Aboveground production and canopy dynamics in sugar maple and red oak trees in southwestern Wisconsin

1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 1533-1543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan W. Chapman ◽  
Stith T. Gower

Aboveground net primary production, canopy allometry, growth efficiency, and sapwood volume were compared for early- to mid-successional red oak (Quercusrubra L.) and late-successional sugar maple (Acersaccharum Marsh.) co-occurring in young and mature natural stands in southwestern Wisconsin. For similar-diameter trees, shade-tolerant sugar maple supported a significantly greater (p < 0.05) stem, branch, and foliage biomass and leaf area than mid-tolerant red oak. Red oak and sugar maple had similar stem net primary production rates over a 5-year period (1984–1988), but sugar maple had a significantly greater total aboveground net primary production than similar-diameter red oak. However, red oak had a significantly greater (p < 0.0001) growth efficiency (stem net primary production per unit of leaf area) than sugar maple. The significantly greater sapwood volume, but equal stem volume, of sugar maple versus red oak suggests that annual stem maintenance respiration costs may be greater for sugar maple than for red oak. Possible causes for differences in stem net primary production and growth efficiency between early- and late-successional tree species are discussed.

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 1267-1274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica E. Hancock ◽  
Mary A. Arthur ◽  
Kathleen C. Weathers ◽  
Gary M. Lovett

Exotic pests and pathogens, through direct and indirect effects on forest structure and species composition, have the potential to significantly alter forest ecosystem processes, including C cycling. Throughout the northern hardwood forest, beech bark disease (BBD) is causing widespread disruption in forest structure and composition. In the Catskill Mountains of New York, some forests formerly codominated by American beech ( Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) and sugar maple ( Acer saccharum Marsh.) are shifting to sugar maple dominance. The effects of BBD and a subsequent shift in species composition on annual aboveground net primary production and soil CO2 efflux were examined in eight forest plots selected to represent a gradient of BBD impact. There were no significant trends in aboveground net primary production across this gradient. However, growing season soil CO2 efflux decreased linearly along the BBD gradient, declining by 40%. Although the mechanism controlling this decline is uncertain, the decrease in soil CO2 efflux with BBD impact and a shift to greater composition of sugar maple in litterfall could significantly alter C cycling in northern hardwood stands in the Catskill Mountains.


1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stith T. Gower ◽  
Charles C. Grier

Aboveground biomass and production were determined for a 70-year-old mixed conifer forest of western larch (Larixoccidentalis Nutt.), lodgepole pine (Pinuscontorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.), and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco) on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Range in Washington state. Live aboveground biomass, projected leaf area, and aboveground net primary production for the mixed conifer forest were 194 Mg•ha−1, 4.2 m−2•m−2, and 6.1 Mg•ha−1•year−1, respectively. Based on the few studies of montane forests on the eastern slope of the Cascades, aboveground biomass, leaf area index, and aboveground net primary production of these forests are more similar to those of montane coniferous forests in the Rocky Mountains than to those of similar forests located on the western slopes of the Cascades.


1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 3459-3471 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Franklin ◽  
M. B. Lavigne ◽  
M. J. Deuling ◽  
M. A. Wulder ◽  
E. R. Hunt

Author(s):  
Monica Turner ◽  
Rebecca Reed ◽  
William Romme ◽  
Mary Finley ◽  
Dennis Knight

The 1988 fires in Yellowstone National Park (YNP), Wyoming, affected >250,000 ha, creating a striking mosaic of burn severities across the landscape which is likely to influence ecological processes for decades to come (Christensen et al. 1989, Knight and Wallace 1989, Turner et al.1994). Substantial spatial heterogeneity in early post-fire succession has been observed in the decade since the fires, resulting largely from spatial variation in fire severity and in the availability of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) seeds in or near the burned area (Anderson and Romme 1991, Tinker et al. 1994, Turner et al. 1997). Post­fire vegetation now includes pine stands ranging from relatively low to extremely high pine sapling density (ca 10,000 to nearly 100,000 stems ha-1) as well as non-forest or marginally forested vegetation across the Yellowstone landscape may influence ecosystem processes related to energy flow and biogeochemisty. We also are interested in how quickly these processes may return to their pre­ disturbance characteristics. In this pilot study, we began to address these general questions by examining the variation in above-ground net primary production (ANPP), leaf area index (LAI) of tree (lodgepole pine) and herbaceous components, and rates of nitrogen mineralization and loss in successional stands 9 years after the fires. ANPP measures the cumulative new biomass generated over a given period of time, and is a fundamental ecosystem property often used to compare ecosystems (Carpenter 1998). Leaf area (typically expressed as leaf area index [LAI], i.e., leaf area per unit ground surface area) influences rates of two fundamental ecosystem processes -­ primary productivity and transpiration -- and is communities (


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