Forest Ecology and Management最新文献

{"title":"Tree species diversity increases carbon stocks in tropical montane cloud forests across successional stages","authors":"Tarin Toledo-Aceves,&nbsp;María Toledo-Garibaldi","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122480","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122480","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF) is a structurally complex and hyper-diverse ecosystem that provides critical ecosystem services. However, it has undergone significant transformation and its role in carbon (C) storage remains poorly understood. This study aims to evaluate the current condition of the TMCF in Mexico, focusing on its structure, C storage, and tree diversity, and to assess the role of tree diversity in enhancing C stock across successional stages. We analyzed data from the Mexican National Forest and Soil Inventory 2015–2020. The data represented primary, secondary-arboreal, and secondary-shrubby TMCF from 174 sites distributed throughout the country. For tree diversity Hill numbers of order q = 0 (species richness), q = 1 (common species), and q = 2 (dominant species) were calculated per site. Basal area was 23.6 m²/ha in primary, 17.4 m²/ha in secondary-arboreal, and 12.8 m²/ha in secondary-shrubby TMCF. In total, 527 tree and shrub species were recorded, with 327 species in the primary, 266 in the secondary-arboreal, and 226 in the secondary-shrubby forest categories. Oaks were the most diverse (with 35 species), widely distributed, and dominant group, contributing 39 % of the basal area in primary, 31 % in secondary-arboreal, and 41 % in secondary-shrubby forest. Oaks accounted for approximately 39 % of the aboveground C in all forest categories, with 19.6 tons C/ha in primary, 15.0 tons C/ha in secondary-arboreal, and 13.6 tons C/ha in secondary-shrubby forest. C stock increased with tree richness, common and dominant species, in both primary and secondary-arboreal forests. In secondary-shrubby forest, C stock initially increased with tree richness, common and dominant species, but subsequently declined. For an average stand, each additional tree species could potentially increase C storage by 6 % in primary, 7 % in secondary-arboreal, and 13 % in secondary-shrubby forests. Old remnant trees from previous anthropogenic disturbances are common in secondary forests, playing a major role in C storage, regeneration, and resilience. Our findings underscore the critical role of tree diversity in enhancing C storage across successional stages in TMCF. Forest management strategies that prioritize the preservation of old remnant trees and promote multi-species plantations are essential for maximizing C sequestration and maintaining biodiversity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 122480"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143132631","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}

{"title":"Assessing the effects of woody mulch on post-fire soil and stream nitrogen at experimental and operational scales","authors":"Charles C. Rhoades ,&nbsp;Mikaela J. Richardson ,&nbsp;Timothy S. Fegel ,&nbsp;Stephanie K. Kampf","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122490","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122490","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Severe wildfires often increase nitrogen (N) losses from burned forests which can impact downstream water quality, water treatability, and aquatic habitat. Woody mulch is commonly applied to mitigate post-fire soil erosion and enhance revegetation, but it is also a source of labile carbon (C) that can stimulate microbial immobilization and limit N release to soil and streams. The objective of our study was to evaluate whether woody mulch application could reduce N losses from soils and export from watersheds affected by the 2020 Cameron Peak fire in Northern Colorado, USA. Our assessment evaluated the potential for mulch to influence N cycling at various spatial scales including laboratory trials using mulched soil columns, field measurements on aerially mulched hillslopes, and replicate mulched and unmulched catchments. As expected after severe wildfire, we found elevated levels of various forms of N in burned hillslope soils and stream water in extensively burned catchments. Woody mulch released high concentrations of soluble C into soils and decreased nitrate leaching both from soil columns and burned hillslopes. However, there was no detectable effect of mulch on stream water N or C, likely due to low mulch coverage and high landscape complexity at the catchment scale. Though we observed that mulch has the potential to reduce post-fire N losses, soil N remained elevated compared to unburned soils. Logistical constraints on aerial mulching limited mulch application rates in our study. Uncertainties about where mulch applications are most effective constrain the utility of this treatment to alter post-fire water quality at magnitudes relevant to downstream users. Land managers would benefit from a better understanding of how to match the positive outcomes of post-fire mulching to the most biogeochemically sensitive locations within burned watersheds.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 122490"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143132630","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}

