A Half-Century of Changes in the Herb Layer of a Climax Deciduous Forest in Michigan

Brewer, Richard

doi:10.2307/2259458

Cited by 92 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This can be a consequence of less intensive forest management or even abandonment, as well as the lack of natural disturbance including the activities of grazers (Brewer 1980, Davison and Forman 1982, Vera 2000, Verheyen et al 2012, Kopecky et al 2013. A drastic decrease in herbaceous species cover was found by Łysik (2008) in a primeval beech forest in Poland and by Ujházy et al (2007) in a primeval fir-beech forest in Slovakia.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Denser canopies effect not only the cover of the herbaceous layer, but also trigger trait-based reactions as the decrease in light-demanding species and increase in species with good abilities for living in shade (Brewer 1980, Hédl et al 2010, Heinrichs et al 2014. A direct trend in species trait shift can be observed in spite of the formerly assumed or postulated stability of a site (Brewer 1980, Taverna et al 2005, Łysik 2008.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of the observed changes in the herbaceous layer show an explicit trend, as a consequence of direct or indirect anthropogenic effects. A marked successional shift towards species-poorer herbaceous layer communities was detected as a result of abandonment of former management practices (Baeten et al 2010, Hédl et al 2010, lack of disturbance (Brewer 1980) and herbivory (Rooney and Dress 1997). A loss of rarer native plants (Hédl 2004) and the homogenization of the herbaceous layer was detected, and was attributed to high browsing pressure by deer herbivory (Wiegmann and Waller 2006), acidification (Durak 2010) and light deficit (Davison andForman 1982, Heinrichs et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Resurvey studies investigated the understorey to detect potential long-term changes and to assess the role of different environmental variables as driving forces in deciduous forests. The observed changes were attributed to different background causes, such as combined effect of temperature increase and canopy opening (De Frenne et al 2013, abandonment of former forest management practices (Hédl et al 2010, Heinrichs et al 2014, lack of disturbance (Brewer 1980, Taverna et al 2005, deer herbivory (Rooney and Dress 1997, Taverna et al 2005, Wiegmann and Waller 2006, increased soil acidity (Falkengren-Grerup and Tyler 1991, Durak 2010, Šebesta et al 2011, nitrogen deposition (Verheyen et al 2012) and often the intermingled influence of several factors (Heinrichs et al 2014, Vanhellemont et al 2014, Bernhardt-Römermann et al 2015, Naaf and Kolk 2016. The majority of the observed changes in the herbaceous layer show an explicit trend, as a consequence of direct or indirect anthropogenic effects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These short-and long-term changes in the herbaceous layer are most often detected by resurveys of phytosociological relevés or smaller quadrats after a few years (Ujházy et al 2007, Martináková andMartinák 2012), one or a few decades (Davison and Forman 1982, Taverna et al 2005, Łysik 2008, Vanhellemont et al 2014 or even after a half-century interval (Brewer 1980, Hédl 2004, Durak 2010, 2012, Hédl et al 2010, Šebesta et al 2011. In some cases the relocation can be precise, when the time span is short or permanent corner markers were used, but more often former plots are relocated only approximately.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Temporal changes in vegetation of a virgin beech woodland remnant: stand-scale stability with intensive fine-scale dynamics governed by stand dynamic events

