Forest Ecology and Management最新文献_第7页

Investigation of the responses of soil invertebrate communities to four decades of prescribed fire frequency levels in semi-arid savanna rangelands

IF 3.7 2区农林科学 Q1 FORESTRY

Forest Ecology and Management

Pub Date : 2025-01-29 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122521

Ayabulela Madikana , Alen Manyevere , Chuene Victor Mashamaite , Tesfay Araya , Pfarelo Grace Tshivhandekano , Thembeka Nxele

Fire is a key evolutionary force that influences the form and function of savanna ecosystems. These habitats evolve alongside fire, which is essential for preserving ecological equilibrium. However, fire can also affect biodiversity, including invertebrate populations that are critical to the ecosystem processes. Prescribed fire frequencies are often implemented to reduce the risk of wildfire, but their impacts on biodiversity remain under-explored. The current study assessed the effects of fire frequency on the population dynamics and biodiversity of soil invertebrates using a 41-year-old fire experiment at The University of Fort Hare in Alice town, Eastern Cape Province (South Africa). The experiment included six different burning treatments: no-burn, annual, biannual, triennial, quadrennial, and sexennial burning, arranged in a completely randomised design with two replications. Using ants as an indicator group, the results demonstrated that there were no significant differences (F_{(11, 1)} = 0.676; p = 0.848) of ground-dwelling insect species between different fire regimes. Findings further showed that fire frequencies had no significant effect on the insects’ alpha diversity metrics, including Shannon diversity, species richness, and Pielou's evenness. Earthworm communities also showed no significant differences across treatments (F_{(11, 1)} = 1.737; p = 0.161), as indicated by the dissimilarity matrix analysis. Although most of the ants (5982 in total) were caught across all treatments, the majority of species belonged to the Myrmicinae and Formicinae subfamilies, with lower abundances observed in the Ponerinae and Dolichoderinae subfamilies, except in the quadrennial treatment. The Tetramorium capense, a member of the Myrmicinae subfamily, was the most prevalent species across all fire regimes. Furthermore, cluster and principal component analyses revealed no significant correlations between soil chemical parameters and arthropod assemblages across the different burning treatments. Generally, the findings suggest that prescribed fire frequencies did not have detrimental effects on the studied environment, as indicated by the bioindicator species used.

{"title":"Investigation of the responses of soil invertebrate communities to four decades of prescribed fire frequency levels in semi-arid savanna rangelands","authors":"Ayabulela Madikana , Alen Manyevere , Chuene Victor Mashamaite , Tesfay Araya , Pfarelo Grace Tshivhandekano , Thembeka Nxele","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122521","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122521","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fire is a key evolutionary force that influences the form and function of savanna ecosystems. These habitats evolve alongside fire, which is essential for preserving ecological equilibrium. However, fire can also affect biodiversity, including invertebrate populations that are critical to the ecosystem processes. Prescribed fire frequencies are often implemented to reduce the risk of wildfire, but their impacts on biodiversity remain under-explored. The current study assessed the effects of fire frequency on the population dynamics and biodiversity of soil invertebrates using a 41-year-old fire experiment at The University of Fort Hare in Alice town, Eastern Cape Province (South Africa). The experiment included six different burning treatments: no-burn, annual, biannual, triennial, quadrennial, and sexennial burning, arranged in a completely randomised design with two replications. Using ants as an indicator group, the results demonstrated that there were no significant differences (F<sub>(11, 1)</sub> = 0.676; <em>p</em> = 0.848) of ground-dwelling insect species between different fire regimes. Findings further showed that fire frequencies had no significant effect on the insects’ alpha diversity metrics, including Shannon diversity, species richness, and Pielou's evenness. Earthworm communities also showed no significant differences across treatments (F<sub>(11, 1)</sub> = 1.737; <em>p</em> = 0.161), as indicated by the dissimilarity matrix analysis. Although most of the ants (5982 in total) were caught across all treatments, the majority of species belonged to the Myrmicinae and Formicinae subfamilies, with lower abundances observed in the Ponerinae and Dolichoderinae subfamilies, except in the quadrennial treatment. The <em>Tetramorium capense</em>, a member of the Myrmicinae subfamily, was the most prevalent species across all fire regimes. Furthermore, cluster and principal component analyses revealed no significant correlations between soil chemical parameters and arthropod assemblages across the different burning treatments. Generally, the findings suggest that prescribed fire frequencies did not have detrimental effects on the studied environment, as indicated by the bioindicator species used.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"580 ","pages":"Article 122521"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143161525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