{"title":"Interplay of species mixture, climate change, and management regimes on carbon stocks and sinks in a Mediterranean beech forest","authors":"Lorenzo Metteo Walter Rossi,&nbsp;Silvio Daniele Oggioni,&nbsp;Sebastian Brocco,&nbsp;Sophia Djacenko,&nbsp;Giorgio Vacchiano","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122472","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122472","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Beech (<em>Fagus sylvatica</em> L.) is the most widespread species in the Apennines, but at the same time it is susceptible to climatic stress. Forestry should strive to increase the adaptability of beech forests to climate variations, and thus maintain or improve the ecosystem services they provide. Here we analysed the role of forest management and climate on the potential of beech forests for climate change mitigation. In the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine National Park (PNATE), we compared five different management types (coppice, stored coppice, high forest, mix with broadleaves, mix with silver fir) in their ability to store carbon under different climate change scenarios and management intensities. We collected tree and stand data in 57 forest plots, estimated the current carbon stocks and sinks, assessed expected changes in the species distribution under climate change scenarios by environmental niche modelling, and projected the future growth of forests using the 3-PGmix forest growth model. Carbon sinks are higher in beech forests mixed with broadleaves than in pure beech coppice or stored coppice (+25 % and +40 %, respectively), suggesting a positive effect of mixtures on the forest’s ability to mitigate climate change. Distribution models predict a significant reduction in the species' range at lower elevations in the near future, suggesting that PNATE could serve as a climate refugium within the Apennines. Growth simulations revealed that species complementarity (mix with broadleaf or fir) increases carbon stocks and sinks, as long as harvest stays at intermediate intensities. Beech in mix with fir showed higher average delta carbon stocks (as difference between carbon stocks at the beginning of the simulation and after 80 years; &gt; 98–317 %) and carbon sink (&gt; 38–330 %) compared to pure beech management under all climate scenarios. Climate change scenario SSP 1–2.6 results in an average increase of carbon stocks and sink across management and intensities, while SSP 3–7.0 implies a decrease for all treatments, except for the mix with silver fir that shows a remarkable increase. Active coppice is the management where biomass carbon sink is less sensitive to an increase of management intensity (-0.5 % and 7.8 %). Our findings underline the crucial role of beech forest management in locally optimising carbon uptake, underlying the positive effect of mix with fir and other broadleaves. We therefore recommend an informed and adaptive forest management approach that considers harvest intensity, species mixture, and ongoing climate change to effectively maintain resilient and functional forests through a mosaic of different forest management approaches.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 122472"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143132590","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}

{"title":"Disentangling winter relationships: Bat responses to forest stand structure, environmental conditions, and prey composition","authors":"Santiago Perea ,&nbsp;Amanda Vicente-Santos ,&nbsp;Angela L. Larsen-Gray ,&nbsp;Kamal J.K. Gandhi ,&nbsp;Daniel U. Greene ,&nbsp;Brittany F. Barnes ,&nbsp;Steven B. Castleberry","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122484","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122484","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Private, working forests are a significant component of the landscape in the southeastern United States. Past research has documented diverse bat communities in these areas, but there is limited information on how forest management practices affect bat and insect communities in winter. We applied structural equation modeling to examine relationships among bat activity, temperature, forest structure, and nocturnal insect assemblages across four working pine (<em>Pinus</em> spp.) forest landscapes in the southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain during January to March, 2021–2022. Temperature directly influenced bat activity and insect metrics. Additionally, higher insect ordinal richness positively affected activity of all but one bat taxon. Activity of most bat taxa was also directly influenced by forest structure, generally indicating preference for large areas of semi-open canopied stands and responding negatively to pre-thinned, closed-canopy stands. Forest stand structure affected several insect attributes including catches of Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, and large-sized insects, indicating potential indirect cascading effects on bat taxa associated with specific forest insect assemblages. Our results underscore the importance of maintaining a heterogenous forest landscape with a range of forest stand age and structure from early establishment to thinned, open-canopied stands and offer practical guidance for forest managers seeking to optimize conservation efforts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 122484"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143131790","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}

