an analysis of the dynamics of forest cover change. However, few of the studies have worked on a methodology for making a detailed investigation of long-term forest change dynamics based on historic cartographic sources. The goal of this study is to further develop a method for analyzing long-term changes in forest cover on the basis of old maps and orthophoto maps in the GIS environment. The study area is located in Central Bohemia, to the east of Kutná Hora, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The area consists of 21 cadastral units with a total area of 113 km2. The maps of the First (1780), Second (1851) and Third Military Surveys (1877) and the present-day orthophotomap (2007) of the Czech Republic were used as data resources. Source data have been processed in GIS. Forest cover is the subject of our study. However, the term is perceived from a broader perspective. What we call forest cover in our study refers to forest wood elements and other wood species in the landscape. In this study, forest cover has been structurally considered as a whole, without dividing it into the two categories mentioned. We counted the extent of the forest cover in each particular time horizon in hectares and as a percentage of the area under study, also the absolute changes in forest cover between the individual time horizons in hectares as well as the intensity of the changes in forest cover in hectares per year. The spatial changes in forest cover were evaluated in a GIS environment using specialized features to analyze spatial variation. The forest cover occupied 16.60% (1,880 ha) of the total area in the First Military Survey (1780). In 2007, the proportion was slightly higher at 16.64% (1,884 ha). More than half of all forest land (53%) from the time of the Second Military Survey (1851) survived until 2007. Not only the information on absolute changes but also the information on the rate of change is of great importance. The old Military Survey maps and the orthophotomap enable us to carry out studies of long-term changes in forest cover. However, the geodetic inaccuracy of the First Military Survey maps precludes reliable and exact quantification of the landscape changes between the First Military Survey and the Second Military Survey, and also between the First Military Survey and present-day (orthophoto map). These maps cannot be used for evaluating forest cover changes on the level of individual plots. The method presented in our paper may contribute to a better understanding of the long-term dynamics of forest land, covering a period of more than 250 years. This knowledge can be applied in forest management planning procedures. Apart from their application in forestry, the methods presented in this study may be of interest for historians and biologists.  相似文献   

9.
To test the direct regeneration hypothesis and support natural disturbance-based forest management we characterized the structure and composition of boreal mixedwood forests regenerating after large wildfires and examined the influence of pre-fire stand composition and post-fire competing vegetation. In stands which had been deciduous (Populus sp.)-dominated, conifer (white spruce)-dominated, or mixed pre-fire we measured regeneration stocking (presence in 10 m2 plots), density and height 10–20 years post-burn in five wildfires in Alberta, Canada. Most plots regenerated to the deciduous or mixed stocking types; plots in the older fire and in stands that were pure conifer pre-fire had higher amounts of conifer regeneration. Surprisingly, regeneration in pre-fire ‘pure’ white spruce stands was most often to pine, although these had not been recorded in the pre-fire inventory. Pre-fire deciduous stands were the most resilient in that poplar species dominated their post-fire regeneration in terms of stocking, density and height. These stands also had the highest diversity of regenerating tree species and the most unstocked plots. High grass cover negatively affected regeneration density of both deciduous and conifer trees. Our results demonstrate the natural occurrence of regeneration gaps, pre- to post-fire changes in forest composition, and high variation in post-fire regeneration composition. These should be taken into consideration when developing goals for post-harvest regeneration mimicking natural disturbance.  相似文献   

10.
Composition, structure, and species-specific patterns of recruitment and growth were characterized in two yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.)–conifer stands in Quebec, Canada, to improve our understanding of the dynamics of these complex ecosystems. The mixture of mid- and shade-tolerant species in the canopy, the inverse J-shape stem diameter distribution, and the age distribution were indicative that the two stands were in a late-successional stage. Recruitment of mid-tolerant species above 1.3 m in height appeared to be periodic and synchronized with historical spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana Clem.) outbreaks, while the coniferous component of these mixedwood stands recruited continuously. Results suggest that recruitment of yellow birch and red maple (Acer rubrum L.) requires disturbances of a certain intensity that affect at least 25 % of the forest cover. In contrast, balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) and red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) can recruit under the canopy without relying on moderate or large canopy disturbances. Results suggest that the historical disturbance regime, and differences in shade tolerance between species, largely govern the contemporary composition of these stands. This study improves the comprehension of mechanisms that regulate the dynamics of yellow birch-conifer stands and will be useful for the subsequent elaboration of forest management strategies.  相似文献   

