The importance of forest floor disturbance in the early regeneration patterns of the boreal forest of western and central Quebec: a wildfire versus logging comparison

2000 ◽  
Vol 30 (9) ◽  
pp. 1353-1364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thuy Nguyen-Xuan ◽  
Yves Bergeron ◽  
Dan Simard ◽  
Jim W Fyles ◽  
David Paré
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Detrended Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Forest Floor Disturbance

The nonvascular and vascular plant composition of the early regenerating vegetation present following wildfires and clear-cut logging has been compared separately in three areas of the black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) - feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt.)) forest of western and central Quebec. In each area, a detrended correspondence analysis successfully differentiated the burned and logged stands along the first ordination axis. This separation mainly resulted from the greater abundance of pioneer species or lichens after fire and the greater abundance of residual species after clear-cutting. Spearman's correlation coefficients were calculated to relate variables characterizing physical disturbance of the forest floor and general site conditions to the two first differentiating axes. Variables characterizing forest floor disturbance severity were strongly associated with the first ordination axis in two of the study areas but not in the third one. The interpretation of compositional differences in the light of plant reproductive strategies led to the identification of regeneration patterns that illustrated the influence of disturbance type and severity on post-disturbance vegetation composition. These results suggest that certain forestry practices such as careful logging with the protection of regeneration and soil, scarification, and prescribed burning may differ in their capability to address sustainable forest management issues.

Nitrogen transformations in feather moss and forest floor layers of interior Alaska black spruce ecosystems

1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Weber ◽  
K. Van Cleve
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
N Uptake ◽  
Nitrogen Transformations ◽  
Organic Matter Quality ◽  
Available N ◽  
Moss Species ◽  
Feather Moss ◽  
Interior Alaska

Permafrost-free and permafrost-dominated black spruce (Piceamariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) ecosystems in interior Alaska were treated with low addition levels of high enrichment isotope (<1% of the total nitrogen pool with 99 at.% excess 15N) to describe nitrogen dynamics through pools of selected forest floor components. A thick carpet of mosses, made up primarily of the feather moss species Hylocomiumsplendens (Hedw.) B.S.G. and Pleuroziumschreberi (B.S.G.) Mitt, seemed to play a vital role in the nitrogen economy of the forest floor. Nitrogen, quickly immobilized in the moss layers (green, brown) and retained there, was released very slowly to the lower organic layers (021 + 022) where most of the vascular plant roots were located. 15N uptake by the vascular understory was minimal, as was15Nexport via the soil solution. Periodic mineralization episodes, more frequent and dynamic at the permafrost-free site (where C/N ratios were lower), were largely restricted to the moss layers since available N fractions in deeper forest floor layers incorporated little label over the 3-year period. In the lower layers of the forest floor (021 + 022) temperature rather than organic matter quality appeared to be the overriding factor controlling N flow.

Mortality in black spruce stands of fire or clear-cut origin

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 539-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Martin Lussier ◽  
Hubert Morin ◽  
Réjean Gagnon
Keyword(s):  
Partial Correlation ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Choristoneura Fumiferana ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Predisposing Factor ◽  
Mortality Pattern ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Dead Trees ◽  
Spruce Stands

The mortality pattern of 14 black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) stands from the Saguenay region (Quebec), originating from fire or clear-cutting in the early 20th century, was reconstructed based on the dendrochronological dating of dead trees. Most of the spruces died during the 1970s and 1980s, which suggests the possible impact of the most recent spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana Clem.) outbreak. This hypothesis is supported by the observation of major growth reductions synchronous with known outbreak periods and by the existence of a significant partial correlation between the mortality rates and the occurrence of outbreaks. A significant partial correlation between the mortality rates and the relative density of the studied stands suggests that competition amongst individuals might act as a predisposing factor to the death of trees, while the outbreaks act as an inciting factor. The observed mortality pattern is similar to self-thinning, since most of the dead trees were from the smallest size classes.