The effectiveness of wildfire at meeting restoration goals across a fire severity gradient in the Sierra Nevada

IF 3.7 2区农林科学 Q1 FORESTRY

Forest Ecology and Management

Pub Date : 2025-01-29 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122486

Adrian J. Das , Lisa M. Rosenthal , Kristen L. Shive

As a consequence of both warming temperatures and over a century of fire suppression, wildfires in the historically frequent-fire forests of the western US have increased both in size and intensity, resulting in large patches of high severity fire that are well outside the historic range of variation. Postfire fuels research has often focused on such high severity patches because of the risk of both type conversion and repeated high severity fire. Yet a substantial portion of any given wildfire will likely still have burned at low to moderate severity. These areas generally retain live mature trees and surface fuels, suggesting that wildfire effects may be in keeping with some forest restoration goals. To better understand the range of postfire fuels conditions across severity classes and how well those conditions align with restoration targets, we sampled three wildfires in mixed conifer forests and giant sequoia groves of the southern Sierra Nevada. These wildfires appear to have met short-term restoration goals for surface fuel reduction, with burned areas having 79.5 % less fuels than unburned areas. Fine woody debris and litter and duff declined with severity, while coarse woody debris was more variable. Small tree density targets were roughly met after low and moderate severity fire, but large tree densities tended to be lower than restoration targets, possibly due to high levels of recent tree mortality. For long-term management, restoration plans set targets for the proportions of the landscape that should be in different fuel load categories, reflecting patterns shaped by many frequent and patchy fires. Observed post-wildfire surface fuels outside of groves were overwhelmingly in the lowest fuels category across severity classes, which is in keeping with short-term goals to reduce surface fuels but is not necessarily contributing to the heterogeneity desired at landscape scales. Surface fuels within giant sequoia groves were higher than those outside groves and therefore more closely matched long-term management targets for variation in fuel loads. However, for a highly valued species that has recently seen substantial losses to high severity fire, managers may find that these higher fuel loads are not desirable even in a landscape context. In summary, low and moderate severity wildfire appear to have beneficial effects in terms of meeting several management goals, however, the large amount of standing postfire fuels, the relative dearth of large trees, and the potential lack of postfire fuel heterogeneity may still pose potential management concerns.