11.
We examined patterns of variation in richness, diversity, and composition of understory vascular plant communities in mixedwood boreal forests of varying composition (broadleaf, mixedwood, conifer) in Alberta, Canada, before and for 2 years following variable-retention harvesting (clearcut, 20 and 75% dispersed green tree retention, control). Broadleaf-dominated forests differed from mixedwood or conifer-dominated forests in that they had greater canopy cover, litter depth, soil nitrogen, warmer soils, as well as greater shrub cover, herb and shrub richness and diversity (plot scale). In contrast, conifer, and to a lesser extent mixedwood, forest had greater β diversity than broadleaf forest. Overall, mixedwood and conifer forests were similar to one another, both differed from broadleaf forest. Several species were found to be significant indicators of broadleaf forest but most of these also occurred in the other forest types. Understory composition was related to canopy composition and edaphic conditions. Variable-retention harvesting had little effect on understory cover, richness, or diversity but resulted in reduced richness and β diversity at a larger scale. The clearcut and 20% treatments affected composition in all forest types. Early successional species and those common in disturbed sites were indicators of harvesting while evergreen, shade-tolerant understory herbs were indicators of the control forest and 75% retention harvest. We conclude that it is important to maintain a range of variation in canopy composition of mixedwood forests in order to conserve the associated understory communities. The presence of conifers in these forests has a particularly important influence on understory communities. The threshold for a lifeboat effect of variable-retention harvesting is between 20 and 75% retention. Examination of richness and β diversity at a variety of scales can provide interesting information on effects of harvesting on spatial reorganization and homogenization of understory plant communities.  相似文献   

12.
Establishing white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) by planting it under established aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), stands has substantial potential as a technique for regenerating boreal mixedwood stands. The presence of an aspen overstory serves to ameliorate frost and winter injury problems and suppresses understory vegetation that may compete with white spruce. In this study we examine the growth of white spruce during the first 10 years after being planted underneath a 39-year-old stand of trembling aspen following thinning and fertilization. Results indicate successful establishment and reasonable growth rates of white spruce planted under thinned and unthinned aspen stands, even with aspen basal area of 51 m2 ha−1. Thinning of overstory aspen to 1000 or 2000 stems ha−1 did not increase light reaching seedlings, but did result in improvements in light above the shrub layer and in diameter and height growth of the underplanted seedlings. However, these increases in growth of underplanted spruce may not justify the expense of thinnings. Fertilization of these stands prior to planting had no effect on spruce growth. Growth of spruce underplanted at this site near Fort Nelson was similar to that at two other stands near Dawson Creek, B.C.  相似文献   

13.
Establishing white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) by planting it under established aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), stands has substantial potential as a technique for regenerating boreal mixedwood stands. The presence of an aspen overstory serves to ameliorate frost and winter injury problems and suppresses understory vegetation that may compete with white spruce. In this study we examine the growth of white spruce during the first 10 years after being planted underneath a 39 year-old stand of trembling aspen following thinning and fertilization. Results indicate successful establishment and reasonable growth rates of white spruce planted under thinned and unthinned aspen stands, even with aspen basal area of 51 m2 ha−1. Thinning of overstory aspen to 1000 or 2000 stems ha−1 did not increase light reaching seedlings, but did result in improvements in light above the shrub layer and in diameter and height growth of the underplanted seedlings. However, these increases in growth of underplanted spruce may not justify the expense of thinnings. Fertilization of these stands prior to planting had no effect on spruce growth. Growth of spruce underplanted at this site near Fort Nelson was similar to that at two other stands near Dawson Creek, B.C.  相似文献   

14.
Vegetational variables were added to conventional edaphic and topographic properties as independent variables in tree growth prediction equations. Cover estimates of individual understory species, litter cover, deadfall cover, and advance regeneration density accounted for significant amounts of variability in lodgepole pinr (Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) mean annual increment in total volume (MAI) and site index (SI). R2 values for lodgepole pine MAI and SI increased from 0.24 to 0.66 and 0.49 to 0.71, respectively, and for white spruce MAI and SI increased from 0.53 to 0.86 and 0.58 to 0.91, respectively, with addition of vegetational variables. The inclusion of certain forest understory species as independent variables accounted for more MAI and SI variability than did some of the more frequently used soil and site properties. Inclusion of vegetational variables in a multiple regression may facilitate refinement of a productivity-oriented ecological classification of forest stands.  相似文献   