{"title":"Optimizing tree selection for planning cable yarding operations: a multi-objective modelling approach","authors":"Francesco Sforza ,&nbsp;Martin Ziesak ,&nbsp;Emanuele Lingua ,&nbsp;Michael Starke","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122489","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122489","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>When planning timber harvesting in mountainous areas, selecting the trees to extract is highly challenging. This is due to the need to consider both the forest management plan as well as feasibility aspects of the logging operation. Additionally, the choice using cable yarding systems in steep and difficult terrain increases the complexity and related costs of the harvesting process. The protective function of mountain forests against natural hazards adds another layer of consideration. Decision-makers must strike a balance between maintaining the protective function of the forest directly after cutting and on a long term, while maximizing the economic efficiency of the harvesting operation. In this study, we have developed an optimization model for tree selection using linear mixed programming. The model relies on high-resolution airborne laser scanning data to create a forest inventory through individual tree detection. Constituting the Pareto frontier, by optimizing two primary objectives, 15 optimal trade-off solutions could be identified when minimizing the harvesting area and maximizing the economic benefit of timber harvesting. Four of the solutions were identified, which maintain the maximum protective effect of the remaining forest, with a cumulative basal area ranging from 33.3 to 33.9 m²ha⁻¹, while significantly reducing the economic loss from 17 % to 79.6 % when emphasizing the economic benefit maximization. Furthermore, the model presented four solutions that keep the protective effect above the minimum threshold (cumulative basal area &gt; 30 m²ha⁻¹) while also resulting in positive economic benefits from harvesting. This model presents a method that integrates a multi-objective approach to decision making, considering the practical constraints of cable yarding technology in the process of tree selection in mountainous areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 122489"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143132627","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}

{"title":"Aboveground biomass modeling using simulated Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) waveform LiDAR and forest inventories in Amazonian rainforests","authors":"Nadeem Fareed ,&nbsp;Izaya Numata ,&nbsp;Mark A. Cochrane ,&nbsp;Sidney Novoa ,&nbsp;Karis Tenneson ,&nbsp;Antonio Willian Flores de Melo ,&nbsp;Sonaira Souza da Silva ,&nbsp;Marcus Vinicio Neves d’ Oliveira ,&nbsp;Andrea Nicolau ,&nbsp;Brian Zutta","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122491","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122491","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>NASA's Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission one of the objectives is to estimate global forest aboveground biomass (AGB) using full waveform (WF) LiDAR data. GEDI's relative height (RH) metrics, derived from vertical energy distributions, serve as key predictors in AGB modeling, with energy quantiles ranging from 0 % to 100 %. Despite extensive studies on RH metrics, the selection of optimal RH metrics for AGB estimation remains inconsistent, and using fewer metrics can result in a loss of vertical structural complexity. This study explores the potential of dense sampling of RH metrics (RH5 to RH100, in 5 % increments) to retain forest structural complexity, even across diverse forest regimes. Using noise-free simulated GEDI WF data, we developed machine learning models (Cubist, Random Forest, and XGBoost) to estimate AGB across 174 forest plots in the Brazilian Amazon. Results showed that dense RH sampling outperformed models using fewer recommended RH metrics. Our proposed suite of mean RH (mRH) metrics (R² = 0.71, RMSE = 65.88 Mg/ha, nRMSE = 0.36) – derived at plot level from an extensive suite of RH metrics (RH5 to RH100, in 5 % increments) at sub-plot level, and vertical mean RH (vmRH) RH metrics within the 20 % waveform vertical energy distribution (vmRH20, vmRH40, vmRH60, vmRH80, and vmRH100) approach showed similar performance, at the plot level of an average size of 50 m by 50 m. The single vmRH metrics versus plot-level AGB estimates – vmRH80 consistently gives the best results for all ML models and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression with R² ranges from (0.65–0.68), RMSE (53.18 – 70.51) Mg/ha – highest RMSE reported for OLS regression. All model’s performances were comparable giving similar RMSE, nRMSE, and coefficient of determination (R²) for derivative RH metrics – mRH and vmRH – compared with the traditional approach of selective RH metrics at GEDI footprint level estimates. The trained model provided AGB estimates at 30 m resolution for entire ALS survey areas of sites (n = 174) in the Brazilian Legal Amazon (BLA) region. Overall, this approach retains GEDI waveform information effectively and offers a scalable solution for regional and potentially global AGB modeling.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 122491"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143132629","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}

