The shrinkage of a forest: Landscape-scale deforestation leading to overall changes in local forest structure

2016 ◽  
Vol 196 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Rocha-Santos ◽  
Michaele S. Pessoa ◽  
Camila R. Cassano ◽  
Daniela C. Talora ◽  
Rodrigo L.L. Orihuela ◽  
...  
2013 ◽  
Vol 287 ◽  
pp. 17-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Van R. Kane ◽  
James A. Lutz ◽  
Susan L. Roberts ◽  
Douglas F. Smith ◽  
Robert J. McGaughey ◽  
...  

Ecology ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. e02677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi B. Schwartz ◽  
Andrew M. Budsock ◽  
María Uriarte

2006 ◽  
Vol 199 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heike Lischke ◽  
Niklaus E. Zimmermann ◽  
Janine Bolliger ◽  
Sophie Rickebusch ◽  
Thomas J. Löffler

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chad Kooistra ◽  
Emily Sinkular ◽  
Courtney Schultz

Abstract The US Forest Service’s Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) was a major policy innovation for supporting collaborative, landscape-scale forest restoration. Twenty-three CFLRP projects were funded following requests for proposals in fiscal years (FY) 2010 and 2011. Congress appropriated the fully authorized amount of $40 million to the program in FY 2012. In 2018, Congress reauthorized the CFLRP, and soon thereafter the Forest Service issued a request for new CFLRP proposals. In this article, we provide background on the reauthorization of the CFLRP and the updated proposal process. We present findings from a document analysis of the final 22 CFLRP proposals submitted in FY 2020 to characterize current demand for CFLRP and the nature of the proposed projects. We discuss our findings in the context of the CFLRP Advisory Committee’s recommendations, funding uncertainty, and broader efforts to support cross-boundary, collaborative wildfire mitigation and forest restoration. Study Implications: Reviewing the broader context of the CFLRP and the FY 2020 proposals highlights the importance of the program in pursuing collaborative, cross-boundary wildfire mitigation and restoration across the US. There is high demand for the program, as illustrated by more than $600 million requested over 10 years and more than $400 million in planned partner contributions for projects across diverse ecosystems involving locally driven partnerships. Ensuring consistent funding and leadership commitment, aligning policies across scales, supporting collaboration, encouraging innovation to support restoration and local economies, and using adaptive monitoring approaches are needed to facilitate the success of programs like CFLRP.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (10) ◽  
pp. 2301-2319
Author(s):  
Jeffery B. Cannon ◽  
Benjamin M. Gannon ◽  
Jonas A. Feinstein ◽  
Eunice A. Padley ◽  
Loretta J. Metz

Abstract Context Several initiatives seek to increase the pace and scale of dry forest restoration and fuels reduction to enhance forest resilience to wildfire and other stressors while improving the quality and reliability of key ecosystem services. Ecological effects models are increasingly used to prioritize these efforts at the landscape-scale based on simulated treatment outcomes. Objectives Treatments are often simulated using uniform post-treatment target conditions or proportional changes to baseline forest structure variables, but do not account for the common objective of restoration to mimic the complex forest structure that was present historically which is thought to provide an example of structural conditions that contributed to ecosystem diversity and resilience. Methods We simulate spatially homogenous fire hazard reduction treatments along with heterogeneous restoration treatments in dry conifer forests to investigate how spatial complexity affects ecological indicators of (1) forest structural heterogeneity, (2) forest and watershed vulnerability to high-severity fire, and (3) feasibility of future prescribed fire use. Results Our results suggest that spatially explicit restoration treatments should produce similar wildfire and prescribed fire outcomes as homogeneous fuels reduction treatments, but with greater forest structural heterogeneity. The lack of strong tradeoffs between ecological objectives suggests the primary benefit of spatially complex treatments is to increase forest structural heterogeneity which may promote biodiversity. Conclusions We show that landscape-scale prioritization to maximize ecological benefits can change when spatially complex restoration treatments are modeled. Coupling landscape-scale management simulations and ecological effects models offers flexible decision support for conservation assessment, prioritization, and planning.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 15415-15454 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. P. Asner ◽  
C. Anderson ◽  
R. E. Martin ◽  
D. E. Knapp ◽  
R. Tupayachi ◽  
...  

Abstract. Elevation gradients provide opportunities to explore environmental controls on forest structure and functioning, but plot-based studies have proven highly variable due to limited geographic scope. We used airborne imaging spectroscopy and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) to quantify changes in three-dimensional forest structure and canopy functional traits in a series of 25 ha landscapes distributed along a 3300 m elevation gradient from lowland Amazonia to treeline in the Peruvian Andes. Canopy greenness, photosynthetic fractional cover and exposed non-photosynthetic vegetation varied as much across lowland forests (100–200 m) as they did from the lowlands to the Andean treeline (3400 m). Elevation was positively correlated with canopy gap density and understory vegetation cover, and negatively related to canopy height and vertical profile. Increases in gap density were tightly linked to increases in understory plant cover, and larger gaps (20–200 m2 produced 25–30 times the response in understory cover than did smaller gaps (< 5 m2. Scaling of gap size to gap frequency was, however, relatively constant along the elevation gradient, which when combined with other canopy structural information, indicates equilibrium turnover patterns from the lowlands to treeline. Our results provide a first landscape-scale quantification of forest structure and canopy functional traits with changing elevation, thereby improving our understanding of disturbance, demography and ecosystem processes in the Andes-to-Amazon corridor.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toby Jackson ◽  
Matheus Nunes ◽  
Grégoire Vincent ◽  
David Coomes

&lt;p&gt;Repeat airborne LiDAR data provides a unique opportunity to study tree mortality at the landscape scale. We use maps of canopy height derived from repeat LiDAR (two or more scans collected a few years apart) to detect changes in forest structure. Visually, the most obvious changes are caused by large treefall events, which are difficult to study using field plots due to their rarity. While repeat LiDAR data provides exciting new possibilities, validation is a challenge, since we cannot easily determine how many trees have died and we may miss trees which are dead but still standing. I will discuss our progress so far, studying large-tree mortality rates across multiple countries and forest types.&lt;/p&gt;


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