Fire Severity and Long-term Ecosystem Biomass Dynamics in Coniferous Boreal Forests of Eastern Canada

Lecomte, Nicolas; Simard, M.; Fenton, Nicole J.; Bergeron, Yves

doi:10.1007/s10021-004-0168-x

Cited by 103 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Consequently, stands established after a low severity fire were predominantly in the partially open and open stands, as a high proportion of C4, D3 and particularly D4 stands were established after low severity fire, with many mature stands. This results in young forest stands with a structure similar to that of old-growth forests [14,19].…”

Section: Interaction Between Stand Age Fire Severity and Paludificationmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…This is unsurprising because fire severity is generally a function of the weather before fire ignition and during the burning period [33], at a local scale variations in fuel type can result in patches of forest that are burned less severely (sensu [16,21,34]). Consequently high-severity fire reduces the thickness of the organic layer [19] producing (i) favourable seedbeds for the germination of spruce seeds [16]; (ii) increased soil fertility [31]; and (iii) free growing space by eliminating competing vegetation. All of these effects have been shown to favour spruce stand regeneration, generating dense stands [19,35].…”

Section: Interaction Between Stand Age Fire Severity and Paludificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently high-severity fire reduces the thickness of the organic layer [19] producing (i) favourable seedbeds for the germination of spruce seeds [16]; (ii) increased soil fertility [31]; and (iii) free growing space by eliminating competing vegetation. All of these effects have been shown to favour spruce stand regeneration, generating dense stands [19,35]. In the absence of fire, the gradual canopy opening of black spruce stands continues, both in the case of stands originating from high severity fire and those originating from low severity fire, to give ultimately the unproductive open stands (C3 and C4 stands that are very old, Figure 2).…”

Section: Interaction Between Stand Age Fire Severity and Paludificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This thick organic layer and the associated high water table can result in the transformation of a forest on mineral soil into a forested peatland [17,18]. Consequently, paludification alters stand structure and ecosystem biomass partitioning [19] and other ecosystem functions [20] and ultimately creates alternative post-fire successional pathways by both increasing the amount of organic matter needed to be burned to reach the mineral soil, and reducing the amount of carbon lost during fire [21,22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Can We Use Forest Inventory Mapping as a Coarse Filter in Ecosystem Based Management in the Black Spruce Boreal Forest?

Chaieb

Fenton

Lafleur

et al. 2015

Forests

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Forest inventory mapping is used worldwide to describe forests at a large spatial scale via the delimitation of portions of the landscape that are structurally homogeneous. Consequently, there is a significant amount of descriptive forest data in forest inventory maps, particularly with the development of ecosystem classification, which represents a significant potential for use in ecosystem based management. With this study we propose to test whether forest inventory maps can be used to describe not only stand characteristics but also dynamic processes. The results indicate that stand types identifiable in forest inventory maps do not in fact represent unique developmental stages, but rather confound stands at multiple developmental stages that may be undergoing different ecological processes. The reasons for this are linked to both the interaction between succession, fire severity and paludification. Finally, some aspects of the process of forest inventory mapping itself contribute to the disjunction between forest types and forest succession. Given the low similarity between spruce mapping types and their actual description following forest inventories, it would be too ambitious to infer the dynamic aspects of spruce forest by map units.

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Section: Interaction Between Stand Age Fire Severity and Paludificationmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Interaction Between Stand Age Fire Severity and Paludificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Interaction Between Stand Age Fire Severity and Paludificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Can We Use Forest Inventory Mapping as a Coarse Filter in Ecosystem Based Management in the Black Spruce Boreal Forest?

Chaieb

Fenton

Lafleur

et al. 2015

Forests

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“…Lecomte et al (2006b). B) Effects of current forest management approaches in Quebec (CPRS) and Ontario (CLAAG).…”

Section: Towards Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using knowledge of natural disturbances to support sustainable forest management in the northern Clay Belt