{"title":"The effectiveness of wildfire at meeting restoration goals across a fire severity gradient in the Sierra Nevada","authors":"Adrian J. Das , Lisa M. Rosenthal , Kristen L. Shive","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122486","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122486","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As a consequence of both warming temperatures and over a century of fire suppression, wildfires in the historically frequent-fire forests of the western US have increased both in size and intensity, resulting in large patches of high severity fire that are well outside the historic range of variation. Postfire fuels research has often focused on such high severity patches because of the risk of both type conversion and repeated high severity fire. Yet a substantial portion of any given wildfire will likely still have burned at low to moderate severity. These areas generally retain live mature trees and surface fuels, suggesting that wildfire effects may be in keeping with some forest restoration goals. To better understand the range of postfire fuels conditions across severity classes and how well those conditions align with restoration targets, we sampled three wildfires in mixed conifer forests and giant sequoia groves of the southern Sierra Nevada. These wildfires appear to have met short-term restoration goals for surface fuel reduction, with burned areas having 79.5 % less fuels than unburned areas. Fine woody debris and litter and duff declined with severity, while coarse woody debris was more variable. Small tree density targets were roughly met after low and moderate severity fire, but large tree densities tended to be lower than restoration targets, possibly due to high levels of recent tree mortality. For long-term management, restoration plans set targets for the proportions of the landscape that should be in different fuel load categories, reflecting patterns shaped by many frequent and patchy fires. Observed post-wildfire surface fuels outside of groves were overwhelmingly in the lowest fuels category across severity classes, which is in keeping with short-term goals to reduce surface fuels but is not necessarily contributing to the heterogeneity desired at landscape scales. Surface fuels within giant sequoia groves were higher than those outside groves and therefore more closely matched long-term management targets for variation in fuel loads. However, for a highly valued species that has recently seen substantial losses to high severity fire, managers may find that these higher fuel loads are not desirable even in a landscape context. In summary, low and moderate severity wildfire appear to have beneficial effects in terms of meeting several management goals, however, the large amount of standing postfire fuels, the relative dearth of large trees, and the potential lack of postfire fuel heterogeneity may still pose potential management concerns.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"580 ","pages":"Article 122486"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143161484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Consequences of nitrogen deposition and soil acidification in European forest ecosystems and mitigation approaches

IF 3.7 2区农林科学 Q1 FORESTRY

Forest Ecology and Management

Pub Date : 2025-01-29 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122523

Baoguo Du , Ralf Kiese , Klaus Butterbach-Bahl , Thomas Dirnböck , Heinz Rennnenberg

European forests have experienced high nitrogen (N) deposition and soil acidification together with sulfur (S) deposition in the recent decades and are still facing challenges in some areas. In the context of elevated CO₂ and air temperature under climate change, the N deposition will initially promote the growth but in the long term it will accelerate nutrient imbalance and reduce tree health. Therefore, forest management must take these aspects into account. Many studies have been carried out on the effects of forest management approaches, i.e., liming, harvesting, and intercropping with other tree species on traits of trees, soil and ecosystem properties and fluxes, however, a comprehensive review summarizing the current consequences of nitrogen saturation and soil acidification in European forest, particularly if current forest management approaches are able to mitigate these consequences in the context of climate change, is still lacking. In our review, we summarize the consequences of N deposition and acidification on trees and soils of forest ecosystems, discuss the importance of the most commonly used management practices in mitigating these consequences, and provide information for future management practices in Europe.

{"title":"Consequences of nitrogen deposition and soil acidification in European forest ecosystems and mitigation approaches","authors":"Baoguo Du , Ralf Kiese , Klaus Butterbach-Bahl , Thomas Dirnböck , Heinz Rennnenberg","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122523","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122523","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>European forests have experienced high nitrogen (N) deposition and soil acidification together with sulfur (S) deposition in the recent decades and are still facing challenges in some areas. In the context of elevated CO<sub>2</sub> and air temperature under climate change, the N deposition will initially promote the growth but in the long term it will accelerate nutrient imbalance and reduce tree health. Therefore, forest management must take these aspects into account. Many studies have been carried out on the effects of forest management approaches, i.e., liming, harvesting, and intercropping with other tree species on traits of trees, soil and ecosystem properties and fluxes, however, a comprehensive review summarizing the current consequences of nitrogen saturation and soil acidification in European forest, particularly if current forest management approaches are able to mitigate these consequences in the context of climate change, is still lacking. In our review, we summarize the consequences of N deposition and acidification on trees and soils of forest ecosystems, discuss the importance of the most commonly used management practices in mitigating these consequences, and provide information for future management practices in Europe.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"580 ","pages":"Article 122523"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143162285","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Recent forest storm events benefit pollinators regardless of windthrow characteristics

IF 3.7 2区农林科学 Q1 FORESTRY

Forest Ecology and Management

Pub Date : 2025-01-28 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122496

Elena Gazzea , Fernanda Montero-Silva , Jacopo Oggioni , Andree Cappellari , Pierfilippo Cerretti , Maurizio Mei , Dino Paniccia , Andrea Battisti , Lorenzo Marini

