Development of the Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America

Braun, E. Lucy

doi:10.2307/1943265

Cited by 447 publications

(666 citation statements)

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“…The pertinent "region" in this analysis corresponds to the extent of broad-leaved and mixed forest in eastern North America (17), within which few natural barriers impede the movement of birds and the distributions of their populations. The 142 local assemblages included 79 species of birds that are typical of forested habitats in the region (SI Text S1).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying a regional community concept to forest birds of eastern North America

Ricklefs

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The regional community concept embraces the idea that species interactions across large areas shape both the geographic/ecological distributions and the local abundances of populations. Within this framework, I analyzed the distribution and abundance of 79 species of land birds across 142 ca. 10-ha census plots from standardized breeding bird censuses in deciduous and mixed forests of eastern North America. To characterize the regional ecological space, plots were ordinated on the basis of species abundances. Within the regional community defined by these synthetic axes, the distribution and abundance of individual species did not appear to be shaped by competition or to reflect the adaptations of individuals: (i) local abundance and population extent across the ordination axes were unrelated, (ii) pairwise correlation coefficients of species abundances were centered on 0, (iii) average species distribution and abundance were independent of the number of close relatives, and (iv) distribution and abundance exhibited no evolutionary (phylogenetic) conservatism. To explain these seemingly random patterns, I speculate that species are approximately evenly matched competitors over much of the region and that their distributions and relative abundances are determined by the labile coevolutionary outcomes of interactions with specialized pathogens. Thus, despite the appearance that random processes determine patterns in the distribution and abundance of populations in the regional community, it is plausible that speciesspecific deterministic interactions are responsible. Although competition is a dominant force in ecological communities, variation in the distribution and abundance of individual species might instead reflect the outcome of interactions with specialized antagonists, including pathogens.niche | population distribution | community assembly | macroecology | variance in abundance B iological communities comprise large numbers of potentially interacting species. Although ecologists broadly embrace this concept of community (1, 2), they are not agreed on the integrity of communities as ecological entities or the scale on which communities can be perceived (3). Interactions between populations in local assemblages are evident through natural (4, 5) and experimental (2, 6) manipulations, but dispersal of individuals across space also connects and integrates assemblage dynamics within the larger region. The local presence and relative abundance of species integrate processes of evolutionary diversification and ecological interaction operating at large spatial and temporal scales (7). Accordingly, ecological communities make sense only as regional entities. Nonetheless, factors that influence the numbers and distributions of species within the regional community are poorly understood.The distribution and abundance of a species have two components (8). The individual component reflects adaptations to use substrates and exploit resources within the individual's activity space, which is also influenced by its tolera...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying a regional community concept to forest birds of eastern North America

Ricklefs

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Oak-chestnut forests (Braun, 1950;Greller, 1988), also described as a tulip poplar association by Brush et al (1980), dominate the northern coastal plain ( Figure 1). These are primarily mixed deciduous forests, with common Quercus alba (white oak), Carya (hickory/pecan), Liriodendron (tulip poplar), Acer (maple) and Nyssa (gum).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forest composition and distribution in the watershed is controlled by climatic, geomorphic and physical factors, such as moisture availability, soil type and elevation. The bay itself lies within the Atlantic Coastal Plain, a region characterized by unconsolidated sediments, little topographic relief and dominance of oak-pine forests in the south and oak-chestnut and tulip poplar forests in the north (Braun, 1950;Brush et al, 1980). The Piedmont Province, extending from the Fall Line in the east to the Catoctin Mountains in the west, has greater topographic relief and is underlain by igneous and metamorphic rocks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Piedmont Province, extending from the Fall Line in the east to the Catoctin Mountains in the west, has greater topographic relief and is underlain by igneous and metamorphic rocks. Vegetation in the relatively mesic eastern part of the province consists primarily of oak- (after Braun, 1950); larger map shows coring sites in Chesapeake Bay and distribution of generalized forest types in Maryland (after Braun, 1950;Brush et al, 1980). hickory forests, grading toward oak-dominated forests in the drier west (Braun, 1950;Brush et al, 1980).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Vegetation in the relatively mesic eastern part of the province consists primarily of oak- (after Braun, 1950); larger map shows coring sites in Chesapeake Bay and distribution of generalized forest types in Maryland (after Braun, 1950;Brush et al, 1980). hickory forests, grading toward oak-dominated forests in the drier west (Braun, 1950;Brush et al, 1980). The Valley and Ridge Province, to the west, is underlain by different lithologies with varying hydrologic characteristics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Late-Holocene climate and ecosystem history from Chesapeake Bay sediment cores, USA

2003

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Abstract:Palaeoclimate records from late-Holocene sediments in Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the USA, provide evidence that both decadal to centennial climate variability and European colonization had severe impacts on the watershed and estuary. Using pollen and dino agellate cysts as proxies for mid-Atlantic regional precipitation, estuarine salinity and dissolved oxygen (DO) during the last 2300 years, we identi ed four dry intervals, centred on ad 50 (P1/D1), ad 1000 (P2/D2), ad 1400 (P3) and ad 1600 (P4). Two centennial-scale events, P1/D1 and P2/D2, altered forest composition and led to increased salinity and DO levels in the estuary. Intervals P3 and P4 lasted several decades, leading to decreased production of pine pollen. Periods of dry midAtlantic climate correspond to 'megadroughts' identi ed from tree-ring records in the southeastern and central USA. The observed mid-Atlantic climate variability may be explained by changes in atmospheric circulation resulting in longer-term, perhaps ampli ed, intervals of meridional ow. After European colonization in the early seventeenth century, forest clearance for agriculture, timber and urbanization altered estuarine water quality, with dino agellate assemblages indicating reduced DO and increased turbidity.

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