Diversity and productivity of hypogeous fungal sporocarps in a variably thinned Douglas-fir forest

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 1259-1268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wes Colgan III ◽  
Andrew B Carey ◽  
James M Trappe ◽  
Randy Molina ◽  
David Thysell

Although ecosystem management techniques are designed to enhance species diversity in managed forests, no comprehensive study has been conducted to evaluate effects of such techniques on diversity and productivity of hypogeous fungi (truffles). During this study, truffles were collected in a 55- to 65-year-old Douglas-fir forest from March 1993 through December 1995 at approximately 6-week intervals. Half of the stands served as controls, half were assigned a variable density thinning (VDT) treatment. A VDT stand comprised a mosaic of patches thinned to different densities of standing live trees. To further evaluate the effect of harvesting impacts, this mosaic was divided into two thinning categories, lightly thinned and heavily thinned areas. Truffle standing crop varied greatly but generally was highest in spring with a smaller peak in the fall. At least some sporocarps were found year round, with winter having the lowest biomass and species richness. Overall standing crop biomass (over all seasons) was significantly lower in VDT stands compared with control stands. The abundance of Gautieria and Hysterangium species was lower in thinned stands, while Melanogaster species diversity and productivity were highest in these stands.

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (11) ◽  
pp. 1448-1461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Kuehne ◽  
Aaron R. Weiskittel ◽  
Shawn Fraver ◽  
Klaus J. Puettmann

Thinning is believed to accelerate the development of late-successional attributes, thereby enhancing stand structural heterogeneity in young, secondary forests. By making use of a large-scale experiment implemented in 40- to 60-year-old coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco) forests, we addressed the following objectives: (i) determine the effect of three thinning treatments on the temporal dynamics (first 11 years after thinning) of key forest structure measures, (ii) evaluate the relationships between spatially explicit structural diversity measures and spatially nonexplicit stand metrics, and (iii) test the relationships between stand structure and observed periodic stand volume growth, ingrowth, and mortality. Treatments consisted of high-density, moderate-density, and variable-density thinnings-from-below, as well as a control. Differences in stand structural heterogeneity between treatments were mostly nonsignificant. However, our results suggest that variable-density stands displayed structural enrichment as tree size and tree species diversity increased throughout the study period as a result of continuous ingrowth of species other than Douglas-fir. Simple spatially nonexplicit metrics could not be used to reliably model spatially explicit structural diversity measures. The inclusion of structural and species diversity measures only rarely improved accuracy of sample plot level growth, ingrowth, and mortality prediction models. Despite the short-term nature of this study, we conclude that variable-density thinning shows promise in increasing structural heterogeneity in young even-aged stands. The inclusion of structural diversity measures in growth and mortality models may be beneficial, but further work is needed to clarify the underlying relationships, particularly at the individual-tree level.


2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (No. 7) ◽  
pp. 263-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Podrázský ◽  
A. Martiník ◽  
K. Matějka ◽  
J. Viewegh

In total, 67 parallel plots were chosen from the database of 153 phytosociological relevés made in the Douglas-fir and parallel Norway spruce, European Beech and oak-dominated stands to find influences of this introduced tree species on the understorey layer in totally 12 localities in the whole Czech Republic territory. Douglas-fir stands influence their habitats, which was indicated by species composition changes in the ground vegetation, as well as by abundance and dominance of particular species. Douglas-fir cultivation increases species diversity of the stands, but decreases their abundance. Described differences in understorey are not so noticeable when European beech and sessile oak stands are substituted by Douglas-fir once. But even the significant phenomenon of striking nitrophilous species such as Geranium robertianum, Urtica dioica and Galium aparine occurs here. This indicates a high content of available nitrates in the humus and top-soil horizons.  


10.15788/8101 ◽  
2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
John Keck ◽  

Macrofungal communities of four altitudinal zones of the Northern Rocky Mountain region are described and compared with respect to species richness, production (g/100m2/yr), functional structure (mycorrhizal vs. decomposer), seasonality of activity and relationship to temperature and rainfall. Two study sites of 100m2 were established in grasslands, Douglas-fir forest, subalpine fir (spruce-fir) forest and in the alpine. Each study site was visited fortnightly during the collecting season (May-September) in 1997 and 1998, monthly in 1999, with a limited number of trips to the alpine. All fungal sporocarps were collected, dried, weighed, and identified to species when possible. Soil moisture and soil temperature readings were taken at each visit during 1997 and 1998. Species richness varied with the elevational gradient from three species collected in grasslands, 60 species collected in Douglas-fir forests, 61 species collected in subalpine fir forests, and zero species collected in the alpine. Sixty-five species (out of 100 total species) fruited only during the wettest year of the study, 1997. Standing crop estimates ranged from 0.0002 to 0.005 g/100m2 in grassland, 0.01 to 2.16 g/100m2 in Douglas-fir forests, 0.04 to 1.63 g/100m2 in subalpine fir (spruce-fir forests) and no sporocarps were collected in the alpine. Standing crop was greatest in the grassland and forest sites in the wettest year, 1997. Species richness and production peaked earlier in the Douglas-fir forests (June), than in subalpine fir forests (August and September). With the majority of fungal species in the study fruiting only in the wettest year (1997), one might conclude that collecting sporocarps in a wet year provides a better indication of species richness than collecting in several typical (dry) years. The 100m2 plot size used in this study may bias for the sampling of saprophytic species, and may under-sample the more patchily distributed mycorrhizal species.


