scholarly journals Forest Climax Phenomenon: An Invariance of Scale

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raimundas Petrokas

We can think of forests as multiscale multispecies networks, constantly evolving toward a climax or potential natural community—the successional process-pattern of natural regeneration that exhibits sensitivity to initial conditions. This is why I look into forest succession in light of the Red Queen hypothesis and focus on the key aspects of ecological self-organisation: dynamical criticality, evolvability and intransitivity. The idea of the review is that forest climax should be associated with habitat dynamics driven by a large continuum of ecologically equivalent time scales, so that the same ecological conclusions could be drawn statistically from any scale. A synthesis of the literature is undertaken in order to (1) present the framework for assessing habitat dynamics and (2) present the types of successional trajectories based on tree regeneration mode in forest gaps. In general, there are four types of successional trajectories within the process-pattern of forest regeneration that exhibits sensitivity to initial conditions: advance reproduction specialists, advance reproduction generalists, early reproduction generalists and early reproduction specialists. A successional trajectory is an expression of a fractal connectivity among certain patterns of natural regeneration in the multiscale multispecies networks of landscape habitats. Theoretically, the organically derived measures of pattern diversity, integrity and complexity, determined by the rates of recruitment, growth and mortality of forest tree species, are the means to test the efficacy of specific interventions to avert the disturbance-related decline in forest regeneration. That is of relevance to the emerging field of biocomplexity research.

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Vinícius C. Schmidt ◽  
Yakuna Ullillo Ikpeng ◽  
Tariaiup Kayabi ◽  
Rosely Alvim Sanches ◽  
Katia Yukari Ono ◽  
...  

The indigenous systems of agricultural and forest management in the Amazon are characterized by a deep knowledge of ecological processes, biodiversity, and the use and management of fire. The influence of these systems on the distribution of biodiversity includes semi-domesticated and domesticated species and landscapes, which have led to extensive anthropogenic or cultural forests. However, in many places, the livelihoods of indigenous peoples are being transformed by the intensification of agriculture and social, ecological, and economic changes, putting at risk the sustainability of production systems and food security and sovereignty of these peoples. In the last years, in the Xingu Indigenous Territory (XIT), the food production systems and the form of occupation of territories have changed, affecting the recovery of secondary forests, which now demand a too long period. The increase in the number and frequency of fires has aggravated this situation, due to a drier climate that has become predominant in the region. Changes in climate are attributed to deforestation in the neighboring municipalities, especially in the headwaters of the Xingu river basin. This study was conducted among the Kawaiwete (Tupi-Guarani) and the Ikpeng (Carib-Arara) peoples in the XIT, in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. The main objective was to develop alternative techniques of forest management based on indigenous and scientific knowledge more adapted to the new livelihood contexts, aiming to favor forest regeneration in areas dominated by shifting cultivation. We sought to answer the following questions: (I) How do forests regenerate during the fallow period? (II) How can local management improve forest regeneration? (III) Are there indicator species for secondary succession, soil recovery, and vulnerability to fires? (IV) Is the increase in the number of fires affecting the sustainability of the shifting cultivation systems? Our results show that some local practices based on indigenous knowledge have the potential to facilitate natural regeneration, such as choosing forest areas that have been recovered for agricultural use, limiting the number of cultivation cycles, protecting and selecting of individual trees during cultivation period, and attracting seed dispersers. Assisted natural regeneration strategies grounded on indigenous knowledge are promising ways to restore degraded lands of the XIT.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Heroldová ◽  
Josef Bryja ◽  
Eva Jánová ◽  
Josef Suchomel ◽  
Miloslav Homolka

Impact of small rodents on mountain forest regeneration was studied in National Nature Reserve in the Beskydy Mountains (Czech Republic). A considerable amount of bark damage was found on young trees (20%) in spring after the peak abundance of field voles (Microtus agrestis) in combination with long winter with heavy snowfall. In contrast, little damage to young trees was noted under high densities of bank voles (Myodes glareolus) with a lower snow cover the following winter. The bark of deciduous trees was more attractive to voles (22% damaged) than conifers (8%). Young trees growing in open and grassy localities suffered more damage from voles than those under canopy of forest stands (, ). Natural regeneration in Nature Reserve was less damaged compared to planted trees (, ). The main factors influencing the impact of rodent species on tree regeneration were open, grassy habitat conditions, higher abundance of vole species, tree species preferences- and snow-cover condition. Under these conditions, the impact of rodents on forest regeneration can be predicted. Foresters should prefer natural regeneration to the artificial plantings.