Standovár¹,

Horváth²,

Aszalós³

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aim of this resurvey study is to check if herbaceous vegetation on the forest floor exhibits overall stability at the stand-scale in spite of intensive dynamics at the scale of individual plots and stand dynamic events (driven by natural fine scale canopy gap dynamics). In 1996, we sampled a 1.5 ha patch using 0.25 m² plots placed along a 5 m × 5 m grid in the best remnant of central European montane beech woods in Hungary. All species in the herbaceous layer and their cover estimates were recorded. Five patches representing different stand developmental situations (SDS) were selected for resurvey. In 2013, 306 plots were resurveyed by using blocks of four 0.25 m² plots to test the effects of imperfect relocation.We found very intensive fine-scale dynamics in the herbaceous layer with high species turnover and sharp changes in ground layer cover at the local-scale (< 1 m 2 ). A decrease in species richness and herbaceous layer cover, as well as high species turnover, characterized the closing gaps. Colonization events and increasing species richness and herbaceous layer cover prevailed in the two newly created gaps. A pronounced decrease in the total cover, but low species turnover and survival of the majority of the closed forest specialists was detected by the resurvey at the stand-scale. The test aiming at assessing the effect of relocation showed a higher time effect than the effect of imprecise relocation. RESEARCH ARTICLE Launched to accelerate biodiversity conservation A peer-reviewed open-access journalTibor Standovár et al. / Nature Conservation 17: 35-56 (2017) 36The very intensive fine-scale dynamics of the studied beech forest are profoundly determined by natural stand dynamics. Extinction and colonisation episodes even out at the stand-scale, implying an overall compositional stability of the herbaceous vegetation at the given spatial and temporal scale. We argue that fine-scale gap dynamics, driven by natural processes or applied as a management method, can warrant the survival of many closed forest specialist species in the long-run.Nomenclature: Flora Europaea (Tutin et al. 2010) for vascular plants; Soó 1968Soó -1980 for syntaxa

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Temporal changes in vegetation of a virgin beech woodland remnant: stand-scale stability with intensive fine-scale dynamics governed by stand dynamic events

Standovár¹,

Horváth²,

Aszalós³

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Effect of Removal of Co‐occurring Species on Distribution and Abundance of Erythronium Americanum (Liliaceae), a Spring Ephemeral

Hughes

1992

American J of Botany

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Growth of spring ephemerals in northern forests is limited to early spring when competition for resources from other species is at a minimum. The abundance of resources during this vernal period suggests that spring ephemerals might grow continuously over a wide range of sites, but distributions tend to be patchy. I hypothesized that co‐occurring plants that grow later in the season compete for resources to a limited extent, but that competition from these other species is sufficient to restrict the spread of spring ephemerals into unoccupied sites. Population dynamics of Erythronium americanum were compared on sites at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire subjected to varying removals of cooccurring plants. During the 3‐year period after removal of only overstory trees the density and frequency of occurrence of Erythronium increased by 225% and 180%, respectively, and removal of all co‐occurring vegetation after 1 year's regrowth had an even more pronounced effect (400% and 195% increases, respectively). The abundance of Erythronium in the undisturbed forest did not change over the 3‐year period. Elevational distribution of Erythronium also was directly related to the extent of removal of summer plants. Recruitment was mostly vegetative, but flower production on the tree removal site increased by a factor of six, and some distant sites apparently were colonized by seedlings. For several years following large‐scale disturbances that eliminate co‐occurring vegetation, the vernal growing season is lengthened and resources are more available, and spring ephemerals such as Erythronium americanum exploit these resource‐rich opportunities to expand populations and colonize new sites. It appears that, as forest succession proceeds, the size and survival of newly established colonies are gradually constrained by competition from co‐occurring species that grow later in the season.

show abstract

Effects of Light and N Availability in Forests on Plant Species Diversity in the Field Layer: A Plant Ecological and Modelling Approach

Elemans

Heil

Environmental Effects of Afforestation in North-Western Europe

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A Half-Century of Changes in the Herb Layer of a Climax Deciduous Forest in Michigan

Cited by 92 publications

References 12 publications

Temporal changes in vegetation of a virgin beech woodland remnant: stand-scale stability with intensive fine-scale dynamics governed by stand dynamic events

Temporal changes in vegetation of a virgin beech woodland remnant: stand-scale stability with intensive fine-scale dynamics governed by stand dynamic events

Effect of Removal of Co‐occurring Species on Distribution and Abundance of Erythronium Americanum (Liliaceae), a Spring Ephemeral

Effects of Light and N Availability in Forests on Plant Species Diversity in the Field Layer: A Plant Ecological and Modelling Approach

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About