{"title":"Nitrogen uptake strategies of coexisting plant species in forest ecosystems of northeast China: Implications for afforestation","authors":"Lei Gao ,&nbsp;Andrew R. Smith ,&nbsp;Baili Geng ,&nbsp;Baodong Liu ,&nbsp;Xingpeng Li ,&nbsp;Shuxia Jia ,&nbsp;Davey L. Jones","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122481","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122481","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Forest ecosystems play a vital role in global carbon (C) sequestration, which is intricately linked to root nitrogen (N) uptake. However, the strategies that forest vegetation employ to take up different forms of soil N, and the implications for forest management, remain insufficiently understood. To address this issue, we employed dual-labelled (¹³C-¹⁵N) tracers for three forms of available N (NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻, and glycine) in field experiments conducted in both natural and afforested stands in northeast China. As the growing season progressed, significant but non-uniform changes were observed in the N content, natural abundance of ¹⁵N in plant roots, and soil N properties, including soil NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻, amino acids, microbial biomass N, and the natural abundance of ¹⁵N. Whether in natural or artificial forests, the uptake rates and patterns of NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻ and glycine by plant roots also varied, resulting in N niche differentiation among the coexisting plant species in terms of N form and timing. Principal component analysis and percentage similarity in N uptake patterns further revealed distinct N niche differentiation. Our results suggest that the uptake of different forms of soil N is likely driven by opportunistic rather than strictly preferential responses. This could provide an important basis for the N niche differentiation among coexisting plant species in the forest communities. Recognizing the temporal differentiation of N uptake niches during afforestation is essential to foster inter-specific coexistence, particularly in N-limited habitats. These findings provide critical insights for optimizing species composition in afforestation practices, thereby alleviating inter-specific competition, facilitating species coexistence, and maintaining productive forest ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 122481"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143132628","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}

{"title":"Harvesting history affects soil respiration and litterfall but not overall carbon balance in boreal Norway spruce forests","authors":"Rieke L. Madsen ,&nbsp;Johan Asplund ,&nbsp;Line Nybakken ,&nbsp;Rebecca Biong ,&nbsp;O. Janne Kjønaas","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122485","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122485","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding long-term effects of clear-cutting on current soil carbon (C) fluxes in boreal forests is important in the perspective of global C cycling and future forest management decisions. We studied twelve pairs of forest stands in South-Eastern Norway, each comprised of one previously clear-cut stand and one near-natural stand with similar macroclimate, topography and soil properties. We measured aboveground tree litterfall continuously during two consecutive years and soil respiration fluxes monthly during the snow-free period of one year. Ground vegetation litterfall was estimated from destructive biomass sampling. The previously clear-cut stands had on average 12 % higher annual soil respiration rates, 20 % greater tree litterfall, and tended to have greater total aboveground litterfall (12 %), while the near-natural stands had greater litterfall from ground vegetation (45 %). Litterfall from ground vegetation was strongly linked with below-canopy light transmission, but the contribution of this flux to the total aboveground litterfall was minor. Soil respiration rates were related to microclimate, nitrogen concentration in aboveground tree litter and tree basal area. Though, only basal area could be linked to management type differences in soil respiration, that likely has additional unidentified drivers. We found similar temperature sensitivities of soil respiration in the two management types. We emphasise that age of the dominating trees is an integrated part of the differences between these two types of forest stands. Jointly, our results suggest limited differences in the current net soil C balance of near-natural and previously clear-cut stands.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 122485"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143132589","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}