Clear-cutting, woody residue removal, and nonsymbiotic nitrogen fixation in forest soils of the Inland Pacific Northwest

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1172-1178 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.F. Jurgensen ◽  
R.T. Graham ◽  
M.J. Larsen ◽  
A.E. Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Western Montana ◽  
Subalpine Fir ◽  
Residue Removal ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Northern Idaho

The effect of clear-cutting and woody residue removal on soil nonsymbiotic nitrogen fixation, as estimated by the acetylene reduction technique, was investigated on a subalpine fir (Abieslasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.) site in western Montana and on a cedar (Thujaplicata (Donn ex D. Don) Lindl.)–hemlock (Tsugaheterophylla (Raf) Sarg.) site in northern Idaho. Nitrogen fixation in the forest floor, soil wood, and mineral soil on the subalpine fir site averaged 0.9 kg N•ha−1•year−1 in the uncut stand. This nitrogen input was reduced by 10% after clear-cutting followed by prescribed burning, and by 22% after clear-cutting followed by intensive residue removal. Nitrogen fixation in the uncut cedar–hemlock stand averaged 1.1 kg N•ha−1•year−1 and was reduced by 26% after prescribed burning. Clear-cutting only and clear-cutting followed by intensive woody residue removal had little effect on nitrogen fixation. However, large amounts of woody residue left on the cut site nearly doubled the amounts of nitrogen fixation compared with the uncut stand. Lower nitrogen fixation after harvesting on both the Idaho and Montana sites was due mostly to reductions in forest floor and large woody residue. Replacement of nitrogen losses from prescribed burning on these sites by nonsymbiotic nitrogen fixation and precipitation would take from 150 to 400 years, depending on the severity of the bum treatments.

Effects of forest-floor disturbance on soil-solution nutrient composition in a black spruce ecosystem

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 894-902 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Van Cleve ◽  
C. T. Dyrness
Keyword(s):  
Soil Solution ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Stream Water ◽  
Solution Chemistry ◽  
Chemical Analyses ◽  
Soil Solution Chemistry ◽  
Mechanical Removal ◽  
Forest Floor Disturbance ◽  
Consistent Treatment

This study summarizes the effects of forest-floor disturbance on soil-solution chemistry. For comparative purposes chemical analyses are also presented of soil solution collected beneath undisturbed black spruce (Piceamariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) stands, stream water, and precipitation in the same area. The disturbance treatments were superimposed on the forest floor following removal of the black spruce overstory. These included burning of the forest floor, and mechanical removal of one-half and all of the forest floor. Conductivity, pH, and the concentrations of [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], phosphates, K, Ca, and Mg were determined in the various water samples. Only in the case of the most severe treatments, one-half and all of the forest floor removed, was there substantial changes in conductivity, pH, and the concentrations of Ca and Mg. Potassium and P showed no consistent treatment effects. Lack of significant change in solution N concentration may reflect increased microbial activity and N immobilization in the forest floor in response to disturbance.

The effects of logs, stumps, and root throws on understory communities within 28-year-old aspen-dominated boreal forests

2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (8) ◽  
pp. 905-916 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Lee ◽  
Kelly Sturgess
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Detrended Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Tree Seedlings ◽  
Understory Composition ◽  
Colonization Patterns ◽  
Understory Communities

This study examined the role of logs, stumps, and root throws on the understory composition of aspen-dominated boreal forests. Measures of microsite coverage and suitability, and vascular plant composition and abundance were taken from 28-year-old wildfire and harvest sites. Larger logs (>20 cm diameter) with soft surfaces were the most suitable for colonization by vascular plants. These logs covered more than five times the area of stumps or root throws in both harvest and wildfire sites. Detrended correspondence analysis revealed that logs and stumps were colonized by a significantly different assemblage of vascular plants than the forest floor of either disturbance type. Contrary to studies in other forest types, assemblages of plants on root throw pits and mounds were similar to those on the forest floor. Initial colonization patterns on logs and stumps in both wildfire and harvest sites were similar. However, on more decayed logs assemblages of vascular plants were more similar to their respective wildfire or harvest forest floor assemblages. Ordination of species suggested that tree seedlings and shade-tolerant herbs were disproportionately more abundant on logs and stumps.Key words: plant community assemblages, deadwood resources, coarse woody debris, root throws, logs, boreal forest.