Understanding the effects of increasingly frequent and intense natural disturbances on biodiversity is central in forest ecology research. Large-scale windthrows create novel open habitats, which can be beneficial or harmful to biodiversity, depending on the studied taxonomic group and on the post-disturbance type of management. While previous research has largely focused on the differences between unsalvaged, salvaged, and intact forests, the effects of different environmental conditions within disturbed forests remain largely unexplored, especially for pollinating insects. Three years after a major storm event that hit spruce forests in the southeastern Alps (“Vaia” storm), we sampled wild bees, hoverflies, butterflies, and tachinids in 6 intact forest sites and in 35 salvaged wind-affected sites varying in local and landscape characteristics. Windthrows hosted higher species richness of bees, hoverflies, and butterflies, while the diversity of flower-visiting tachinids did not differ between disturbed and intact forests. The diversity of the pollinator taxa sampled in windthrows was not correlated with the local diversity of forbs, but it was positively correlated among taxa. However, none of the different pollinator guilds responded to the local and landscape characteristics diversifying storm-affected areas. Our results suggest that, in the short term, transient pollinator species may exploit the resources in forest gaps created by recent large-scale storm events in an opportunistic way and without consistent relationships with the environment.

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引用次数: 0

Repeated harvest residue burning reduces Eucalyptus pellita productivity on sandy soils in tropical monsoonal Australia

IF 3.7 2区农林科学 Q1 FORESTRY

Forest Ecology and Management

Pub Date : 2025-01-28 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122502

Freddy Jontara Hutapea , Liubov Volkova , Daniel S. Mendham , Christopher J. Weston

Plantation forest site preparation through pushing and heaping of harvest residues to create windrows that are then burnt redistributes surface biomass and topsoil organic matter and reduces site nutrient capital. On sandy low nutrient soils of Melville Island (Australia), harvest residue burning has been applied to prepare sites for planting, creating areas of poor growth in non-ash bed areas and good growth in ash-bed areas. This study was established to quantify the ash-bed effect on Eucalyptus pellita growth at two sites, to investigate soil properties associated with it, and to trial corrective nutrient additions to non-ash bed areas at nine years after establishment. More rapid initial tree growth in areas where topsoil and biomass had been heaped and burnt was countered by poor growth between windrows in non-ash-bed areas. E. pellita growth in ash-bed soils averaged 25.4–26.9 m³ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ across the two sites (Yapilika and Kilu Impini), while in the non-ash bed soils it ranged between 11.9 and 23.0 m³ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. At the Yapilika site, nutrient applications (macro nutrients +/- micro nutrients) to non-ash bed E. pellita increased diameter by 18–23 % and macro nutrients applications increased tree height by 11 %. Soils sampled eight years after site preparation showed that soil organic matter, pH, and most nutrients were higher in ash-bed soils relative to non-ash bed soils. To maintain the sustainability of E. pellita plantations grown on sandy soils with low nutrient capital, it is strongly recommended to conserve harvest residues and topsoil organic matter and avoid topsoil redistribution and nutrient loss through windrowing and burning. The avoidance of burning reduces the loss of nutrients directly to the atmosphere (e.g. nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S)) and to the hydrosphere (e.g. N, phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca), and S) and optimizes nutrient retention on site.