Bergeron¹,

Drapeau²,

Gauthier³

et al. 2007

The Forestry Chronicle

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Several concepts are at the basis of forest ecosystem management, but a relative consensus exists around the idea of a forest management approach that is based on natural disturbances and forest dynamics. This type of approach aims to reproduce the main attributes of natural landscapes in order to maintain ecosystems within their natural range of variability and avoid creating an environment to which species are not adapted. By comparing attributes associated with natural fire regimes and current forest management, we were able to identify four major differences for the black spruce forest of the Clay Belt. The maintenance of older forests, the spatial extent of cutover areas, the maintenance of residuals within cutovers and disturbance severity on soils are major issues that should be addressed. Silvicultural strategies that mitigate differences between natural and managed forests are briefly discussed.Key words: natural disturbance, landscape patterns, coarse filter, harvest pattern, volume retention, historic variability, even-aged management RÉSUMÉ Plusieurs approches conceptuelles sont à l'origine de l'aménagement écosystémique, mais un certain consensus semble exister actuellement sur le fait qu'il doit viser à reproduire des paysages naturels, i.e., des territoires aménagés qui conservent les principaux attributs des forêts naturelles. En créant des paysages avec des attributs forestiers semblables à ceux des paysages naturels, on vise à maintenir l'écosystème à l'intérieur des limites de variabilité naturelle. Ainsi, les espèces ne risquent pas de se retrouver dans un environnement auquel elles n'ont jamais été confrontées historiquement. En comparant le régime naturel des feux et son impact sur la dynamique forestière avec l'aménagement forestier actuel nous avons pu identifier certains écarts importants. Le maintien de forêts surannées, la dispersion spatiale des aires de coupes, la préservation de forêts résiduelles dans les aires de coupes et la sévérité des perturbations au sol constituent des enjeux importants à prendre en considération dans l'aménagement écosystémique des forêts de la ceinture d'argile. Des straté-gies sylvicoles permettant de décroître l'écart entre l'aménagement et la dynamique naturelle sont brièvement discutées.Mots-clés : perturbation naturelle, patron à l'échelle du paysage, filtre brut, patron de coupe, rétention variable, variabilité historique, aménagement équienne 1 Chaire industrielle CRSNG-UQAT-UQAM en aménagement forestier durable, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 boul. de l'Université, Rouyn-Noranda, Québec J9X 5E4.

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Do multiple fires interact to affect vegetation structure in temperate eucalypt forests?

Haslem

Leonard

Bruce

et al. 2016

Ecological Applications

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Fire plays an important role in structuring vegetation in fire-prone regions worldwide. Progress has been made towards documenting the effects of individual fire events and fire regimes on vegetation structure; less is known of how different fire history attributes (e.g., time since fire, fire frequency) interact to affect vegetation. Using the temperate eucalypt foothill forests of southeastern Australia as a case study system, we examine two hypotheses about such interactions: (1) post-fire vegetation succession (e.g., time-since-fire effects) is influenced by other fire regime attributes and (2) the severity of the most recent fire overrides the effect of preceding fires on vegetation structure. Empirical data on vegetation structure were collected from 540 sites distributed across central and eastern Victoria, Australia. Linear mixed models were used to examine these hypotheses and determine the relative influence of fire and environmental attributes on vegetation structure. Fire history measures, particularly time since fire, affected several vegetation attributes including ground and canopy strata; others such as low and sub-canopy vegetation were more strongly influenced by environmental characteristics like rainfall. There was little support for the hypothesis that post-fire succession is influenced by fire history attributes other than time since fire; only canopy regeneration was influenced by another variable (fire type, representing severity). Our capacity to detect an overriding effect of the severity of the most recent fire was limited by a consistently weak effect of preceding fires on vegetation structure. Overall, results suggest the primary way that fire affects vegetation structure in foothill forests is via attributes of the most recent fire, both its severity and time since its occurrence; other attributes of fire regimes (e.g., fire interval, frequency) have less influence. The strong effect of environmental drivers, such as rainfall and topography, on many structural features show that foothill forest vegetation is also influenced by factors outside human control. While fire is amenable to human management, results suggest that at broad scales, structural attributes of these forests are relatively resilient to the effects of current fire regimes. Nonetheless, the potential for more frequent severe fires at short intervals, associated with a changing climate and/or fire management, warrant further consideration.

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Fire Severity and Long-term Ecosystem Biomass Dynamics in Coniferous Boreal Forests of Eastern Canada

Cited by 103 publications

References 59 publications

Can We Use Forest Inventory Mapping as a Coarse Filter in Ecosystem Based Management in the Black Spruce Boreal Forest?

Can We Use Forest Inventory Mapping as a Coarse Filter in Ecosystem Based Management in the Black Spruce Boreal Forest?

Using knowledge of natural disturbances to support sustainable forest management in the northern Clay Belt

Do multiple fires interact to affect vegetation structure in temperate eucalypt forests?

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