15.
The dynamics of the Atlantic Rainforest loss and recovery are still not fully understood despite its long history of human occupation. In this study, we investigated changes in an Atlantic Rainforest region due to major biophysical and human proximate causes. First, we modeled land-cover and land-use changes from 1962 to 2000, including deforestation and forest regrowth, and thereby simulated future landscape trajectories to assess their possible effects on the conservation of forest species of the Ibiúna Plateau, a region located in Southeastern Brazil within the Atlantic Rainforest biome. We modeled four scenarios (status quo, random, lawenforcement, and land-use intensification) and simulated their resulting landscape trajectories for the year 2019 using DINAMICA. The landscape dynamics in the study region were particularly intense. During the first period of 1962–1981, the rate of forest regrowth (3% year−1) was greater than the rate of deforestation (2% year−1), whereas in the latter period of 1981–2000, increasing urbanization and the spreading of rural establishments resulted in more deforestation (2.9% year−1) than regrowth (1% year−1). These dynamics imprinted a heterogeneous landscape, leading to the predominance of progressively younger secondary forests with increasingly less capacity of hosting sensitive forest species. The influence of proximate causes on the dynamics of deforestation and forest regrowth showed consistent patterns, such as higher forest regrowth rates near rivers, on steep slopes and far from dirt roads, whereas losses in young secondary vegetation and forest were far from rivers, on gentle slopes and near urban areas. Of the modeled scenarios, only the law enforcement scenario may lead to the recovery of a network of interconnected forest patches, suggesting that simply the enforcement of current forest laws, which prohibit deforestation on unsuitable agricultural areas and along river margins and establish a minimum of 20% of forest remnant per rural property, may effectively favor forest species conservation in the short term (two decades) without the need of any forest restoration effort.  相似文献   

16.
Forests of the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska experienced widespread spruce (Picea spp.) mortality during a massive spruce beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis) infestation over a 15-year period. In 1987, and again in 2000, the U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Forest Inventory and Analysis Program conducted initial and remeasurement inventories of forest vegetation to assess the broad-scale impacts of this infestation. Analysis of vegetation composition was conducted with indirect gradient analysis using nonmetric multidimensional scaling to determine the overall pattern of vegetation change resulting from the infestation and to evaluate the effect of vegetation change on forest regeneration. For the latter we specifically assessed the impact of the grass bluejoint (Calamagrostis canadensis) on white spruce (Picea glauca) and paper birch (Betula papyrifera) regeneration. Changes in vegetation composition varied both in magnitude and direction among geographic regions of the Kenai Peninsula. Forests of the southern Kenai Lowland showed the most marked change in composition indicated by relatively large distances between 1987 and 2000 measurements in ordination space. Specific changes included high white spruce mortality (87% reduction in basal area of white spruce >12.7 cm diameter-at-breast height (dbh)) and increased cover of early successional species such as bluejoint and fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium). Forests of the Kenai Mountains showed a different directional change in composition characterized by moderate white spruce mortality (46% reduction) and increased cover of late-successional mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana). Forests of the Gulf Coast and northern Kenai Lowland had lower levels of spruce mortality (22% reduction of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and 28% reduction of white spruce, respectively) and did not show consistent directional changes in vegetation composition. Bluejoint increased by ≥10% in cover on 12 of 33 vegetation plots on the southern Kenai Lowland but did not increase by these amounts on the 82 plots sampled elsewhere on the Kenai Peninsula. Across the Kenai Lowland, however, regeneration of white spruce and paper birch did not change in response to the outbreak or related increases in bluejoint cover from 1987 to 2000. Although some infested areas will be slow to reforest owing to few trees and no seedlings, we found no evidence of widespread reductions in regeneration following the massive spruce beetle infestation.  相似文献   

17.
The extensive removal of competing broadleaved shrubs in forest plantations typically results in structural and compositional simplification of early seral habitat. However, information on the tradeoffs between such intensive forestry practices and biodiversity is scant. Here we assess the magnitude and direction of potential impacts of intensive forest management on populations of early seral-associated breeding birds. Observed population declines of several Neotropical migrant bird species are hypothesized to be linked to the loss of early seral habitat on the breeding grounds. We investigated the association between broadleaved hardwood cover and avian abundance and diversity in intensively managed early seral Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) stands of the Pacific Northwest. Bird species richness decreased across an elevational gradient, but did not vary as a function of either local vegetation composition or structure. In contrast, bird abundance was strongly associated with hardwood cover at local and landscape scales, especially for foliage-gleaning species. We found strong support for the existence of a threshold in relative bird abundance as a function of hardwood at the stand scale; abundance doubled with an increase from 1% to ∼6% hardwood and then reached a plateau. Though abundance of leaf-gleaners increased even more strongly across a gradient in hardwood cover, evidence for a distinct threshold was less clear. We conclude that when early seral hardwood forest is scarce, even small increases in hardwood may provide substantial conservation benefits. However, for some species (i.e., foliage gleaners), there may be more direct trade-offs in abundance and juvenile recruitment with hardwood management intensity.  相似文献   

