Assessing the single-tree and small group selection cutting system as intermediate disturbance to promote regeneration and diversity in temperate mixedwood stands

Raymond, Patricia; Royo, Alejandro A.; Prévost, Marcel; Dumais, Daniel

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2018.07.054

Cited by 41 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…We hypothesized that species richness for both shrub and tree seedling species groups should increase with gap area, because larger gaps have higher resource levels and more microsite heterogeneity than small gaps [28,29]. Shrubs were more diverse in our study in resource-rich gaps when compared to the forest understory; this was consistent with shrubs possessing traits more adapted to disturbances, including persistence followed by fast vegetative growth for rapid colonization of newly created habitat patches [16,17].…”

Section: Diversity-resource Relationship and Species Traitssupporting

confidence: 62%

Forest Landscape Heterogeneity Increases Shrub Diversity at the Expense of Tree Seedling Diversity in Temperate Mixedwood Forests

Markgraf

Doyon

Kneeshaw

2020

Forests

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Partial disturbances enhance spatial heterogeneity through the diversification of forest structure, which contributes to niche partitioning and consequently to species diversity. However, this heterogeneity–diversity relationship may differ between groups of species, and is potentially modified by biotic interactions at the community level. We propose that shrub diversity will be greater in heterogeneous landscapes, while tree diversity will be lower in those same landscapes, due to the biotic interactions of shrub competition. We conducted field sampling in the balsam fir/yellow birch bioclimatic domain in western Québec, a forested ecosystem disturbed by natural and anthropogenic partial disturbances. We selected 12 forested landscapes (1 km2), four in each of three classes of landscape heterogeneity (heterogeneous, moderately heterogeneous, homogenous). Shrub and tree species regeneration abundance was measured in three different size classes of canopy gaps and the forest understory. Gap proportions were assessed in each landscape using aerial LiDAR data. Tree and shrub alpha-diversity significantly responded to landscape heterogeneity, shrubs being more diverse while tree seedlings were less diverse in heterogeneous landscapes. Heterogeneous landscapes showed highest species accumulation rates for shrubs in medium-sized gaps. For tree seedlings, species accumulation rates were highest in heterogeneous landscapes in the forest understory. Our study thus supports the heterogeneity–diversity relationship with shrubs having higher alpha and beta diversity in heterogeneous landscapes whereas local-scale tree diversity was higher in homogenous landscapes.

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Section: Diversity-resource Relationship and Species Traitssupporting

confidence: 62%

Forest Landscape Heterogeneity Increases Shrub Diversity at the Expense of Tree Seedling Diversity in Temperate Mixedwood Forests

Markgraf

Doyon

Kneeshaw

2020

Forests

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“…The effects of disturbance on taxonomic diversity of the tree regeneration layer often vary with the disturbance severity. For example, taxonomic diversity of the regeneration layer following heavy cutting (e.g., group openings, heavy shelterwood harvests, and clear‐cutting with reserves) has been shown to significantly increase relative to undisturbed forests (Jenkins & Parker, 1998; Elliott & Knoepp, 2005; Nuttle et al ., 2013), while only minor changes occur following lighter cutting and other low‐severity vegetation management treatments (e.g., light thinning, single‐tree selection) (Schweitzer & Dey, 2011; Seiwa et al ., 2012; Raymond et al ., 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of taxonomic and functional diversity to disturbance severity in temperate hardwood forests

Keyser

Collins

Greenberg

2020

Applied Vegetation Science

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Aims: Quantify changes in taxonomic and functional diversity (FD) and identity to determine if responses to a disturbance severity gradient follow a “colonization/competition” hypothesis: diversity will (a) increase with disturbance severity as more open conditions favor species with traits linked to colonization; and (b) become more similar between regeneration and overstorey layers as environmental filtering favors species with traits linked to increasing competition for light. Location: North Carolina, USA. Methods: Taxonomic (richness [S], evenness [E], and Shannon diversity [H′]) and functional diversity (richness [FRic], evenness [FEve], and dispersion [FDis]) and identities were calculated for regeneration and overstorey before and after restoration treatments: control (CONT); “undesirable” subcanopy stems removed via herbicide (HERB); repeated burning (RRXF); and timber harvest followed by burning (HARV). Results: In the overstorey, HARV affected taxonomic and FD. In HARV, S and H′ were lower than in other treatments. At high levels of species richness, FEve was lower in HARV than in HERB and RRXF. Similarly, at high levels of species richness, FDis was greater in HARV than other treatments. In the regeneration layer, taxonomic and FD did not differ across treatments during any of the post‐treatment years. In the regeneration stratum, HARV increased the means of traits associated with rapid post‐disturbance establishment, carbon capture, and maximum height. Greater dissimilarity in composition between the overstorey and regeneration suggests stronger treatment effects on regeneration in HARV than less severe treatments. Conclusion: Patterns do not support the hypothesis that taxonomic diversity increases with disturbance severity or decreases with time after disturbance in the regeneration layer. Of the restoration treatments tested in this study, only HARV affected aspects of functional identity of the regeneration stratum; even so, FD remained unchanged. In mixed Quercus forests, functional identity rather than taxonomic or FD may provide insight into nuanced effects of restoration treatments on ecosystem function.

