Selective filtering of light by coniferous forests and minimum light energy requirements for regeneration

1970 ◽  
Vol 48 (12) ◽  
pp. 2163-2167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Atzet ◽  
R. H. Waring
Keyword(s):  
Lower Limit ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Light Energy ◽  
Coniferous Forests ◽  
Minimum Light ◽  
Spectral Bands ◽  
Minimum Requirements ◽  
Lower Limits ◽  
Nm Range

Spectroradiometric analyses were made to examine the light-filtering capacity of coniferous forests and to establish the lower limits of light energy for growth of Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco, Abies concolor (Gord. and Glend.) Lindl., and Pinns ponderosa Dougl. Light energy (400–750 nm) was recorded periodically on clear days in June and July at 48 points under four mixed conifer stands and segregated into four spectral bands (blue, 400–450; green, 500–550; red, 650–700; far-red, 700–750 nm). Minor changes in the proportion of light in one band to that in another occur throughout the day, but in general the 400- to 700-nm range appears rather uniformly absorbed by a coniferous forest canopy. Averaged for an entire day, only the far-red band showed a significant proportional increase under a coniferous canopy compared to unfiltered sunlight.The relation between the energy received in each of the spectral bands and the total recorded in the 400- to 700-nm range was linear. The sampled canopies transmitted up to 25% of full sunlight. Beneath the canopies, the ratio of blue to total energy (400–700 nm) was 0.1540. Green, red, and far-red had ratios of 0.1853, 0.1220, and 0.1207.Terminal growth of 34 seedlings was measured at the light-sampling points to provide a means of establishing lower limits of light energy for survival. The lower limit for Abies and Pseudotsuga was 1.85 langleys (ly) per day (400–700 nm). Pinus grew only where the light energy exceeded 36.8 ly/day.An interaction with moisture appears to influence the minimum requirements for light energy of a species. Where moisture was adequate throughout the growing season, the lower limit of light for Pseudotsuga seedling establishment was 1.85 ly/day; where moisture became limiting, the minimum light requirement increased to 6.64 ly/day.

The long-term impact of low-intensity surface fires on litter decomposition and enzyme activities in boreal coniferous forests

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kajar Köster ◽  
Frank Berninger ◽  
Jussi Heinonsalo ◽  
Aki Lindén ◽  
Egle Köster ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Enzymatic Activity ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Fire Disturbance ◽  
Coniferous Forests ◽  
Long Term Impact

In boreal forest ecosystems fire, fungi and bacteria, and their interactions, have a pronounced effect on soil carbon dynamics. In this study we measured enzymatic activities, litter decomposition rates, carbon stocks and fungal and microbial biomasses in a boreal subarctic coniferous forest on a four age classes of non-stand replacing fire chronosequence (2, 42, 60 and 152 years after the fire). The results show that microbial activity recovered slowly after fire and the decomposition of new litter was affected by the disturbance. The percent mass loss of Scots pine litter increased with time from the last fire. Slow litter decomposition during the first post-fire years accelerates soil organic matter accumulation that is essential for the recovery of soil biological activities. Fire reduced the enzymatic activity across all the enzyme types measured. Carbon-degrading, chitin-degrading and phosphorus-dissolving enzymes showed different responses with the time elapsed since the fire disturbance. Microbial and enzymatic activity took decades before recovering to the levels observed in old forest stands. Our study demonstrates that slower post-fire litter decomposition has a pronounced impact on the recovery of soil organic matter following forest fires in northern boreal coniferous forests.

scholarly journals Determining the lower limits of irrigation capacity use

2002 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petar Gogic
Keyword(s):  
Lower Limit ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Cost Price ◽  
System Capacity ◽  
Production Structure ◽  
Economic Justification ◽  
System Use ◽  
Lower Limits

The objective of the study was to determine the limits of economic justification for irrigation system capacity use. The first step was focused on determining the lower limit of capacity use by comparing the economic effects of irrigation with the costs of the irrigation system use. In addition, while determining these limits the need was stressed to consider the economic effects of irrigation by optimizing the production structure and the modes for limit determination under irrigation and non-irrigation conditions. Eventually, the empirically verified possibility stating that this limit may be determined by comparing the water processing prices with its cost price is given. The limit was found to be the point at which these two prices equalize.