{"title":"Repeated harvest residue burning reduces Eucalyptus pellita productivity on sandy soils in tropical monsoonal Australia","authors":"Freddy Jontara Hutapea , Liubov Volkova , Daniel S. Mendham , Christopher J. Weston","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122502","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122502","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Plantation forest site preparation through pushing and heaping of harvest residues to create windrows that are then burnt redistributes surface biomass and topsoil organic matter and reduces site nutrient capital. On sandy low nutrient soils of Melville Island (Australia), harvest residue burning has been applied to prepare sites for planting, creating areas of poor growth in non-ash bed areas and good growth in ash-bed areas. This study was established to quantify the ash-bed effect on <em>Eucalyptus pellita</em> growth at two sites, to investigate soil properties associated with it, and to trial corrective nutrient additions to non-ash bed areas at nine years after establishment. More rapid initial tree growth in areas where topsoil and biomass had been heaped and burnt was countered by poor growth between windrows in non-ash-bed areas. <em>E. pellita</em> growth in ash-bed soils averaged 25.4–26.9 m<sup>3</sup> ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup> across the two sites (Yapilika and Kilu Impini), while in the non-ash bed soils it ranged between 11.9 and 23.0 m<sup>3</sup> ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>. At the Yapilika site, nutrient applications (macro nutrients +/- micro nutrients) to non-ash bed <em>E. pellita</em> increased diameter by 18–23 % and macro nutrients applications increased tree height by 11 %. Soils sampled eight years after site preparation showed that soil organic matter, pH, and most nutrients were higher in ash-bed soils relative to non-ash bed soils. To maintain the sustainability of <em>E. pellita</em> plantations grown on sandy soils with low nutrient capital, it is strongly recommended to conserve harvest residues and topsoil organic matter and avoid topsoil redistribution and nutrient loss through windrowing and burning. The avoidance of burning reduces the loss of nutrients directly to the atmosphere (e.g. nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S)) and to the hydrosphere (e.g. N, phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca), and S) and optimizes nutrient retention on site.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"580 ","pages":"Article 122502"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143161780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

An aging population? A century of change among Swedish forest trees

IF 3.7 2区农林科学 Q1 FORESTRY

Forest Ecology and Management

Pub Date : 2025-01-26 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122509

Jonas Jacobsson , Jonas Fridman , Anna-Lena Axelsson , Per Milberg

We describe a century of change in Swedish forest using trees sampled for age, diameter, volume and species by the Swedish National Forest Inventory (NFI). Changes in the structure of the tree population since 1923 are described and related to changes in policy. During the first part of the study period, policy aimed at restoring the growing stock and productivity of forest areas, but with methods that changed over time. In the last 30 years, a new forestry policy was introduced, which included restoring the diversity of tree populations, on the assumption that this will also promote biodiversity. Over the last century, and on a national scale, the volume of timber had doubled, tree sizes had increased, older trees had become more common, even more so for broadleaf species in southern Sweden. The volume of today's protected forests has almost tripled, indicating reduced light, water, and nutrients for understory vegetation. We also considered two regional cases. The sparsely populated county of Norrbotten, which was the last region in Sweden to be exploited for forestry in the 1890s, had many old pines and many old but small spruces in 1926. These were reduced in the following decades, first by selective high-grading and then by extensive clear-cutting. After a change in policy around 1990, the negative trends levelled out. In densely populated south-central Sweden, forests have long been used for grazing, timber, fuelwood and charcoal production. During the last century, the volume of timber had tripled, older trees and broadleaves have become more abundant.

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引用次数: 0

Composite effects of forest harvests and seismic lines influence re-establishment of trees and shrubs in Alberta’s mesic upland boreal forest

IF 3.7 2区农林科学 Q1 FORESTRY

Forest Ecology and Management

Pub Date : 2025-01-25 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122506