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“…Considerations include maintaining the seed source and creating suitable seedbed for limiting species by exposing mineral soil through mechanical scarification for yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) or hemlock (Kern et al 2017(Kern et al , 2019 or prescribed burning for pines (Clabo and Clatterbuck 2015), or by retaining highly decayed deadwood for spruce (Raymond and Bédard 2017) or hemlock (Kern et al 2017). In the absence of conditions suitable for germination, underplanting pine (Kabrick et al 2015) or spruce (Kenefic et al 2014, Raymond et al 2018 or other artificial methods may be required. Controlling the microclimate to meet the shade and light requirements of varying species can be accomplished with irregular shelterwoods or group selection in spruce-hardwoods (Raymond et al 2018), shelterwoods in fir-hardwoods (Raymond and Bédard, 2017), or shelterwood and seed tree methods in shortleaf pine-oak (Kabrick et al 2015).…”

Section: Key Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the absence of conditions suitable for germination, underplanting pine (Kabrick et al 2015) or spruce (Kenefic et al 2014, Raymond et al 2018 or other artificial methods may be required. Controlling the microclimate to meet the shade and light requirements of varying species can be accomplished with irregular shelterwoods or group selection in spruce-hardwoods (Raymond et al 2018), shelterwoods in fir-hardwoods (Raymond and Bédard, 2017), or shelterwood and seed tree methods in shortleaf pine-oak (Kabrick et al 2015). Competition control can be accomplished via mechanical or chemical treatments in northern temperate forests or prescribed fires in central and mid-Atlantic regions (Fig.…”

Section: Key Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research and management partnerships for resolving regeneration and recruitment challenges in hardwood-softwood mixtures in eastern North America.

Kabrick

Clark

D’Amato³

et al. 2020

The 2019 National Silviculture Workshop

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Naturally occurring mixtures of hardwoods and softwoods are found throughout the eastern United States and Canada. They are compositionally diverse and appear to have originated from a complex array of natural disturbances or past harvesting. Contemporary mixedwood stands can be difficult to regenerate and manage because individual species of these mixtures have differing shade tolerances, growth rates, longevities, phenology, and crown and root structure. Consequently, they often cannot be sustained without deliberate silvicultural efforts to regenerate and recruit desirable species. Despite the difficulties, foresters are interested in managing hardwood-softwood mixtures because of the many benefits that they confer including increased resistance to pests and diseases, improved habitat diversity, enhanced climate change resilience and adaptability, and increased diversity of forest products. The interest in and the challenges related to managing these mixtures have led to the development of many research-management partnerships across the eastern United States and Canada to resolve regeneration and recruitment problems. Here we discuss the regeneration and recruitment challenges for a variety of hardwood-softwood mixtures across the eastern United States, identify the research-management partnerships that have developed to address them, and describe how these partnerships are leading to solutions.

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Assessing the single-tree and small group selection cutting system as intermediate disturbance to promote regeneration and diversity in temperate mixedwood stands

Cited by 41 publications

References 68 publications

Forest Landscape Heterogeneity Increases Shrub Diversity at the Expense of Tree Seedling Diversity in Temperate Mixedwood Forests

Forest Landscape Heterogeneity Increases Shrub Diversity at the Expense of Tree Seedling Diversity in Temperate Mixedwood Forests

Response of taxonomic and functional diversity to disturbance severity in temperate hardwood forests

Research and management partnerships for resolving regeneration and recruitment challenges in hardwood-softwood mixtures in eastern North America.

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