2008 ◽  
Vol 54 (No. 4) ◽  
pp. 189-193
Author(s):  
M. Żmihorski

Clearcuts are one of the results of forest management. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of clearcuts on bird communities in a managed forest in Western Poland. I applied the method of point transect counts. 20 points were located near clearcuts (less than 100 m from the nearest clearcut) and 25 points in the forest interior. In total, 36 bird species were recorded. On average, I found 9.20 bird species at points located near clearcuts and 6.72 species at points situated in the forest interior, and the difference was significant. The cumulative number of bird species for a given number of sampling points in the vicinity of clearcuts was higher than in the forest interior. The obtained results indicate that in managed, even-aged forests the generation of clearcuts can lead to an increase in local bird species richness.


2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liangjun HU ◽  
Qinfeng GUO

How species diversity relates to productivity remains a major debate. To date, however, the underlying mechanisms that regulate the ecological processes involved are still poorly understood. Three major issues persist in early efforts at resolution. First, in the context that productivity drives species diversity, how the pathways operate is poorly-explained. Second, productivity  per se varies with community or ecosystem maturity. If diversity indeed drives productivity, the criterion of choosing appropriate measures for productivity is not available. Third, spatial scaling suggests that sampling based on small-plots may not be suitable for formulating species richness-productivity relationships (SRPRs). Thus, the long-standing assumption simply linking diversity with productivity and pursuing a generalizing pattern may not be robust. We argue that productivity, though defined as ‘the rate of biomass production’, has been measured in two ways environmental surrogates and biomass production leading to misinterpretations and difficulty in the pursuit of generalizable SRPRs. To tackle these issues, we developed an integrative theoretical paradigm encompassing richer biological and physical contexts and clearly reconciling the major processes of the systems, using proper productivity measures and sampling units. We conclude that loose interpretation and confounding measures of productivity may be the real root of current SRPR inconsistencies and debate.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Felipe Augusto Trindade Gondim-Silva ◽  
Alessandra Rodrigues Santos Andrade ◽  
Rafael Oliveira Abreu ◽  
Jamile Santos Nascimento ◽  
Geovane Paixão Corrêa ◽  
...  

Abstract The Conde municipality is located in the northern coast of the state of Bahia (NC), northeastern Brazil, and is part of the Atlantic Tropical domain. The anuran fauna of the northern portion of the NC is still poorly known if compared to the southern portion. The Restinga is one of the predominant environments of the coastal plains of the NC and it is characterized essentially by presenting sandy soil covered by herbaceous and shrubby vegetation. The objective of this study was to determine the anuran species composition and diversity for the Restinga of the Conde municipality. Sampling was carried out at night by active search over four periods of five consecutive days each, two over the 'main rainy season' and two in a 'lesser rainy season', using 14 sample units (SUs) and five extra sample plots (EPs). We calculated dominance and species diversity using the Berger-Parker and Shannon-Wiener H' indices, respectively. We used accumulation curves and the Jackknife 1 estimator to estimate anuran species richness, considering only the data obtained from the SUs. We recorded 713 anuran specimens distributed within 33 species, 13 genera and five families (Bufonidae, Craugastoridae, Hylidae, Leptodactylidae and Microhylidae). The Hylidae and Leptodactylidae families had the highest species richness. Considering only the SUs (Jackknife 1 estimator in brackets), we recorded 28 species in the study area (33.9 ± 2.3), 13 in Shrubby Vegetation Zones - SVZ (20.8 ± 2.9) and 25 in Freshwater Wetland Zones - FWZ (28.9 ± 1.9). The abundance and species diversity of the FWZ (n = 638 specimens; H'= 2.4) were higher than those recorded for the SVZ (n = 52 specimens; H' = 1.9). The SVZ and FWZ showed distinct dominant species, wherein Pristimantis paulodutrai was the dominant species in SVZ and Scinax fuscomarginatus in FWZ. The Restinga of the Conde municipality stands out as the one with the highest anuran species richness already recorded considering only SVZ and FWZ. Moreover, its anuran species composition represented 55% of the anuran species known for the NC and included taxa common to three different morphoclimatic domains (Tropical Atlantic, Cerrado and Caatinga).