scholarly journals ESTIMATION OF REGIONAL FOREST ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS COMBINING ICESAT-GLAS WAVEFORMS AND HJ-1A/HSI HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGERIES

2016 ◽  
Vol XLI-B7 ◽  
pp. 731-737
Author(s):  
Yanqiu Xing ◽  
Sai Qiu ◽  
Jianhua Ding ◽  
Jing Tian
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Field Investigation ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Laser Altimeter ◽  
Spectral Bands ◽  
Spectral Imager ◽  
Regional Forest ◽  
Forest Aboveground Biomass

Estimation of forest aboveground biomass (AGB) is a critical challenge for understanding the global carbon cycle because it dominates the dynamics of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system has a unique capability for estimating accurately forest canopy height, which has a direct relationship and can provide better understanding to the forest AGB. The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) onboard the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) is the first polarorbiting LiDAR instrument for global observations of Earth, and it has been widely used for extracting forest AGB with footprints of nominally 70&thinsp;m in diameter on the earth's surface. However, the GLAS footprints are discrete geographically, and thus it has been restricted to produce the regional full coverage of forest AGB. To overcome the limit of discontinuity, the Hyper Spectral Imager (HSI) of HJ-1A with 115 bands was combined with GLAS waveforms to predict the regional forest AGB in the study. Corresponding with the field investigation in Wangqing of Changbai Mountain, China, the GLAS waveform metrics were derived and employed to establish the AGB model, which was used further for estimating the AGB within GLAS footprints. For HSI imagery, the Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF) method was used to decrease noise and reduce the dimensionality of spectral bands, and consequently the first three of MNF were able to offer almost 98% spectral information and qualified to regress with the GLAS estimated AGB. Afterwards, the support vector regression (SVR) method was employed in the study to establish the relationship between GLAS estimated AGB and three of HSI MNF (i.e. <i>MNF1</i>, <i>MNF2</i> and <i>MNF3</i>), and accordingly the full covered regional forest AGB map was produced. The results showed that the adj.R<sup>2</sup> and RMSE of SVR-AGB models were 0.75 and 4.68&thinsp;t&thinsp;hm<sup>&minus;2</sup> for broadleaf forests, 0.73 and 5.39&thinsp;t&thinsp;hm<sup>&minus;2</sup> for coniferous forests and 0.71 and 6.15&thinsp;t&thinsp;hm<sup>&minus;2</sup> for mixed forests respectively. The full covered regional forest AGB map of the study area had 0.62 of accuracy and 11.11&thinsp;t&thinsp;hm<sup>&minus;2</sup> of RMSE. The study demonstrated that it holds great potential to achieve the full covered regional forest AGB distribution with higher accuracy by combing LiDAR data and hyperspectral imageries.

Lower limit of available water for three plant species grown on a medium-textured soil in southwestern Saskatchewan

1991 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. W. Cutforth ◽  
P. G. Jefferson ◽  
C. A. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Key Words ◽  
Lower Limit ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Spring Wheat ◽  
Soil Factors ◽  
Available Water ◽  
Water Potentials ◽  
Lower Limits ◽  
Water Contents

Numerous researchers estimate and report laboratory-determined lower limit of available water contents using −1.5 MPa water potentials. For medium-textured soils, laboratory-measured lower limits should be determined at potentials of at least −4 MPa, and possibly −10 MPa, when using pressure membrane procedures. However, because the lower limit of available water is dependent upon environmental, plant and soil factors, we agree with Ratliff et al. (1983) that field-measured lower limits are preferable to laboratory-measured lower limits. Field-measured lower limits of available water did not vary markedly between spring wheat, alfalfa and grass. Key words: Lower limit of available water, wheat, alfalfa, grass

scholarly journals On Estimating Wet Canopy Evaporation from Deciduous and Coniferous Forests in the Asian Monsoon Climate

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 950-965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minseok Kang ◽  
Hyojung Kwon ◽  
Jung Hwa Cheon ◽  
Joon Kim
Keyword(s):  
Eddy Covariance ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Lookup Table ◽  
Coniferous Forests ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Monsoon Climate ◽  
Gap Filling ◽  
Infiltration Capacity