Leonardo Viliani , Scott E. Nielsen

In the boreal biome, disturbances drive natural vegetation dynamics and forest recovery. However, as the frequency and extent of anthropogenic disturbances increase, there is a potential for composite or synergistic effects to emerge among disturbances, thereby affecting forest regeneration. This is particularly relevant in Alberta's boreal forest, where oil exploration through networks of narrow clearings called seismic lines dissect and fragment forests, but sometimes also overlap with other anthropogenic disturbances. A focus on the restoration of seismic lines without considering these composite disturbances may result in reduced efficacy. One question for seismic line restoration is whether forest harvesting “erases” seismic lines within them by restoring composition and structure, thus precluding the need for further restoration actions. To test this question, we measured responses in the abundance and composition of trees and shrubs at 15 mesic upland forest sites that were recently harvested and contained an existing conventional seismic line. For each site, we compared two pairs of plots on and off seismic lines with respect to inside and outside of forest harvests. We found that harvested seismic lines had ∼ 130 % more woody stems than untreated lines through adjacent mature forests, suggesting that forest harvesting was facilitating the structural recovery of the forest inside the line. Moreover, the simultaneous occurrence of both disturbances led to increases in deciduous tree stems while decreasing shrub abundance, potentially helping to achieve the reforestation goals for seismic lines. Finally, we observed interactive effects between the two disturbances on the relative abundance for ∼ 40 % of the species assemblage. We demonstrate that the spatial overlap of seismic lines and forest harvesting can facilitate restoration of forest structure, but also results in a distinct “composite” legacy signature on species composition. While forest harvesting appeared effective in “erasing” seismic lines without further active restoration efforts, emerging composite effects can significantly influence forest composition, with potential long-term implications for regeneration that require further investigation.

{"title":"Composite effects of forest harvests and seismic lines influence re-establishment of trees and shrubs in Alberta’s mesic upland boreal forest","authors":"Leonardo Viliani , Scott E. Nielsen","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122506","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122506","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the boreal biome, disturbances drive natural vegetation dynamics and forest recovery. However, as the frequency and extent of anthropogenic disturbances increase, there is a potential for composite or synergistic effects to emerge among disturbances, thereby affecting forest regeneration. This is particularly relevant in Alberta's boreal forest, where oil exploration through networks of narrow clearings called seismic lines dissect and fragment forests, but sometimes also overlap with other anthropogenic disturbances. A focus on the restoration of seismic lines without considering these composite disturbances may result in reduced efficacy. One question for seismic line restoration is whether forest harvesting “erases” seismic lines within them by restoring composition and structure, thus precluding the need for further restoration actions. To test this question, we measured responses in the abundance and composition of trees and shrubs at 15 mesic upland forest sites that were recently harvested and contained an existing conventional seismic line. For each site, we compared two pairs of plots on and off seismic lines with respect to inside and outside of forest harvests. We found that harvested seismic lines had ∼ 130 % more woody stems than untreated lines through adjacent mature forests, suggesting that forest harvesting was facilitating the structural recovery of the forest inside the line. Moreover, the simultaneous occurrence of both disturbances led to increases in deciduous tree stems while decreasing shrub abundance, potentially helping to achieve the reforestation goals for seismic lines. Finally, we observed interactive effects between the two disturbances on the relative abundance for ∼ 40 % of the species assemblage. We demonstrate that the spatial overlap of seismic lines and forest harvesting can facilitate restoration of forest structure, but also results in a distinct “composite” legacy signature on species composition. While forest harvesting appeared effective in “erasing” seismic lines without further active restoration efforts, emerging composite effects can significantly influence forest composition, with potential long-term implications for regeneration that require further investigation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"580 ","pages":"Article 122506"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143161777","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Erratum to “Impacts of forest extent, configuration and landscape context on presence of declining breeding Eurasian curlew Numenius arquata and implications for planning new woodland” [For. Ecol. Manag. 572 (2024) 122281]

IF 3.7 2区农林科学 Q1 FORESTRY

Forest Ecology and Management

Pub Date : 2025-01-25 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122525

Roisin E. McGrory , Robert A. Briers , Chris Tomlin , Melanie A. Findlay , Lisa J. Kerslake , Neil Riddle , Patrick J.C. White

引用次数: 0

Position in the climatic niche modulates post-fire performance of Pinus halepensis regeneration

IF 3.7 2区农林科学 Q1 FORESTRY

Forest Ecology and Management

Pub Date : 2025-01-22 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122516

Nuria J. Elvira , Francisco Lloret , Jordi Margalef-Marrase , Raquel Díaz Borrego , Enric Batllori