Effects of selected forest management practices on environmental parameters related to successional development on the Tanana River floodplain, interior Alaska

1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 1001-1014 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Yarie
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Stage Iii ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Successional Stages ◽  
Stage Viii ◽  
Successional Development

Two mature floodplain white spruce (Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss) ecosystems (stage VIII) located on islands in the Tanana River, approximately 20 km southwest of Fairbanks, Alaska, were clear-cut during the winter of 1985–1986 to quantify the effects of clear-cutting on selected environmental characteristics. Clearings in earlier successional stages (poplar–alder (Populus–Alnus), stage V; and open willow (Salix), stage III) were used to contrast the environmental parameters with the earlier stages found in the primary successional sequence. After clear-cutting, total radiation at the soil surface increased to early successional stage III levels. Potential evaporation from the soil surface increased 5-fold as a result of clearing in the stage VIII sites and was substantially greater than that found in the stage III sites by other researchers. Clearing had relatively little effect on air temperature. The concentration of P and K was significantly lower in the forest floor of both clearcuts, and the concentration of C was significantly higher at VIII-A-T (stage VIII–site A–treated (cleared) plot) when compared with the control stands. There was a decrease in total forest floor biomass at both clear-cut plots. Organic matter, total N, available NH4 and P, and extractable Mg and K all decreased after cutting, whereas pH increased. Decomposition of spruce foliage on the forest floor surface was slower in the clearcuts. Nitrogen immobilization occurred during the first 2 years of decomposition. During the third year it appeared that some mineralization was beginning to occur but the levels were very low, averaging only 3 mg N per bag in the clear-cut areas. Plant growth analysis indicated that growth was limited by high mineral soil salt content in the early successional stages (III) and that this limitation was species specific. Balsam poplar (Populusbalsamifera L.) appears to be more tolerant of the high cation content of the stage III sites compared with trembling aspen (Populustremuloides Michx.). By the time successional development has progressed to stage V, the soil has been sufficiently augmented by the inclusion of organic matter from the developing vegetation and the fixation of N by alder to result in higher seedling growth rates in the cleared areas.

IN SITU NUTRIENT EXTRACTION BY RESIN FROM FORESTED, CLEAR-CUT AND SITE-PREPARED SOIL

1987 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 943-952 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. H. KRAUSE ◽  
D. RAMLAL
Keyword(s):  
Forest Soil ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Ion Exchange Resin ◽  
Site Preparation ◽  
Tree Planting ◽  
Seasonal Effects ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Clear Cutting

Anion and cation resins were tested as sinks for nutrient ions under variable forest soil conditions. The resins, contained in nylon bags, were placed for periods of 4 wk below the forest floor of a softwood stand, and at approximately 7.5 cm depth on an adjacent clearcut with two different types of site preparation for tree planting. The soil was an Orthic Humo-ferric Podzol. Ion sorption below the forest floor, especially the sorption of ammonium, nitrate and phosphate, was strongly increased after clear-cutting of the forest. Sorption rates were generally lower in the mineral soil than immediately below the forest floor, except for nitrate and sulphate. Mixing of forest floor materials and fine logging debris into the mineral surface horizons generally increased resin sorption if compared to sorption in soil from which the forest floor had been removed. Resin sorption also revealed strong seasonal effects which may have been caused by changes in soil temperature and moisture. Key words: Ion exchange resin, forest soil fertility, seasonal nutrient fluctuation, site preparation

Influence of canopy removal on oak forest floor decomposition

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiwei Yin ◽  
James A. Perry ◽  
Robert K. Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Mass Loss ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Loss Rate ◽  
Mass Loss Rate ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Shelterwood Cut ◽  
Canopy Removal ◽  
Final Harvest ◽  
Loss Rates