{"title":"Can tree-rings inform assisted migration? Revisiting provenance trials across Atlantic Canada to compare local adaptation between red spruce populations","authors":"Loïc D’Orangeville ,&nbsp;Malcolm S. Itter ,&nbsp;Jessé Moura Dos Santos ,&nbsp;Anthony R. Taylor","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122482","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122482","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As climate niches of most tree species are projected to shift rapidly in the coming decades, forest-assisted migration (FAM) of populations from warmer sites is a promising silvicultural tool to help forests adapt to global changes. However, additional knowledge on species-specific local genetic adaptation and phenotypic plasticity is needed to inform the deployment of FAM in forest management. Here we applied a novel dendroecological approach to a unique network of ten 60 year-old provenance trials covering a large climate gradient in eastern Canada to assess the FAM potential of red spruce, a species unique to the Acadian-Wabanaki forest region projected to decline under climate change. We first controlled for non-climatic growth drivers by applying a Bayesian hierarchical model to individual, annual tree growth records extracted from tree-rings. Non-climatic variables explained 75.6 % and 92 % (posterior mean Bayesian R²) of tree-level and site-level growth, respectively. Across populations and sites, residual annual growth displayed the strongest correlations with summer climate, with growth declines during warm and dry summer conditions. In contrast with summer patterns, warmer and drier spring conditions were generally favorable to growth, while winter temperatures had only marginal associations with growth. To test the hypothesis that red spruce populations from warmer locations are good candidates for assisted migration, we assessed significant changes in climate-growth correlations as a function of climate transfer distance, calculated as the differences between population origin climate and climate at each trial site. We found that trees moved to colder sites, which simulates standard FAM practices, were significantly less sensitive to summer water deficit and changes in precipitation. However, additional variation in climatic sensitivity to summer temperature suggests potential risks at elevated transfer distances. Results from our application of dendroecology to existing provenance trials provides support for red spruce as a candidate species for FAM.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 122482"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143132308","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}

{"title":"Unravelling key factors of forest condition: Multidimensional assessment in Mediterranean pine ecosystems","authors":"Cristina Acosta-Muñoz ,&nbsp;Daniela Figueroa ,&nbsp;Mª Ángeles Varo-Martínez ,&nbsp;Antonio Jesús Ariza-Salamanca ,&nbsp;Pablo González-Moreno","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122487","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122487","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Assessing forest health is crucial for managing and conserving forest ecosystems. Tree condition can be measured through a wide range of methods related to structural and physiological aspects and including both field and remote sensing data. Understanding how these indicators of forest decline interact and respond to environmental factors remain a challenge. We present an empirical work with a multidimensional approach to estimate forest condition in reforestation stands of <em>Pinus sylvestris</em> L using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). First, forest condition was assessed as a latent variable that integrates defoliation, pigment, LiDAR and high spatial resolution multispectral remote sensing measurements. Then, we evaluated the direct and indirect effects of biotic factors at the population scale (intraspecific competition), and abiotic factors (climatic and topographic conditions) as drivers of change to forest condition. Most important forest condition variables were photosynthetic activity and vegetation growth, with significant relationships between defoliation and chlorophyll-a. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) showed a strong positive association, effectively integrating both structural and physiological information. Structural variables (LiDAR metrics), such as tree asymmetry, also contributed significantly to describing forest condition. Intraspecific competition (with proxies of maximum tree height and canopy cover) showed a more substantial impact than abiotic factors on forest condition. Climatic variables were individually influential, although as a group (i.e. SEM construct) did not show significant values to forest condition through its interaction with biotic factors. In conclusion, the integrated assessment of data in SEM models provides an effective approach to identify determinants of functioning in forest ecosystems and to gain insight into the complex ecological interactions underlying forest decline processes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 122487"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143132588","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}