Effects of suppression history on growth response and stem quality of extant northern hardwoods following partial harvests

Baral, Sharad Kumar; Danyagri, Gabriel; Girouard, Monique; Hébert, François; Pelletier, Gaétan

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2016.04.023

Cited by 23 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Growth before cutting (GBC) and stand age were used to provide information about the status of trees and forest structure (Thorpe et al, 2008;Montoro Girona et al, 2016). Based on dendroecological approaches, we measured GBC and tree age using tree-ring series (Baral et al, 2016;Khakimulina et al, 2016). In the summer of 2014, increment cores were extracted at breast height using an increment borer from 34 to 38 randomly selected trees per plot, for a total of 1,039 samples.…”

Section: Tree and Stand Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-cutting Mortality Following Experimental Silvicultural Treatments in Unmanaged Boreal Forest Stands

Girona

Morin

Lussier

et al. 2019

Front. For. Glob. Change

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Partial cutting has been recommended as an alternative harvesting method to ensure the sustainable management of boreal forests. The success of this approach is closely linked to the survival of residual trees as additional losses through mortality could affect post-cutting timber production at harvest. To better quantify post-cutting mortality in previously unmanaged boreal forests, we addressed two main questions:(1) what is the level of mortality 10 years after cutting? and (2) what ecological factors are involved in this phenomenon? Even-aged black spruce [Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.] stands in the Canadian boreal forest were subjected to three experimental shelterwood treatments, a seed-tree treatment and an untreated control. Tree status (live/dead) was recorded prior to cutting and 10 years after cutting. Dead trees were classified as standing dead, overturned or broken. Ten years after experimental seed-tree treatment, 60% of residual trees were dead, compared to 30% for the shelterwood cuttings. Windthrow (overturned and broken trees) represented 80% of residual tree mortality; only the amount of overturning was influenced by treatment. Broken trees were associated with small-diameter trunks, stands having high growth prior to cutting, younger stands or forest plots located near to adjacent cuts (<200 m). Overturning was associated with a high harvesting intensity and large-diameter trees. Standing dead mortality was the most difficult to explain: it was related to untreated plots having suppressed and small-diameter trees. Based on these results, applying intermediate levels of harvest intensity could reduce post-cutting damage. Understanding tree mortality after cutting is essential to reduce economic losses, improve silvicultural planning and stand selection and ensure ultimately the sustainable harvest of North American boreal forests.

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Section: Tree and Stand Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-cutting Mortality Following Experimental Silvicultural Treatments in Unmanaged Boreal Forest Stands

Girona

Morin

Lussier

et al. 2019

Front. For. Glob. Change

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“…Several studies of the Acadian forest of New Brunswick have found that the partial opening of the canopy after harvesting and the percent of hardwoods in the stand can influence processes underlying forest dynamics such as the recruitment of stems into the merchantable cohort (Forget et al 2007;Li et al 2011;Baral et al 2016). In fact, our analyses showed that sapling density and occurrence probability of tolerant hardwood saplings increased with the initial proportion (before harvesting) of hardwoods in the plot.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 48%

“…Despite the shade tolerance of sugar maple, several studies have reported that the establishment of this species is favored by partial opening of the canopy through harvesting; its density generally increases with light availability (Forget et al 2007;Baral et al 2016). Here, we observed that the sapling density of sugar maple increased with increasing merchantable residual basal area of the stand after harvesting.…”

Section: Sapling Densitymentioning

confidence: 41%

“…Previous studies have reported that the difference between species in the response of sapling occurrence is related to several factors, especially the ecological and physiological requirements of each tolerant hardwood species (Nyland et al 2006;Nyland 2016), site environmental conditions (Grime and Hunt 1975;Walters and Reich 1996) such as fertility, light availability, and the presence of interspecific competition within the stand (Seymour 1992). In general, sugar maple saplings are frequent on fertile sites with a partial canopy opening that increases light availability, and less frequent under dense forest cover (Forget et al 2007;Nolet et al 2008;Baral et al 2016). However, American beech saplings are more frequent under dense forest cover due to their higher tolerance to shade (Canham 1988;Beaudet et al 1999; et al 2008, 2015).…”

Section: Sapling Occurrence Probabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modeling tolerant hardwood sapling density and occurrence probability in the Acadian forests of New Brunswick, Canada: Results 14 years after harvesting

HennebMohammed

PelletierGaetan²,

FortinMathieu

et al. 2021

The Forestry Chronicle

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Natural forest regeneration after natural or anthropogenic disturbance is difficult to predict given its high variability. The process is poorly documented for commercial northern hardwood species in the Acadian forest of eastern Canada. Our objective was to identify the silvicultural, environmental, and ecological factors that best explain the variability in sapling density and occurrence of two commercial tolerant hardwood species in New Brunswick: American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.). Forty-three permanent sample plots were established in 2002 and measured before harvesting in 2004. Sapling density and occurrence were measured 14 years after harvesting. The results showed that the interactions between the species and the residual merchantable basal area and between the species and the percent of hardwoods in the original stand best explained the sapling density and occurrence variation of tolerant hardwoods. The sapling density of sugar maple increased with increasing merchantable residual basal area. However, the effect of this variable was not significant for the density of American beech saplings. The density and occurrence of tolerant hardwood saplings both increased along with the percent of hardwoods in the original stand. These results provide an improved understanding about tolerant hardwood regeneration dynamics in New Brunswick forests.

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“…As discussed in the section Different variables at different working scales, different time windows (table 3), as well as a trend reversal from the early 1980s (Wang et al 2011 see also figure 1), reduce the possibility for crossvalidation of the results. Historical growing conditions could affect current tree growth (Baral et al 2016), but recent growth rates would be more representative of current directions of Canadian forests. Thus, a recent time window, e.g., 1981 to the present, would be an appropriate choice when studying growth trajectories.…”

Section: Co-integration and A Multidisciplinary Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untangling methodological and scale considerations in growth and productivity trend estimates of Canada’s forests

Marchand

Girardin

Gauthier

et al. 2018

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Effects of suppression history on growth response and stem quality of extant northern hardwoods following partial harvests

Cited by 23 publications

References 42 publications

Post-cutting Mortality Following Experimental Silvicultural Treatments in Unmanaged Boreal Forest Stands

Post-cutting Mortality Following Experimental Silvicultural Treatments in Unmanaged Boreal Forest Stands

Modeling tolerant hardwood sapling density and occurrence probability in the Acadian forests of New Brunswick, Canada: Results 14 years after harvesting

Untangling methodological and scale considerations in growth and productivity trend estimates of Canada’s forests

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