The role of anthropogenic influences in a mixed-conifer forest mortality episode

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Savage
1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 1149-1159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Savage

Anthropogenic and natural disturbances have been implicated in recent mortality episodes in montane forests. While the role of natural disturbance in patterning forest ecosystems has been widely explored in recent decades, the agency of human influence is less well understood. In this paper, stand structure analysis is used to characterize patterns of mortality in a montane mixed conifer forest in southern California subject to multiple influences, both anthropogenic and natural, including fire suppression, air pollution, drought, competition, and insect infestation. While it is difficult to separate the contribution of any one of these factors to tree death, because there have been cumulative and synchronous disturbances, successional trends can be identified. Anthropogenic influences appear to abet the effects of natural disturbance in enhancing the shift from early successional pines to species that tolerate stresses such as drought, fire suppression, or competition that result from increased stand density, or a combination of such stresses.


2010 ◽  
Vol 259 (5) ◽  
pp. 904-915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siyan Ma ◽  
Amy Concilio ◽  
Brian Oakley ◽  
Malcolm North ◽  
Jiquan Chen

2008 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Scott Anderson ◽  
Renata B. Jass ◽  
Jaime L. Toney ◽  
Craig D. Allen ◽  
Luz M. Cisneros-Dozal ◽  
...  

Chihuahueños Bog (2925 m) in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico contains one of the few records of late-glacial and postglacial development of the mixed conifer forest in southwestern North America. The Chihuahueños Bog record extends to over 15,000 cal yr BP. AnArtemisiasteppe, then an openPiceawoodland grew around a small pond until ca. 11,700 cal yr BP whenPinus ponderosabecame established. C/N ratios,δ13C andδ15N values indicate both terrestrial and aquatic organic matter was incorporated into the sediment. Higher percentages of aquatic algae and elevated C/N ratios indicate higher lake levels at the opening of the Holocene, but a wetland developed subsequently as climate warmed. From ca. 8500 to 6400 cal yr BP the pond desiccated in what must have been the driest period of the Holocene there. C/N ratios declined to their lowest Holocene levels, indicating intense decomposition in the sediment. Wetter conditions returned after 6400 cal yr BP, with conversion of the site to a sedge bog as groundwater levels rose. Higher charcoal influx rates after 6400 cal yr BP probably result from greater biomass production rates. Only minor shifts in the overstory species occurred during the Holocene, suggesting that mixed conifer forest dominated throughout the record.


2005 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 2713-2722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris M. Yeager ◽  
Diana E. Northup ◽  
Christy C. Grow ◽  
Susan M. Barns ◽  
Cheryl R. Kuske

ABSTRACT This study was undertaken to examine the effects of forest fire on two important groups of N-cycling bacteria in soil, the nitrogen-fixing and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. Sequence and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of nifH and amoA PCR amplicons was performed on DNA samples from unburned, moderately burned, and severely burned soils of a mixed conifer forest. PCR results indicated that the soil biomass and proportion of nitrogen-fixing and ammonia-oxidizing species was less in soil from the fire-impacted sites than from the unburned sites. The number of dominant nifH sequence types was greater in fire-impacted soils, and nifH sequences that were most closely related to those from the spore-forming taxa Clostridium and Paenibacillus were more abundant in the burned soils. In T-RFLP patterns of the ammonia-oxidizing community, terminal restriction fragments (TRFs) representing amoA cluster 1, 2, or 4 Nitrosospira spp. were dominant (80 to 90%) in unburned soils, while TRFs representing amoA cluster 3A Nitrosospira spp. dominated (65 to 95%) in fire-impacted soils. The dominance of amoA cluster 3A Nitrosospira spp. sequence types was positively correlated with soil pH (5.6 to 7.5) and NH3-N levels (0.002 to 0.976 ppm), both of which were higher in burned soils. The decreased microbial biomass and shift in nitrogen-fixing and ammonia-oxidizing communities were still evident in fire-impacted soils collected 14 months after the fire.


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