2007 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 1033-1042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yzel Rondon Súarez ◽  
Sabrina Bigatão Valério ◽  
Karina Keyla Tondado ◽  
Alexandro Cezar Florentino ◽  
Thiago Rota Alves Felipe ◽  
...  

The influence of spatial, temporal and environmental factors on fish species diversity in headwater streams in Paraguay and Paraná basins, Brazil was examined. A total of 4,605 individuals were sampled, distributed in 60 species. The sampled streams in Paraná basin presented a larger total species richness (42) than Paraguay streams (40). However the estimated richness was larger in Paraguay basin (53) than Paraná streams (50). The streams of Paraná basin had a greater mean species richness and evenness, while more individuals per sample were found in the Paraguay basin. Difference between the sub-basins were found in the Paraguay basin, while for the basin of Paraná, richness and evenness vary significantly between the sub-basins, but the number of individuals varied seasonally. The most important environmental factors to species diversity and abundance were altitude, water temperature, stream width and stream depth for both the basins.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentín D. Picasso ◽  
E. Charles Brummer ◽  
Matt Liebman ◽  
Philip M. Dixon ◽  
Brian J. Wilsey

AbstractCropping systems that rely on renewable energy and resources and are based on ecological principles could be more stable and productive into the future than current monoculture systems with serious unintended environmental consequences such as soil erosion and water pollution. In nonagricultural systems, communities with higher species diversity have higher productivity and provide other ecosystem services. However, communities of well-adapted crop species selected for biomass production may respond differently to increasing diversity. Diversity effects may be due to complementarity among species (complementary resource use and facilitative interactions) or positive selection effects (e.g., species with higher productivity dominate the mixture), and these effects may change over time or across environments. Our goal was to identify the ecological mechanisms causing diversity effects in a biodiversity experiment using agriculturally relevant species, and evaluate the implications for the design of sustainable cropping systems. We seeded seven perennial forage species in a replicated field experiment at two locations in Iowa, USA, and evaluated biomass productivity of monocultures and two- to six-species mixtures over 3 years after the establishment year under management systems of contrasting intensity: one or three harvests per year. Productivity increased with seeded species richness in all environments, and the positive relationship did not change over time. Polyculture overyielding was due to complementarity among species in the community rather than to selection effects of individual species. Complementarity increased as a log-linear function of species richness in all environments, and this trend was consistent across years. Legume–grass facilitation may explain much of this complementarity effect. Although individual species with high biomass production had a major effect on productivity of mixtures, the species producing the highest biomass in monoculture changed over the years in most environments. Furthermore, transgressive overyielding was observed and was more prevalent in later years, in some environments. We conclude that choosing a single well-adapted species for maximizing productivity may not be the best alternative over the long term and that high levels of species diversity should be included in the design of productive and ecologically sound agricultural systems.


2000 ◽  
Vol 143 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
HUGH G. HANLIN ◽  
F. DOUGLAS MARTIN ◽  
LYNN D. WIKE ◽  
STEPHEN H. BENNETT

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (8) ◽  
pp. 1687-1697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Jacobs ◽  
Jeff E. Houlahan

Here, we examine the effects of adjacent land use in a managed forest on pond-breeding amphibian species richness and community composition at 34 New Brunswick, Canada, ponds. Amphibian species richness was negatively correlated with the proportion of roads, precommercial thinning, and hardwood forest and positively correlated with the proportion of wetlands in adjacent lands. These land-use effects peak at 180 m from the ponds. Road density was negatively correlated with Lithobates catesbeiana and Lithobates septentrionalis presence. Precommercial thinning was negatively correlated with Ambystoma spp. presence and positively correlated with Anaxyrus americanus presence. Wetlands were positively correlated with L. septentrionalis and Notopthalamus viridescens presence. Correlations were also found between water table height and A. americanus, Lithobates palustris , and Ambystoma spp. presence. In addition, L. catesbeiana and N. viridescens presence–absence was positively correlated with the proportion of mature and overmature forest on the landscape (at scales of 500 and 1000 m, respectively). Lastly, the proportion of regenerating and sapling forest on the landscape was negatively correlated with L. palustris presence–absence but, by contrast, was positively correlated with A. americanus. These results suggest that the effects of adjacent land use may significantly impact amphibian populations in managed eastern Canadian forests.


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