Spatial pattern analysis of pre- and post-hurricane forest canopy structure in North Carolina,USA     

Boutet  Jeffry C.  Weishampel  John F. 《Landscape Ecology》2003,18(6):553-559

Existing spatial patterns of a forest are in part a product of its disturbance history. Using laser altimetry and field measures of canopy top height to represent pre- and post-hurricane canopy topography, respectively, we measured changes in spatial patterns of stand structure of a United States southern mixed coniferous-deciduous for est. Autocorrelative and fractal properties were measured in this opportunistic study to quantify changes in canopy architecture along twelve, 190-250 m transects that were subjected to moderate to high levels of wind disturbance. Prior to the hurricane, canopy heights were autocorrelated at scales <40 m with an average fractal dimension of 1.71. After the disturbance, autocorrelation disappeared; the average fractal dimension rose to 1.94. This shift towards spatial randomness illustrates part of the cyclical nature of ecosystem development. It shows how a catastrophic collapse of biomass accumulation corresponds to a decrease in ecosystem organization across a landscape. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.  相似文献   

在放牧干扰下冷蒿种群脯氨酸含量的变化     

王静  杨持 《中国草地学报》2005,27(4):52-57

对放牧干扰下土壤含水量、冷蒿体内含水量、脯氨酸含量变化进行的研究结果表明随着放牧强度的增加土壤含水量降低,冷蒿叶片、根中含水量呈下降趋势。在生长初期,随着放牧强度的增加冷蒿叶片内脯氨酸含量迅速积累;生长盛期脯氨酸含量虽随牧压有所增加,但增加的幅度较小;生长末期脯氨酸含量较高,而且随着牧压的增加略有下降。地下部分,脯氨酸含量在牧压梯度间变化较小。相关分析表明,在生长初期和盛期,冷蒿叶片、根的含水量与土壤含水量呈正相关,生长末期不相关。冷蒿脯氨酸含量与植物的含水量呈负相关,在生长初期和末期呈显著负相关,而生长盛期相关不显著;与此不同,在生长初期冷蒿体内脯氨酸含量与土壤含水量呈负相关,在生长末期二者负相关性不显著,这说明随着放牧干扰强度的增加土壤含水量降低,导致冷蒿体内水分胁迫增加,致使脯氨酸开始逐渐积累。而生长末期的降温和群落中植物种间竞争减少,使脯氨酸的积累速度也相应放慢。在放牧干扰下,脯氨酸大量积累,对冷蒿的生存和生长起到了重要的作用,是冷蒿种群耐啃食、耐践踏、逐渐取代禾本科植物而成为退化草原的优势植物的生理基础之一。  相似文献   

Effects of burning on soil macrofauna in a savanna-woodland under different experimental fuel load treatments     

《Applied soil ecology》2014

In West African savanna-woodland, the use of prescribed burning as a management tool has ecological implications for the soil biota. Yet, the effects of fire on soil inhabiting organisms are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to examine the responses of soil macro-invertebrates to early fires in a Sudanian savanna-woodland on a set of experimental plots subject to different fuel load treatments. The abundance of major macro-invertebrate taxa and functional groups, and taxon richness were quantified in soil cores collected from three different soil layers before and immediately after burning. The results indicated that, overall, there was substantial spatial and temporal variation in the composition of macro-invertebrate assemblages. The immediate effects of fire were to reduce total invertebrate numbers and numbers of many invertebrate groups dramatically. This is probably due to the fact that many of the surface-dwelling macrofauna perished as a result of less favorable microclimate due to fire, diminished resources, or migrate to safer environments. Fuel load treatment did not affect the community taxonomic richness or abundance of the soil-dwelling fauna. Furthermore, annual changes in community composition were more pronounced at the burnt site than in the control. This could be related to the inter-annual difference in precipitation pattern recorded during the two-year study period at our site. Since soil macrofauna population declines in fire-disturbed areas, increasing fire prevalence may jeopardize the long-term conservation of fire sensitive macrofauna groups. Special fire management attention is therefore recommended with due consideration to the type of burning and fuel properties to avoid the detrimental effects of intense fire affecting the resilience of savanna soil macrofauna species.  相似文献   