Fire is a primary driver in shaping Mediterranean ecosystems, being post-fire regeneration a key process for vegetation dynamics and resilience. However, how climatic variability modulates regeneration success after fire is not fully known. We use Pinus halepensis as a species case study to investigate how local climatic conditions relative to the species climatic niche, together with microsite conditions, influence the performance of post-fire regeneration. We characterized the climatic niche of P. halepensis from its records in the EU Forest Inventory, crossing the geographic occurrences of the species with the respective yearly values of 12 bioclimatic variables for the period 1979–2018. First, we performed a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with all the extracted bioclimatic values and, subsequently, we applied kernel density estimates to determine the climatic niche edge and optimum within the environmental space defined by the two first PCA axes. We sampled, measured and aged 385 newly established individuals in nineteen sites across Catalonia that burned between 2002 and 2013. Then, we modelled plant height, basal area, crown diameter and proportion of green canopy in relation to the distance to the niche optimum and the dry edge, the cover of neighbouring vegetation, and soil stoniness. As expected, height, crown diameter and basal area were significantly and positively related to recruits’ age. Microsite characteristics were significantly related to recruits’ performance. Specifically, surface stoniness was negatively and significantly related to tree height, whereas a higher cover of conspecific individuals was significantly related to taller plants with a narrower crown and a lower proportion of green canopy. As such, intra-specific competition appears as an important factor for the performance of P. halepensis post-fire regeneration. Plant height also exhibited a significant, positive relationship with the mean distance to the dry edge of the climatic niche, indicating that recruits performance is sensitive to drought-related conditions after fire. Overall, our study reveals that position within the climatic niche offers a suitable framework to better understand, together with microsite conditions, recruits' performance and thus post-fire regeneration patterns in a fire-resilient species such as P. halepensis.

{"title":"Position in the climatic niche modulates post-fire performance of Pinus halepensis regeneration","authors":"Nuria J. Elvira , Francisco Lloret , Jordi Margalef-Marrase , Raquel Díaz Borrego , Enric Batllori","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122516","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122516","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fire is a primary driver in shaping Mediterranean ecosystems, being post-fire regeneration a key process for vegetation dynamics and resilience. However, how climatic variability modulates regeneration success after fire is not fully known. We use <em>Pinus halepensis</em> as a species case study to investigate how local climatic conditions relative to the species climatic niche, together with microsite conditions, influence the performance of post-fire regeneration. We characterized the climatic niche of <em>P. halepensis</em> from its records in the EU Forest Inventory, crossing the geographic occurrences of the species with the respective yearly values of 12 bioclimatic variables for the period 1979–2018. First, we performed a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with all the extracted bioclimatic values and, subsequently, we applied kernel density estimates to determine the climatic niche edge and optimum within the environmental space defined by the two first PCA axes. We sampled, measured and aged 385 newly established individuals in nineteen sites across Catalonia that burned between 2002 and 2013. Then, we modelled plant height, basal area, crown diameter and proportion of green canopy in relation to the distance to the niche optimum and the dry edge, the cover of neighbouring vegetation, and soil stoniness. As expected, height, crown diameter and basal area were significantly and positively related to recruits’ age. Microsite characteristics were significantly related to recruits’ performance. Specifically, surface stoniness was negatively and significantly related to tree height, whereas a higher cover of conspecific individuals was significantly related to taller plants with a narrower crown and a lower proportion of green canopy. As such, intra-specific competition appears as an important factor for the performance of <em>P. halepensis</em> post-fire regeneration. Plant height also exhibited a significant, positive relationship with the mean distance to the dry edge of the climatic niche, indicating that recruits performance is sensitive to drought-related conditions after fire. Overall, our study reveals that position within the climatic niche offers a suitable framework to better understand, together with microsite conditions, recruits' performance and thus post-fire regeneration patterns in a fire-resilient species such as <em>P. halepensis</em>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"580 ","pages":"Article 122516"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143161781","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Drivers of natural colonisation and regeneration within planted woodlands in England: towards an integrated approach to increase resilience