Abstract Continuous and direct measurement of evapotranspiration (ET) by the eddy covariance (EC) technique is still a challenge under monsoon climate because of a considerable amount of missing data during the long rainy periods and the consequential gap-filling process. Under such wet canopy conditions, especially in forests, evaporation of the intercepted precipitation (EWC) contributes significantly to the total ET. To quantify the role of EWC, leaf wetness has been measured at multiple levels in the canopy simultaneously with eddy covariance measurements at the KoFlux Gwangneung deciduous and coniferous forests for the entire year from September 2007 to August 2008. In this study, the measured EWC and the controlling mechanism during the wet canopy conditions have been scrutinized. Based on the evaluation of the four different algorithms of EWC estimation, that of the variable infiltration capacity (VIC) land surface model (LSM) has been adopted. All the missing EWC data are then recalculated by using the algorithm of VIC LSM and compared against the traditionally gap-filled EWC data based on the modified lookup table (MLT) method. The latter consistently underestimated EWC on average by 39% in deciduous forest and by 28% in coniferous forest. Major causes of such differences were due to the failure of considering aerodynamic coupling, advection of sensible heat, and heat storage in the MLT-based gap-filling method. Accordingly, a new gap-filling strategy for EWC is proposed that takes proper controlling mechanisms into account.

scholarly journals Consequences of Climate Change-Induced Habitat Conversions on Red Wood Ants in a Central European Mountain: A Case Study

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1677
Author(s):  
Orsolya Juhász ◽  
Ágnes Fürjes-Mikó ◽  
Anna Tenyér ◽  
Anna Ágnes Somogyi ◽  
Dianne Joy Aguilon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Bark Beetle ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Coniferous Forests ◽  
Central European ◽  
Formica Polyctena ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Red Wood Ants ◽  
Wood Ants

The consequences of anthropogenic climate change are one of the major concerns of conservation biology. A cascade of negative effects is expected to affect various ecosystems, one of which is Central European coniferous forests and their unique biota. These coniferous forests are the primary habitat of many forest specialist species such as red wood ants. Climate change-induced rising of temperature allows trees to skip winter hibernation, making them more vulnerable to storms that cause wind felling, and in turn, promotes bark beetle infestations that results in unscheduled clear-cuttings. Red wood ants can also be exposed to such habitat changes. We investigated the effects of bark beetle-induced clear-cutting and the absence of coniferous trees on colonies of Formica polyctena, including a mixed-coniferous forest as a reference. Our aim was to investigate how these habitat features affect the nest characteristics and nesting habits of F. polyctena. Our results indicate that, in the absence of conifers, F. polyctena tend to use different alternatives for nest material, colony structure, and food sources. However, the vitality of F. polyctena colonies significantly decreased (smaller nest mound volumes). Our study highlights the ecological flexibility of this forest specialist and its potential to survive under extreme conditions.

scholarly journals Observations of a Coniferous Forest at 9.6 and 17.2 GHz: Implications for SWE Retrievals

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Thompson ◽  
Richard Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Snow Water Equivalent ◽  
Incidence Angle ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Ancillary Data ◽  
Volume Scattering ◽  
Component Decomposition ◽  
Forested Landscapes

UWScat, a ground-based Ku- and X-band scatterometer, was used to compare forested and non-forested landscapes in a terrestrial snow accumulation environment as part of the NASA SnowEx17 field campaign. Field observations from Trail Valley Creek, Northwest Territories; Tobermory, Ontario; and the Canadian Snow and Ice Experiment (CASIX) campaign in Churchill, Manitoba, were also included. Limited sensitivity to snow was observed at 9.6 GHz, while the forest canopy attenuated the signal from sub-canopy snow at 17.2 GHz. Forested landscapes were distinguishable using the volume scattering component of the Freeman–Durden three-component decomposition model by applying a threshold in which values ≥50% indicated forested landscape. It is suggested that the volume scattering component of the decomposition can be used in current snow water equivalent (SWE) retrieval algorithms in place of the forest cover fraction (FF), which is an optical surrogate for microwave scattering and relies on ancillary data. The performance of the volume scattering component of the decomposition was similar to that of FF when used in a retrieval scheme. The primary benefit of this method is that it provides a current, real-time estimate of the forest state, it automatically accounts for the incidence angle and canopy structure, and it provides coincident information on the forest canopy without the use of ancillary data or modeling, which is especially important in remote regions. Additionally, it enables the estimation of forest canopy transmissivity without ancillary data. This study also demonstrates the use of these frequencies in a forest canopy application, and the use of the Freeman–Durden three-component decomposition on scatterometer observations in a terrestrial snow accumulation environment.

