Edge influence on forest structure in large forest remnants, cutblock separators, and riparian buffers in managed black spruce forests

López, Liliana E. Mascarúa; Harper, Karen A.; Drapeau, Pierre

doi:10.2980/i1195-6860-13-2-226.1

Cited by 40 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Randomization tests (using an Excel AddIn, K. A. Harper and S. E. Macdonald unpublished) were used to detect differences in abiotic variables, vegetation composition and structure between plots located at various distances along transects and reference forest and barren plots. This analysis was used in Mascarúa et al (2006) and consists of an updated version of the Critical Values Approach (Harper and Macdonald 2001). The difference between the mean of reference conditions and the mean at a given distance from the edge is compared to a distribution of randomized differences of the entire data set.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation composition, structure and soil properties across coastal forest–barren ecotones

2010

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Coastal barrens support rare plant species but may be threatened by forest encroachment. We determined whether trees spread into coastal barren habitat from forest patches and assessed plant species composition and soil properties across the forestbarren ecotone. We quantified tree age and height, soil properties, and vascular plant, bryophyte and lichen species composition along transects perpendicular to the edges of tree patches within the forestbarren ecotone in coastal Nova Scotia. Randomization tests assessed whether the vegetation and environmental characteristics were significantly different in the transition zone compared to one or both adjoining ecosystems. We used ordination to examine trends in species composition across the ecotone and the relationship to environmental variables. Tree age and height decreased continuously from the forest towards the edge of the forest patches. There were also trends in vegetation composition and structure from the forest into the open barrens. Many species were most abundant within the transition zone, although not always significantly. Soil properties were relatively uniform across the ecotone. The structure and vegetation of the forest-barren ecotone suggests that forest patches act as nuclei for forest expansion on barrens with a typical successional pathway where coastal barren vegetation is gradually replaced by forest species. This encroachment may pose a threat to rare barrens communities. While landscape factors such as salt spray and wind exposure may determine the general locations where forest can establish, biotic processes of growth and dispersal appear to govern the fine-scale expansion of tree patches.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation composition, structure and soil properties across coastal forest–barren ecotones

2010

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Use of the RTEI method was first introduced in Mascarú a- López et al (2006) as an updated version of the critical values approach (CVA, Macdonald 2001, 2002). The CVA method compared the mean value at the edge to critical values based on randomization of reference data; however, this method does not account for the range of variation among sample locations at a given distance from the edge and in some instances might lead to Type I error.…”

Section: Description Of the Rtei Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying distance of edge influence: a comparison of methods and a new randomization method

Harper

Macdonald

2011

Ecosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Despite many studies on edge influence in forests, there is no common method for estimating distance of edge influence (DEI, ¼ edge width). We introduce a new randomization method (RTEI) for estimating DEI that tests the significance of edge influence compared to the reference forest. Using artificial datasets we compared DEI as estimated by nine different methods and examined effects of sampling design and the nature of the edge response. DEI estimates varied widely among methods; parametric, randomization and curve-fitting analyses produced the lowest, intermediate and greatest values, respectively. Sampling design and the nature of the edge response affected estimates of DEI differently among methods. RTEI was the only method that was generally invariable to sampling design while being sensitive to variation in the reference ecosystem but not at the edge. A standard method of quantifying DEI is important for comparing edge responses among different studies for conservation research.

show abstract

“…Phylotype richness was highest at the edge, but lowest in the gap, similar to what Bauhus (1996) found when he measured microbial biomass along a gap-stand gradient in a European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest. Phylotype richness at D3 was the second highest (with 24 phylotypes) similar to the edge effect the RIC Forest Ecology Lab found in a separate study where canopy trees increased their radial growth up to 10 m from the edge which is where D3 is located, and Mascarúa-López et al, (2006) found the distance of the edge effect on forest structure extended 10-30 m from the edge in black spruce forests.…”

Section: Gap Effect On Soil Abiotic Componentsmentioning

confidence: 95%

TRFLP Analysis of the Effect of a Forest-to-Gap Ectone on Soil Microbial Diversity

Smith

2014

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To investigate how soil microbial diversity is influenced by the formation of an experimental edge-creating gap within a southern New England oak-hickory forest, I used a molecular fingerprinting technique known as terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP).Sequence variability in the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene in soil bacterial communities is detected by differences in the length and abundance of fragments produced by digesting PCR products amplified from rRNA genes. The different patterns observed are assumed to represent unique phylotypes.How does the forest-gap ecotone influence soil bacterial diversity? Based on other studies, Ihypothesized that the edge would contain the most diverse bacterial community, followed by the gap, and as distance from the gap into the forest increased, bacterial diversity would decrease.Soil samples were collected along 40m transects perpendicular to the northern edge of the gap.DNA was extracted from each sample, PCR was used to amplify the 16S rRNA gene, and DNA fragments were cut by restriction enzyme digestion and separated via electrophoresis. The DNA fragments were analyzed by TRFLP.Environmental variables (soil pH, soil temperature and soil gravimetric moisture) were different in the gap compared to all other distances, but not significantly so. Phylotype richness and diversity (Simpson's index) was greatest at the edge. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) produced a phylotype-by-distance ordination that supports my hypothesis and shows that the edge is an ecotone (transitional zone) between the gap and forest.

show abstract

Edge influence on forest structure in large forest remnants, cutblock separators, and riparian buffers in managed black spruce forests

Cited by 40 publications

References 38 publications

Vegetation composition, structure and soil properties across coastal forest–barren ecotones

Vegetation composition, structure and soil properties across coastal forest–barren ecotones

Quantifying distance of edge influence: a comparison of methods and a new randomization method

TRFLP Analysis of the Effect of a Forest-to-Gap Ectone on Soil Microbial Diversity

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About