Application of body size spectra to nematode trait-index analyses     

《Soil biology & biochemistry》2015

Current trait-based indices of soil fauna for assessing soil quality rely on extensive knowledge of life history traits for hyper-diverse groups. We look at the effects of clear-cut forest harvesting and subsequent wood ash application on the free-living nematode community using trait-based indices and body size spectra. We test the hypothesis that body size is a unifying trait and that the body size spectra can be used to demonstrate changes in soil quality while overcoming taxonomic impediments. Undisturbed boreal forest floor soils were compared with clear-cut sites amended with zero, one-half calcium equivalent wood ash, equivalent calcium reintroduction, and twice calcium reintroduction. Total abundance, trait-based metrics for the Maturity Index, and two metrics of body size spectra were calculated. Nematode abundance was not a good indicator of soil disturbance, while traditional trait-based approaches (the summed Maturity Index) demonstrated predicted changes in community structure. Analysis of two types of body size spectra elucidated how the community had changed under disturbance, and revealed that smaller bodied organisms were lost under ash amended treatments compared to both clear-cut and undisturbed forest. Using the body size spectra for nematodes is a simple addition to current trait-based approaches that can supplement soil assessments for disturbance and quality without requiring taxonomic expertise.  相似文献   

Population dynamics of tree species in southern Quebec,Canada: 1970–2005     

Louis Duchesne  Rock Ouimet 《Forest Ecology and Management》2008

Over the last few decades, several phenomena contributed to modify the structure and composition of the eastern North American forests. Along with forest management, disturbances such as insect defoliation, global environmental changes, acid deposition, and rising atmospheric CO₂ concentrations, have been identified as phenomena that could affect forest structure and composition. Currently, there is very little quantitative information on the resulting effect of multiple disturbances on the main parameters of forest dynamics (growth, mortality, and recruitment). Using available data from the Quebec permanent sample plots network, we analyzed the ecological response of tree species populations to the combined effect of contemporary global environmental changes, disturbance regimes, and forest management practices over the last 30 years in southern Quebec. The results indicate that the main parameters of forest dynamics changed considerably over the last three decades. The last spruce budworm outbreak initiated a successional change in coniferous stands. The basal area of Abies balsamea and Picea glauca, the most abundant coniferous species, decreased by 29.7%, while pioneer species abundance increased. For late successional deciduous species, observed changes in forest dynamics appear to be mainly associated with global environmental changes rather than with natural disturbances or forest harvesting. The results indicate that inferring responses of tree population dynamics to global environmental changes can be very complex or even misleading considering the confounding effects of other disturbance agents. The results also suggest that the ecosystem-based management approach promoted by forest ecologists, aimed at maintaining landscape stand composition and structures similar to those characterizing natural environments, will not be easily achieved. Forest ecosystems are highly dynamic and disturbances other than tree harvesting appear to have been the major factors affecting their pattern of change over the last three decades. Forest managers should consider adaptive management approaches that will consider the contemporary evolution of forest ecosystems in a changing environment.  相似文献   

昭通南方草山退化及人工改造对土壤种子库的影响     

朱虹  沈有信  陈发军  付珣  王文 《草地学报》2022,30(6):1359-1369

土壤种子库在退化生态系统的恢复中发挥着重要作用。本研究选取了昭通南方草山的4类草地,采集土样后通过萌发实验揭示其土壤种子库特征。结果表明：4类样地的土壤样品中共萌发出45种植物,隶属于20科39属,种子库储量为3 087～18 553粒·m^-2,种子库密度随土层加深均在逐渐降低。与轻度放牧草地相比,过度放牧草地的土壤种子库密度下降,但物种数量和多样性增加;严重退化的稀草裸斑土地种子库密度则显著降低（P<0.05）,物种数量和多样性减少;而人工改造后的草地种子库密度显著增高（P<0.05）、物种数量和多样性也达到最高。昭通南方草山种子库与地上植被的总相似性系数为0.22～0.45,过度放牧草地、稀草裸斑土地和人工改造草地种子库与地上植被的相似系数均高于轻度放牧草地。总之,昭通南方草山退化和人工改造对土壤种子库产生巨大影响,上述结果可为后期退化草地治理提供理论依据。  相似文献   

Bryophytes as potential indicators of forest integrity     

Katherine A. Frego 《Forest Ecology and Management》2007

Forest integrity has been proposed as one conservation endpoint that integrates desirable characteristics such as natural biodiversity, stand structure and continuity. Although its defining criteria are still under discussion, any surrogates must effectively represent or predict their status, and be easier to measure than the criteria themselves. Bryophytes have been proposed as such surrogates, because they are important components of forest integrity, and considerable research indicates that some groups are sensitive to the changes associated with specific forest management regimes. The objectives of this paper are (1) to review the issues in determining indicators of forest integrity, including desirable qualities in such indicators, (2) to review the state of knowledge concerning bryophytes as components of forest integrity (i.e. their responses to forest management practices), and (3) to assess bryophytes as potential indicators of forest integrity, in terms of both qualities desirable in indicators and our understanding of bryophyte response patterns. Although bryophytes possess some characteristics that suggest potential indicator value, many challenges prevent their reliable application. I highlight key areas in which research is required to identify operational bryophyte indicators of forest integrity. Along with a standardized protocol to select and calibrate such indicators, we urgently require strategic research to compile data on undisturbed reference forests on which to base selection of endpoints; species-specific ecological tolerances, with consideration of complex interactions; mechanisms of response to disturbance, with consideration of temporal aspects; population viability thresholds; and recruitment effects on community assembly. Whether we succeed in finding bryophyte indicators of forest integrity, this research would also provide the data to monitor and interpret the integrity of the bryophyte community.  相似文献   