2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (9) ◽  
pp. 1843-1851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoit Lafleur ◽  
David Paré ◽  
Nicole J. Fenton ◽  
Yves Bergeron

Machinery traffic restrictions during forest harvest have been adopted to minimize soil damage and protect tree regeneration. However, this practice is questioned for paludifying black spruce ( Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) stands in which severe soil disturbance by wildfire restores forest productivity. The objective of this study was to determine, 8 years after harvest, how soil disturbance created by clearcutting and careful logging affected black spruce natural regeneration and growth and how this effect varied by soil type. While regeneration density was higher following careful logging, stocking was not influenced by harvest method. Regenerating stands were taller following clearcutting despite potentially greater damages to preestablished regeneration. Compared with careful logging, clearcutting also resulted in reduced cover of Sphagnum spp. and ericaceous shrubs. Spruce stem density and stocking were both higher on organic and subhydric soils and lower on mesic soils. No significant interactions were observed between harvest method and soil type, indicating that the observation of taller black spruce stands and adequate stocking with clearcutting may be applicable to all soil types considered in this study. These results suggest that an adequate level of soil disturbance is an important part of forest regeneration, particularly in ecosystems where an autogenic reduction in productivity occurs.


Chaotic systems behavior attracts many researchers in the field of image encryption. The major advantage of using chaos as the basis for developing a crypto-system is due to its sensitivity to initial conditions and parameter tunning as well as the random-like behavior which resembles the main ingredients of a good cipher namely the confusion and diffusion properties. In this article, we present a new scheme based on the synchronization of dual chaotic systems namely Lorenz and Chen chaotic systems and prove that those chaotic maps can be completely synchronized with other under suitable conditions and specific parameters that make a new addition to the chaotic based encryption systems. This addition provides a master-slave configuration that is utilized to construct the proposed dual synchronized chaos-based cipher scheme. The common security analyses are performed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. Based on all experiments and analyses, we can conclude that this scheme is secure, efficient, robust, reliable, and can be directly applied successfully for many practical security applications in insecure network channels such as the Internet


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 593
Author(s):  
Janet E. Nichol ◽  
Sawaid Abbas

Global trends predict a continuous increase in the proportion of forest occupied by plantations up to the end of the 21st century, while a dramatic loss of biodiversity is foreseen as a result of anthropogenic exploitation and climate change. This study compares the role and performance of plantation policies in Hong Kong, with natural regeneration of secondary forest, using detailed spatio-temporal data extracted from a previous study. The study extends over a 70-year period from 1945 to 2014 using aerial photographs and satellite images of five time periods to document spatio-temporal trends in plantation forestry and natural forest succession. Field data on species richness and woody biomass at different stages of forest succession are compared with available data from plantations in the same study area. Results indicate that plantation forests support relatively few native species in the understory, with much lower species richness than naturally regenerated forest, even after 6 to 7 decades. Time-sequential maps of habitat change show that natural forest succession from barren grassy hillsides, progressed at an annual rate of 7.8%, from only 0.2% of the landscape post WWII, to over 37% today. Plantation forestry on the other hand has been less successful, and has even acted as a barrier to natural forest regeneration, as mono-cultural plantations from the late 1960s to 1980s are still plantations today, whereas other similar areas have succeeded naturally to forest. The theory of plantations acting as a nurse crop for a woody native understory is not supported, as Pinus massoniana plantations, destroyed by two deadly nematodes during the 1970s, apparently had no woody understory, as they were seen to have reverted to grassland in 1989 and are still mainly grassland today.