18.
Macroscopic charcoal and pollen analysis were used to study the disturbance history and development of a boreal Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) forest landscape in southeastern Norway. The sites studied were natural forests and the charcoal records showed no evidence of fire disturbance that could have broken the continuity in the spruce forests that were established ca. 1700 years ago. Consequently, true spruce forest ecosystem continuity was documented on a landscape level. However, fire disturbed the mixed pine-deciduous forest ecosystems that preceded the present spruce forests, suggesting a shift from fire-prone, to fire-free forest ecosystems.It is argued that the studied forest landscape has the potential to be an important natural reference for future forestry, that would be required to mimic natural forest dynamics to be biologically sustainable. A stereotypic promiscuous use of fire in the regeneration phase may cause serious damages in forest ecosystems that have developed without the impact of fire disturbance.  相似文献   

19.
Stand susceptibility to defoliation by spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.), was examined in the Fort Nelson area of the Prince George Forest Region of British Columbia. In a retrospective study, defoliation maps of the study area were overlaid onto British Columbia Ministry of Forests cover type maps using a geographic information system. Analysis of the combined data identified forest characteristics associated with increased susceptibility to defoliation by spruce budworm. These were stands where the leading species was white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss), or where spruce was associated with aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx. and P. balsamifera L.) in mixed stands. Susceptibility to defoliation also was related to site quality, level of crown closure and stand age. Spruce stands on medium quality sites (site index 15 to 25 m, at reference breast height age 50 years) were more susceptible than stands on both poor- and high-quality sites. When spruce was mixed with aspen, stands on higher quality sites were more susceptible to budworm attack than poor sites. Open stands, where crown closure was <50%, were more susceptible to attack by spruce budworm than closed canopy stands. Older stands (120–199 years) were more susceptible to budworm attack than younger stands (40–110 years). In defoliated plots monitored for 6 years, tree mortality and top-kill reached a maximum of 30.4 and 47.2%, respectively. The losses varied with level of defoliation and were reduced by applications of the biological pesticide Bacillus thuringiensis.  相似文献   

20.
The boreal mixedwood forest type of the Canadian interior boreal is largely comprised of two dominant tree species: white spruce and trembling aspen (Picea glauca and Populus tremuloides). This forest type is expansive, providing important ecosystem services and economic production, yet such mixtures are difficult to establish after harvests. While aspen resprouts and grows vigorously following disturbance, spruce growth is relatively slow and is often limited by intense competition from associated vegetation, including aspen. To improve management, it is important to understand how environmental and vegetative conditions vary in relation to the competitive-facilitative relationship of spruce-aspen mixtures. In this study white spruce was planted across large canopy openings to determine whether survival and height growth is influenced by position within gap and by differing levels of competing vegetation control of aspen and understory plants. In addition, we addressed the issue of herbivory, which can pose a significant threat to planted spruce seedlings. Within each of four sites, linear gaps were created and five gap positions were recognized spanning the southern and northern forest understories, and southern, center and northern positions within each opening. Three different levels of vegetation management were implemented: a brush saw treatment in which all vegetation was cut to ground level, a mixing treatment in which all vegetation and rootstock was ground up, and a control with no vegetation management. The three herbivory treatments excluded large ungulates, small herbivores (rabbits, hares) or had no herbivore exclusion. Growth and survival of white spruce seedlings were measured for four years (1997-2000). Understory survival was significantly lower than within the gap, with the sheltered southern edge position providing the best initial environmental conditions and or ameliorative cover for spruce establishment. However, after four years the shelter effect starts to be inhibitive relative to center and northern gap positions, suggesting the removal of the canopy is necessary before spruce productivity declines. The optimal vegetation management treatment also changed over the study period. The most intensive treatment (mixing) initially showed a negative influence on survival and growth, but by year four, survival converged to approximately 75% for all treatments, and the mixing treatment produced the best height growth. The growth advantage became most evident in the center gap positions, which initially lagged the brushsaw and control treatments. Lastly, some growth losses from herbivory must be expected in boreal mixedwoods, although not enough to merit control. Results have implications for the timing and intensity of silvicultural treatments for harvesting and planting.  相似文献   

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