Differential responses of Bolivian timber species to prescribed fire and other gap treatments     

Deborah K.?KennardEmail author  Francis E.?Putz 《New Forests》2005,30(1):1-20

We followed the establishment and growth response of 13 commercial tree species to canopy opening, above-ground biomass removal, and experimental burns of low and high intensities in a lowland dry forest in Bolivia. Three patterns of response to treatments were observed among the most abundant commercial tree species. (1) Shade-intolerant species regenerated mostly from seed and had the highest survival and growth rates following high-intensity burns. (2) Shade-tolerant species were abundant in gap control and plant removal treatments. Treatments had little effect on the height growth of these species. (3) Individuals of root sprouting species were most abundant following plant removal and low-intensity burn treatments. Treatments had little effect on the height growth of these species. The wide variation in species responses to gap treatments found in this study not only reinforces the concept that species are distributed along a continuum of shade-tolerance levels, but that other aspects of species biology, such as seed dispersal type or sprouting behavior, further differentiate regeneration strategies. The variety of regeneration strategies found among the species at this forest site will require a flexible management scheme that mixes more intensive silvicultural treatments such as prescribed burning with less intensive treatments.  相似文献   

Comparison between old-growth stands and secondary stands regenerating after clear-felling in warm-temperate forests of Yakushima, southern Japan     

Shin-ichiro Aiba  David A. Hill  Naoki Agetsuma 《Forest Ecology and Management》2001,140(2-3):163-175

In order to infer successional changes in structure, species composition and diversity of warm-temperate forest, we compared secondary stands regenerating after clear-felling (41–64-years old) with old-growth stands at altitudes between 300 and 800 m on Yakushima Island, southern Japan. Stem density and maximum stem diameter differed between secondary and old-growth stands, but basal area and aboveground biomass did not. At lower altitudes, the dominant species in old-growth stands with a strong sprouting capacity (Castanopsis cuspidata) also dominated secondary stands, and species composition of secondary and old-growth stands was similar. At higher altitudes, by contrast, the dominant species in old-growth stands (Distylium racemosum) had little sprouting capacity and was poorly represented in diverse secondary stands, which were dominated by Castanopsis or other less abundant species. Secondary stands had greater species diversity (Shannon–Wiener index) than old-growth stands, particularly at higher altitudes. This was due to greater species richness resulting from higher stem density per area, but not to greater evenness. We grouped the component species that share ecologically similar traits into four guilds (fagaceous, primary evergreen, secondary evergreen and deciduous species). Secondary stands were characterized by greater numbers of deciduous and secondary evergreen species. We concluded that different sprouting capacities of dominant species and different regeneration traits among guilds are responsible for the change in species composition and diversity during succession.  相似文献   

Exotic plant species in the southern boreal forest of Saskatchewan     

W.H. Sumners  O.W. Archibold 《Forest Ecology and Management》2007

Exotic species possess abilities to harm the ecosystems they invade. This study assesses the density, frequency and cover of exotic plants in roadside right-of-ways, logged areas and wildfire sites within mixedwood sections of the southern boreal forest of Saskatchewan. A total of 23 exotic species were observed including nine species of Gramineae, seven species of Leguminosae and five species of Compositae. Average density of exotic species in areas recently disturbed by timber harvesting or wildfire was 0.2 stems m⁻² with a frequency of 72%. Exotic species adapted for wind dispersal were best represented including common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), perennial sow thistle (Sonchus arvensis) and annual hawksbeard (Crepis tectorum). Only two exotic species, T. officinale and Canada bluegrass (Poa compressa), were observed in mature forest; both occurred with a frequency of 13% and an average density of 0.002 stems m⁻². A total of 22 exotic species was found in the right-of-ways quadrats with an average density of 117 stems m⁻² and a frequency of 94%. The most frequently observed exotic species in the roadside right-of-way areas were T. officinale, alsike clover (Trifolium hybridum), S. arvensis, creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra) and smooth brome grass (Bromus inermis). These species are either common agricultural weeds or were part of the original seed mixture used to establish a plant cover in the roadside right-of-ways.  相似文献