scholarly journals Hypertemporal Imaging Capability of UAS Improves Photogrammetric Tree Canopy Models

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Fletcher ◽  
Richard Mather
Keyword(s):  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Spectral Band ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Solar Elevation ◽  
Spectral Bands ◽  
Eucalyptus Forest ◽  
Dense Point ◽  
Solar Noon

Small uncrewed aerial systems (UASs) generate imagery that can provide detailed information regarding condition and change if the products are reproducible through time. Densified point clouds form the basic information for digital surface models and orthorectified mosaics, so variable dense point reconstruction will introduce uncertainty. Eucalyptus trees typically have sparse and discontinuous canopies with pendulous leaves that present a difficult target for photogrammetry software. We examine how spectral band, season, solar azimuth, elevation, and some processing settings impact completeness and reproducibility of dense point clouds for shrub swamp and Eucalyptus forest canopy. At the study site near solar noon, selecting near infrared camera increased projected tree canopy fourfold, and dense point features more than 2 m above ground were increased sixfold compared to red spectral bands. Near infrared (NIR) imagery improved projected and total dense features two- and threefold, respectively, compared to default green band imagery. The lowest solar elevation captured (25°) consistently improved canopy feature reconstruction in all spectral bands. Although low solar elevations are typically avoided for radiometric reasons, we demonstrate that these conditions improve the detection and reconstruction of complex tree canopy features in natural Eucalyptus forests. Combining imagery sets captured at different solar elevations improved the reproducibility of dense point clouds between seasons. Total dense point cloud features reconstructed were increased by almost 10 million points (20%) when imagery used was NIR combining solar noon and low solar elevation imagery. It is possible to use agricultural multispectral camera rigs to reconstruct Eucalyptus tree canopy and shrub swamp by combining imagery and selecting appropriate spectral bands for processing.

Throughfall and stemflow chemistry under deciduous and coniferous forest canopies in south-central Ontario

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 1089-1100 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.J. Neary ◽  
W.I. Gizyn
Keyword(s):  
Dry Deposition ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Base Cations ◽  
Ion Sources ◽  
Regression Technique ◽  
Forest Canopies ◽  
South Central ◽  
Internal Sources ◽  
Scavenging Efficiency

By measuring incident precipitation, throughfall, and stemflow chemistry, the roles of coniferous- and deciduous-dominated forest canopies as a source of and sink for ions in precipitation were examined. A regression technique for distinguishing between external (dry deposition) and internal (canopy leaching) sources of ions in the throughfall flux was evaluated. The effect of seasonal changes in the forest canopy on throughfall and stemflow chemistry was also examined. Throughfall comprised 74 and 84%, respectively, of the hydrologic flux at the coniferous and deciduous sites. Sulphate fluxes were highest at the coniferous site during both growing and dormant seasons, suggesting either a higher scavenging efficiency of the needles for atmospheric SO42−, or higher SO42− leaching from the foliage. The deciduous site neutralized acidic inputs, as demonstrated by its net negative H+ flux year round. The buffering capacity of the coniferous forest was exceeded by the higher amount of acid interception by the canopy. Nitrate behaved conservatively and base ions were exported from the canopy. Stemflow contributions of ions, although low, were generally higher than the contribution of stemflow to the hydrologic flux (2–3%). Independent dry deposition measurements for the growing season, when compared with net SO42− flux, overestimated dry deposition collected by the deciduous canopy, but were comparable to the flux at the coniferous site. These data suggest that dry SO2−SO42− deposition may be responsible for all SO42− enrichment seen in throughfall at these sites. A regression technique for separating internal and external ion sources in throughfall yielded inconsistent results, and attributed virtually all ion enrichment to internal sources. Problems with false assumptions and spurious correlations are discussed. We conclude that this method is not satisfactory for separating ion sources. Seasonal patterns in throughfall chemistry are present. During the growing seasons bases exchange for H+ and are exported similarly with SO42−. Hydrogen retention mirrors SO42− export. Base cations (particularly K+) are leached from the canopy primarily during senescence, but from the stem of the tree primarily during the dormant period. This was most evident at the deciduous site. Chloride behaved in a similar manner, while NH4+ and H+ were retained during the senescent period.

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