IF 3.7 2区农林科学 Q1 FORESTRY

Forest Ecology and Management

Pub Date : 2025-01-22 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122492

Feadora Morris, Richard G. Davies

Increasing woodland cover is at the heart of global and national strategies to combat climate change. While tree planting is a rapid and scalable means of woodland creation, it remains expensive and prone to high mortality, highlighting the need for additional more cost-effective methods including natural colonisation and regeneration. A key question is whether trade-offs between the advantages of rapid planting and natural colonisation can be avoided by using a combined approach. Yet few studies have quantified ongoing colonisation and regeneration within planted woodlands and the habitat and management drivers influencing these processes. This study explores the relative importance of seed source (parent candidate) trees, woodland habitat, management, browsing, and scrub variables in influencing natural colonisation and regeneration within 57 planted woodlands across East Anglia, UK. We test for these effects on three species of colonising tree sapling, and the total number and species richness of all tree saplings (colonising and regenerating). Fraxinus excelsior and Acer campestre, showed parent candidate (PC) variables to have greater influence on colonising sapling abundance than woodland or management variables, while effects were much weaker for Quercus robur. Woodland age was a positive predictor for A. campestre saplings, more equivocal for F. excelsior, and had no influence on Q. robur. However, woodland age had a strong positive influence on species richness of tree saplings and on percentage cover and species richness of scrub. Canopy cover was the strongest predictor of total tree sapling abundance. Management had negative effects on Q. robur, total number of saplings and scrub coverage. Species compositional analyses showed most sapling taxa were associated with older, unmanaged, more diverse plantations, with greater canopy cover and scrub species richness. We conclude that substantial natural colonisation occurs within planted woodlands, complementing regeneration and tree planting in enhancing woodland creation. Further research on the potential benefits of combining active and passive methods of afforestation is needed to ensure woodland creation and management is optimised for biodiversity and ecosystem services.

{"title":"Drivers of natural colonisation and regeneration within planted woodlands in England: towards an integrated approach to increase resilience","authors":"Feadora Morris, Richard G. Davies","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122492","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122492","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Increasing woodland cover is at the heart of global and national strategies to combat climate change. While tree planting is a rapid and scalable means of woodland creation, it remains expensive and prone to high mortality, highlighting the need for additional more cost-effective methods including natural colonisation and regeneration. A key question is whether trade-offs between the advantages of rapid planting and natural colonisation can be avoided by using a combined approach. Yet few studies have quantified ongoing colonisation and regeneration within planted woodlands and the habitat and management drivers influencing these processes. This study explores the relative importance of seed source (parent candidate) trees, woodland habitat, management, browsing, and scrub variables in influencing natural colonisation and regeneration within 57 planted woodlands across East Anglia, UK. We test for these effects on three species of colonising tree sapling, and the total number and species richness of all tree saplings (colonising and regenerating). <em>Fraxinus excelsior</em> and <em>Acer campestre</em>, showed parent candidate (PC) variables to have greater influence on colonising sapling abundance than woodland or management variables, while effects were much weaker for <em>Quercus robur</em>. Woodland age was a positive predictor for <em>A. campestre</em> saplings, more equivocal for <em>F. excelsior</em>, and had no influence on <em>Q. robur</em>. However, woodland age had a strong positive influence on species richness of tree saplings and on percentage cover and species richness of scrub. Canopy cover was the strongest predictor of total tree sapling abundance. Management had negative effects on <em>Q. robur</em>, total number of saplings and scrub coverage. Species compositional analyses showed most sapling taxa were associated with older, unmanaged, more diverse plantations, with greater canopy cover and scrub species richness. We conclude that substantial natural colonisation occurs within planted woodlands, complementing regeneration and tree planting in enhancing woodland creation. Further research on the potential benefits of combining active and passive methods of afforestation is needed to ensure woodland creation and management is optimised for biodiversity and ecosystem services.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"579 ","pages":"Article 122492"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143130025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0