Canopy tree density and species influence tree regeneration patterns and woody species diversity in a longleaf pine forest

Johnson, Daniel J.; Magee, Lukas; Pandit, Karun; Bourdon, Jacqueline; Broadbent, Eben N.; Glenn, Kaylyn; Kaddoura, Youssef; Machado, Siddarth; Nieves, Joseph; Wilkinson, Benjamin; Zambrano, Angélica M. Almeyda; Bohlman, Stephanie A.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119082

Cited by 32 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Recent research has highlighted the importance of fire‐facilitating Quercus stems in P . palustris ecosystems (Hiers et al, 2014; Loudermilk et al, 2016; Johnson et al, 2021). Loudermilk et al (2016) found that Q .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial patterns of stand structure and canopy disturbance in a fire‐maintained Pinus palustris woodland

Phillips

Goode

Hart

2022

Applied Vegetation Science

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Question Stand structural complexity is increasingly valued by forest managers to promote resilience, and quantitative spatial data from reference stands can help achieve these goals. We questioned how stand structural elements were spatially distributed across a Pinus palustris woodland. Specifically, we sought to quantify patterns of individual trees, tree clumps, openings, and canopy disturbance and examine spatial relationships between P. palustris saplings and P. palustris and Quercus spp. trees. Location Fall Line Hills, Alabama, USA (32°56′12′′ N, 87°25′37′′ W). Methods We recorded tree species, diameter, age, and location of all trees, and reconstructed canopy disturbance events across a 1‐ha site in a P. palustris woodland. We used global point pattern analysis (g(r) function) and a local spatial classification method (individuals, clumps, and openings) to examine the distribution of stand structural elements and canopy disturbance. Results Trees were generally clustered by taxa and diameter. Pinus palustris saplings exhibited no spatial relationship with P. palustris trees, but were clustered around Quercus trees at variable distances. Approximately half of the trees in the stand occurred in large clumps, and ca. 10% of trees occurred as individuals that did not touch crowns with neighbors. For three of the five disturbance periods, canopy disturbances were clustered in space at various distances. Conclusions Spatial randomness and clustering of structural elements and canopy disturbance events were evident across the reference site. The spatial patterns of stand structure quantified here, in conjunction with data from other georeferenced studies, can be used to develop silvicultural guidelines to enhance structural complexity and promote resilience.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial patterns of stand structure and canopy disturbance in a fire‐maintained Pinus palustris woodland

Phillips

Goode

Hart

2022

Applied Vegetation Science

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“…In addition, issues in seed-firing accuracy may result in clusters of trees, which is not ideal, as the competition for limited resources will be increased. Even if seeds of multiple species are included in seed pods, only a few might be successful in germinating in particular unprepared terrains, and this may result in reduced resilience of the forests, to events such as droughts, due to a lack of forest hydraulic diversity; canopy tree density, and the coexistence of species can also influence tree regeneration patterns [137,138]. Despite the fact that a lot of the aforementioned drawbacks are commonplace with any other kinds of artificial regeneration methods, further research is required to analyze the varying degrees of impacts UAVsSS will have on forest diversity.…”

Section: Future Forest Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

UAV-Supported Forest Regeneration: Current Trends, Challenges and Implications

Mohan

Richardson²,

Gopan³

et al. 2021

Remote Sensing

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Replanting trees helps with avoiding desertification, reducing the chances of soil erosion and flooding, minimizing the risks of zoonotic disease outbreaks, and providing ecosystem services and livelihood to the indigenous people, in addition to sequestering carbon dioxide for mitigating climate change. Consequently, it is important to explore new methods and technologies that are aiming to upscale and fast-track afforestation and reforestation (A/R) endeavors, given that many of the current tree planting strategies are not cost effective over large landscapes, and suffer from constraints associated with time, energy, manpower, and nursery-based seedling production. UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle)-supported seed sowing (UAVsSS) can promote rapid A/R in a safe, cost-effective, fast and environmentally friendly manner, if performed correctly, even in otherwise unsafe and/or inaccessible terrains, supplementing the overall manual planting efforts globally. In this study, we reviewed the recent literature on UAVsSS, to analyze the current status of the technology. Primary UAVsSS applications were found to be in areas of post-wildfire reforestation, mangrove restoration, forest restoration after degradation, weed eradication, and desert greening. Nonetheless, low survival rates of the seeds, future forest diversity, weather limitations, financial constraints, and seed-firing accuracy concerns were determined as major challenges to operationalization. Based on our literature survey and qualitative analysis, twelve recommendations—ranging from the need for publishing germination results to linking UAVsSS operations with carbon offset markets—are provided for the advancement of UAVsSS applications.

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“…For example, heavy fuel loads clustered near longleaf pines create zones of reduced recruitment potential, resulting in distinct patches of recruitment outside these exclusionary zones, often in canopy gaps [16][17][18][19]. Hence, juvenile longleaf pines are known to exhibit strong, fireinduced, conspecific distance-dependent survival [7,13,20]. Interspecific interactions may also influence patterns of longleaf pine survival, growth, and recruitment [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Stage and Neighborhood-Dependent Survival of Longleaf Pine after Prescribed Fire

Magee

Pandit

Flory

et al. 2022

Forests

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Determining mechanisms of plant establishment in ecological communities can be particularly difficult in disturbance-dominated ecosystems. Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) and its associated plant community exemplify systems that evolved with disturbances, where frequent, widespread fires alter the population dynamics of longleaf pine within distinct life stages. We identified the primary biotic and environmental conditions that influence the survival of longleaf pine in this disturbance-dominated ecosystem. We combined data from recruitment surveys, tree censuses, dense lidar point clouds, and a forest-wide prescribed fire to examine the response of longleaf pine individuals to fire and biotic neighborhoods. We found that fire temperatures increased with increasing longleaf pine neighborhood basal area and decreased with higher oak densities. There was considerable variation in longleaf pine survival across life stages, with lowest survival probabilities occurring during the bolt stage and not in the earlier, more fire-resistant grass stage. Survival of grass-stage, bolt-stage, and sapling longleaf pines was negatively associated with basal area of neighboring longleaf pine and positively related to neighboring heterospecific tree density, primarily oaks (Quercus spp.). Our findings highlight the vulnerability of longleaf pine across life stages, which suggests optimal fire management strategies for controlling longleaf pine density, and—more broadly—emphasize the importance of fire in mediating species interactions.

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Canopy tree density and species influence tree regeneration patterns and woody species diversity in a longleaf pine forest

Cited by 32 publications

References 65 publications

Spatial patterns of stand structure and canopy disturbance in a fire‐maintained Pinus palustris woodland

Spatial patterns of stand structure and canopy disturbance in a fire‐maintained Pinus palustris woodland

UAV-Supported Forest Regeneration: Current Trends, Challenges and Implications

Life Stage and Neighborhood-Dependent Survival of Longleaf Pine after Prescribed Fire

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