1990 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. T. Oswald

Forest succession most relevant to forestry originates following forest harvesting or wildfire. That following harvesting is most often also influenced by site preparation procedures for reforestation. The resultant vegetation succession is dependent on the type, degree, and timing of the disturbance, the site characteristics and conditions, and the microclimate. Subsurface organs, including roots, rhizomes, and stumps, allow most species of shrubs occurring on moist and wet forest sites to survive burning and crushing. Establishment and survival of some forbs, such as fireweed and bracken fern, are greatly facilitated by burning. Effective non-chemical techniques for providing desirable forest tree species a successional advantage over competing forest species are discussed. These involve different silvicultural systems, time of logging, type of scarification, time and degree of burning, time of planting, size of seedlings, and other reforestation considerations.


1995 ◽  
Vol 117 (3) ◽  
pp. 582-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. N. Virgin ◽  
T. F. Walsh ◽  
J. D. Knight

This paper describes the results of a study into the dynamic behavior of a magnetic bearing system. The research focuses attention on the influence of nonlinearities on the forced response of a two-degree-of-freedom rotating mass suspended by magnetic bearings and subject to rotating unbalance and feedback control. Geometric coupling between the degrees of freedom leads to a pair of nonlinear ordinary differential equations, which are then solved using both numerical simulation and approximate analytical techniques. The system exhibits a variety of interesting and somewhat unexpected phenomena including various amplitude driven bifurcational events, sensitivity to initial conditions, and the complete loss of stability associated with the escape from the potential well in which the system can be thought to be oscillating. An approximate criterion to avoid this last possibility is developed based on concepts of limiting the response of the system. The present paper may be considered as an extension to an earlier study by the same authors, which described the practical context of the work, free vibration, control aspects, and derivation of the mathematical model.


2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodolfo Salm ◽  
Euphly Jalles-Filho ◽  
Cynthia Schuck-Paim

In this study we propose a model that represents the importance of large arborescent palms in the dynamics of seasonally-dry Amazonian forests. Specifically, the model is aimed at guiding the investigation of the role of large arborescent palms on forest regeneration and succession. Following disturbance, the high level of luminosity reaching recently formed forest gaps favors the quick proliferation of shade-intolerant lianas that, by casting shade on the crowns of mature forest trees and increasing tree-fall probability, suppress forest succession. Due to their columnar architecture palm trees are, however, not severely affected by vines. As the palms grow, the canopy at the gaps becomes gradually higher and denser, progressively obstructing the passage of light, thus hindering the growth of shade-intolerant lianas and enabling late-successional tree development and forest regeneration. Owing to the long time associated with forest regeneration, the model cannot be tested directly, but aspects of it were examined with field data collected at an Attalea maripa-rich secondary forest patch within a matrix of well-preserved seasonally-dry forest in the Southeastern Amazon. The results indicate that (1) forest disturbance is important for the recruitment of large arborescent palms species, (2) these palms can grow rapidly after an event of disturbance, restoring forest canopy height and density, and (3) secondary forest dominated by palm trees species may be floristically similar to nearby undisturbed forests, supporting the hypothesis that the former has undergone regeneration, as purported in the model.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hegui Zhu ◽  
Jiangxia Ge ◽  
Wentao Qi ◽  
Xiangde Zhang ◽  
Xiaoxiong Lu

Abstract Owning to complex properties of ergodicity, non-periodic ability and sensitivity to initial states, chaotic systems are widely used in cryptography. In this paper, we propose a sinusoidal--polynomial composite chaotic system (SPCCS), and prove that it satisfies Devaney's definition of chaos: the sensitivity to initial conditions, topological transitivity and density of periodic points. The experimental results show that the SPCCS has better unpredictability and more complex chaotic behavior than the classical chaotic maps. Furthermore, we provide a new image encryption algorithm combining pixel segmentation operation, block chaotic matrix confusing operation, and pixel diffusion operation with the SPCCS. Detailed simulation results verify effectiveness of the proposed image encryption algorithm.


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