We compared leaf and forest floor mass loss rates over 2 years on undisturbed (NC), shelterwood-cut (SC0), and clear-cut (CC) sites in a Quercus forest at the Hardie's Creek Forest, Wisconsin, U.S.A. Litterbag techniques and a budgetary approach based on forest floor surveys and litterfall estimations were used. SC0 and NC variables did not differ until final harvest on SC0 (creating SC1). Over a 6-month period, 19% of initial cellulose (filter disk) mass was lost from litterbags placed on SC1 compared with 71% on NC. Leaf mass loss from litterbags was consistently slower on CC than on NC. Rates of mass loss to the upper (01) and lower (02) forest floor horizons in 1985 and total forest floor mass loss rate in both years did not differ among sites; mass loss rate for 01 was lower on CC than on NC, but higher for 02 in 1986. Differences in mass loss rates between CC and NC were attributed to changes in environment (ambient temperature and water content of the soil and forest floor) that were induced by clear-cutting. We suggest that the effects of canopy removal on mass loss from leaf litter appear to vary with regional climatic variables, while the effects on overall forest floor mass loss rate may be buffered by compensation among various forest floor horizons in most areas.

Effect of clear-cutting, prescribed burning and scarification on litter decomposition in an Eastern Ontario jack pine (Pinus banksiana) ecosystem

1999 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luc C. Duchesne ◽  
Suzanne Wetzel
Keyword(s):  
Populus Tremuloides ◽  
Pinus Banksiana ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Decomposition Rates ◽  
Litter Bags ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Mass Losses ◽  
Field Incubation

Mass losses of litter bags containing leaf litter of Pinus banksiana Lamb., Quercus rubra L., Pteridium aquilium (L.) Kuhn, and Populus tremuloides Mchx. were compared in a jack pine ecosystem after clear-cutting, clear-cutting plus prescribed burning, and clear-cutting plus disk trenching scarification. Controls consisted of litterbags left in undisturbed plots. Mass losses were significantly affected by treatment types and litter types. The greatest differences among treatments were observed after 1 year of field incubation whereas there were considerably fewer differences among treatments after 3 years of incubation in the field. Initial decomposition of P. tremuloides and Q. rubra litter was greatest in the control plots. Scarified plots showed the slowest decomposition rates. Mass losses were not significant among treatments and litter types after 3 years incubation except for P. aquilinum litter on clear-cut and scarified plots.

Forest-floor chemical properties are altered by clear-cutting in boreal mixedwood forest stands dominated by trembling aspen and white spruce

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (10) ◽  
pp. 2457-2468 ◽  
Author(s):  
K D Hannam ◽  
S A Quideau ◽  
B E Kishchuk ◽  
S -W Oh ◽  
R E Wasylishen
Keyword(s):  
Nmr Spectroscopy ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Proximate Analysis ◽  
Trembling Aspen ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Stand Type ◽  
Forest Floors

Alterations in the chemical properties of the forest floor following clear-cut harvesting may have implications for forest productivity in boreal stands. We used proximate analysis, carbon-13 (13C) isotopic determination, and cross-polarization, magic-angle spinning (CPMAS) 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to examine differences in the characteristics of the forest floors from uncut stands and clear-cut stands dominated by white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss; SPRUCE) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.; ASPEN) in northern Alberta. Proximate analysis revealed no difference in the chemical properties of forest floors from clear-cut and uncut stands in either stand type, but the acid-insoluble residue of forest floors from clear-cut ASPEN stands was enriched in 13C compared with those from uncut ASPEN stands. CPMAS 13C NMR spectroscopy revealed that forest floors from clearcuts were enriched in total aromatic C, particularly in ASPEN stands, and depleted in phenolic C, particularly in SPRUCE stands. These patterns indicate that forest floors from the clearcuts have become more humified, which may reflect stand-type differences in the amount of labile C available to the forest-floor microbial community and reductions in above- and below-ground inputs to the forest floor following clear-cutting in both stand types. Changes in the chemical properties of forest floors from clear-cut SPRUCE and ASPEN stands could exacerbate C limitation in these soils and alter patterns of nutrient cycling.

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