Mixedwood management positively affects forest health during insect infestations in eastern North America<sup>1</sup>

MacLean, David A.; Clark, Kenneth L.

doi:10.1139/cjfr-2020-0462

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 93 publications

(125 reference statements)

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“…However, the simple forest structure of these plantations leads to potential problems such as low biodiversity, unstable ecosystems, and weak resilience. Furthermore, studies have shown that pure forests are more susceptible to large-scale pest and disease disasters, resulting in significant losses than mixed forests ( Jactel et al., 2017 ; MacLean and Clark, 2021 ). Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve the stability and ecological functions of planted forests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Under-canopy afforestation after 10 years: assessing the potential of converting monoculture plantations into mixed stands

Gao,

Zhang,

et al. 2024

Front. Plant Sci.

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Under-canopy afforestation using different tree species is a key approach in close-to-nature management to improve the structural and functional stability of plantation forests. However, current research on understory afforestation mainly focuses on the seedling stage, with limited attention to saplings or young trees. In this study, we evaluated the growth characteristics and leaf traits of 14-year-old Pinus sylvestris var. Mongolica trees under four different upper forest density (UFD) treatments: 0 trees/hm2 (canopy openness 100%, CK), 150 trees/hm2 (canopy openness 51.9%, T1), 225 trees/hm2 (canopy openness 43.2%, T2), and 300 trees/hm2 (canopy openness 28.4%, T3). We found that the survival rate of P. sylvestris in the T3 was significantly lower than in the other treatments, with a decrease of 30.2%, 18.3%, and 19.5% compared to CK, T1, and T2, respectively. The growth of P. sylvestris in the T1 treatment exhibited superior performance. Specifically, T1 showed a significant increase of 18.8%, 5.5%, and 24.1% in tree height, diameter at breast height, and crown width, respectively, compared to the CK. The mean trunk biomass ratio in the understory was significantly higher than that in full light by 15.4%, whereas the mean leaf biomass ratio was significantly lower by 12.3%. Understory P. sylvestris trees tended to allocate more biomass to the trunk at the expense of decreasing leaf biomass, which would facilitate height growth to escape the shading environment, although the promotion was relatively limited. Leaf length, leaf width, leaf area, leaf thickness, mesophyll tissue thickness, epidermis thickness, and leaf carbon content were the highest in the CK and tended to decrease with increasing UFD, indicating that a high-light environment favored leaf growth and enhanced carbon accumulation. In summary, young P. sylvestris trees adapted to moderate shading conditions created by the upper canopy, and the T1 treatment was optimal for the growth of understory P. sylvestris. This study provides insights into different adaptive strategies of young P. sylvestris trees to changes in light environment, providing practical evidence for under-canopy afforestation using light-demanding trees during pure plantation transformation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Under-canopy afforestation after 10 years: assessing the potential of converting monoculture plantations into mixed stands

Gao,

Zhang,

et al. 2024

Front. Plant Sci.

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Mixedwood silviculture in North America: the science and art of managing for complex, multi-species temperate forests

et al. 2021

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Temperate mixedwoods (hardwood – softwood mixtures) in central and eastern U.S. and Canada can be classified into two overarching categories: those with shade-tolerant softwoods maintained by light to moderate disturbances and those with shade-intolerant to mid-tolerant softwoods maintained by moderate to severe disturbances. The former includes red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.), balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.), or eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.) in mixture with northern hardwood species; the latter includes pine (Pinus) – oak (Quercus) mixtures. Such forests have desirable socio-economic values, wildlife habitat potential, and/or adaptive capacity, but management is challenging because one or more softwood species in each can be limited by depleted seed sources, narrow regeneration requirements, or poor competitive ability. Appropriate silvicultural systems vary among mixedwood compositions depending on shade tolerance and severity of disturbance associated with the limiting softwoods, site quality, and level of herbivory. Sustainability of mixedwood composition requires that stand structure and composition be managed at each entry to maintain vigorous trees of species with different growth rates and longevities and to encourage development of advance reproduction or seed-producing trees of desired species. Regardless of silvicultural system, maintaining seed sources of limiting softwoods, providing suitable germination substrates, and controlling competition are critical. Here, we describe commonalities among temperate mixedwoods in central and eastern North America, and present a framework for managing them.

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Contemporary status, distribution, and trends of mixedwoods in the northern United States

et al. 2021

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As interest in managing and maintaining mixedwood forests in the northern United States (US) grows, so does the importance of understanding their abundance and distribution. We analyzed Forest Inventory and Analysis data for insights into mixedwood forests spanning 24 northern US states from Maine south to Maryland and westward to Kansas and North Dakota. Mixedwoods, i.e., forests with both hardwoods and softwoods present but neither exceeding 75-80% of composition, comprise more than 19 million hectares and more than one-quarter of the northern US forest. They are most common in the Adirondack-New England, Laurentian, and Northeast ecological provinces but also occur elsewhere in hardwood-dominated ecological provinces. These mixtures are common even within forest types nominally categorized as either hardwood or softwood. The most common hardwoods within those mixtures were species of Quercus and Acer and the most common softwoods were species of Pinus, Tsuga, and Juniperus. Although mixedwoods exhibited stability in total area during our analysis period, hardwood saplings were prominent, suggesting widespread potential for eventual shifts to hardwood dominance in the absence of disturbances that favor regeneration of the softwood component. Our analyses suggest that while most mixedwood plots remained mixedwoods, harvesting commonly shifts mixedwoods to either hardwood- or softwood-dominated cover types but more specific information is needed to understand the causes of these shifts.

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Mixedwood management positively affects forest health during insect infestations in eastern North America¹

Cited by 7 publications

References 93 publications

Under-canopy afforestation after 10 years: assessing the potential of converting monoculture plantations into mixed stands

Under-canopy afforestation after 10 years: assessing the potential of converting monoculture plantations into mixed stands

Mixedwood silviculture in North America: the science and art of managing for complex, multi-species temperate forests

Contemporary status, distribution, and trends of mixedwoods in the northern United States

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Mixedwood management positively affects forest health during insect infestations in eastern North America1

Cited by 7 publications

References 93 publications

Under-canopy afforestation after 10 years: assessing the potential of converting monoculture plantations into mixed stands

Under-canopy afforestation after 10 years: assessing the potential of converting monoculture plantations into mixed stands

Mixedwood silviculture in North America: the science and art of managing for complex, multi-species temperate forests

Contemporary status, distribution, and trends of mixedwoods in the northern United States

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Mixedwood management positively affects forest health during insect infestations in eastern North America¹