Overstory species composition of naturally regenerated clearcuts in an ecological classification framework

Morrissey, Robert C.; Jacobs, Douglass F.; Seifert, John R.; Kershaw, John A.

doi:10.1007/s11258-009-9683-3

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Site factors have become favorable, with less specificity, to more species without the physiological constraint of fire tolerance. Altitudinal range shifts along oak/ non-oak groupings and expansion of fire-sensitive species into historical oak savannas and woodlands indicated tolerance of drier locations for most species, similarly to other research (Ozier et al 2006, Morrissey et al 2010. Soil moisture apparently was never a limiting constraint on mesic species such as maples, which now are present in relatively dry uplands.…”

Section: Changes In Composition Distribution and Environmental Relasupporting

confidence: 71%

Changing tree composition by life history strategy in a grassland‐forest landscape

Hanberry

Kabrick

2014

Ecosphere

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Abstract. After rapid deforestation in the eastern United States, which generally occurred during the period of 1850-1920, forests did not return to historical composition and structure. We examined forest compositional change and then considered how historical land use and current land use may influence forests in a grassland-forest landscape, the Missouri Plains, where frequent surface fire was the historical land use and intensive agricultural is the current land use. We compared composition, distribution, and environmental relationships during historical (1813-1860) and current (2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008) forest surveys. We also examined changing composition of life history strategies of (1) stress tolerators based on fire tolerance, (2) colonizers based on shade intolerance, and (3) competitors based on shade tolerance. Open forest ecosystems of fire-tolerant oaks have been replaced by forests of fire-sensitive species, such as ashes, hackberry, and maples that expanded from riparian firebreaks and osage-orange and eastern redcedar that expanded from planted windbreaks and rocky firebreaks. Colonizing species increased from 7% to 32% of total composition, with assisted tree migration from planting; we expect continued expansion particularly by eastern redcedar into areas unoccupied by trees. Competitive species have increased slightly to 38% of total composition although the trajectory of current forests suggested competitors may increase to 56% of total composition by replacing oaks in forest ecosystems. Changed success of life history strategies in an agricultural landscape without fire resulted in increased composition and extent of fire-sensitive colonizers compared to fire-tolerant oaks. We suggest that patterns of loss of fire-tolerant oaks and increased distribution of fire-sensitive species reflect suppression of fire, the historical land use. In addition, we suggest that subsequent land use dictates the success of either shade-intolerant colonizers or shade-tolerant competitors in current forests. Forests will be composed of shade-intolerant colonizers where land use disturbance is frequent, such as in agricultural landscapes, and forests will be composed of species with greater shade tolerance where land use disturbance is less frequent.

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Section: Changes In Composition Distribution and Environmental Relasupporting

confidence: 71%

Changing tree composition by life history strategy in a grassland‐forest landscape

Hanberry

Kabrick

2014

Ecosphere

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“…Our results seem to indicate that a variety of harvest treatments can successfully regenerate tolerant species, but a number of other factors must be taken into account including the presence of the species in the overstory, presence of other competing species, and time since harvest. It can be very difficult to assess success of natural regeneration during the first decade following treatment (Arseneault et al, 2011;Morrissey et al, 2010). A variety of species can regenerate following a disturbance of any size (Arseneault et al, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Factors Influencing Species Natural Regeneration Response Following Harvesting in the Acadian Forests of New Brunswick

Salmon¹,

Kershaw²,

Taylor³

et al. 2016

OJF

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In the Acadian Forest Region of northeastern North America, forest managers are under increasing public pressure to restore the forest to a more historic, natural condition by reducing in clearcutting and promoting partial-cut treatments that more closely emulate historic, local natural disturbance regimes. However, although numerous studies on the effects of partial-cutting on forest regeneration response have been conducted in surrounding temperate and boreal forest ecosystems, there are few studies that directly explore responses to various forms of harvesting within the Acadian Forest ecosystem, with its unique mixture of northern hardwoods and boreal forest species. Here, we conducted one of the first retrospective studies on forest regeneration following a variety of harvesting methods in the Acadian Forest using univariate and multivariate regression trees to assess regeneration response in 50 naturally-regenerating, harvested forest sites in New Brunswick, Canada. Our study shows that regeneration was highly influenced by harvest type, overstory composition, and environmental conditions as reflected by ecoregion classification. Canopy opening size (as controlled by harvest method) significantly influenced the dominance of regenerating species. The presence of conspecific overstory trees increased the likelihood of their regeneration following disturbance, supporting the direct-regeneration hypothesis, especially for species with limited seed dispersal (e.g., sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.). Despite reported problems elsewhere in eastern North America, neither American beech nor balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) constituted significant competition for the desired species on a broad scale, but the presence of beech was a significant deterrent for yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.).

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“…Speculation exists that red maple invasion on oak-dominated sites may be facilitated by fire cessation (Abrams 2005). Red maple and yellow-poplar are noteworthy competitors and loss of oak forests to them is widely reported (Beck and Hopper 1986, Hix and Lorimer 1991, Loftis 1983, Morrissey et al 2010, Schweitzer and Dey 2011.…”

Section: Restricted Trafficmentioning

confidence: 99%

Logging Intensity Impact on Small Oak Seedling Survival and Growth on the Cumberland Plateau in Northeastern Alabama

Schweitzer¹,

Dey²

2013

Southern Journal of Applied Forestry

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Ground disturbance caused by forest harvest operations can negatively impact oak regeneration. On the Cumberland Plateau, for successful regeneration, managers often must rely on very small (less than a ft in height) oak advance reproduction that is susceptible to disturbance by harvesting equipment. Furthermore, sites on the Plateau top are often harvested when conditions are too wet to permit operations elsewhere, increasing the risk to small seedlings that may be more easily pulled from the moist soil. This study was designed to assess the effect of unrestricted and restricted harvesting equipment traffic on small oak advance reproduction under a clearcutting prescription. A feller-buncher and grapple skidding were used to harvest sites under "free access," resulting in unrestricted traffic on the sites, or under "trail access," with restricted site traffic. Six hundred eighty-seven oak seedlings were permanently tagged (preharvest); species, height, and basal diameter were recorded and have been remeasured 1, 2, and 8 years postharvest. Fifty-two percent of the tagged seedlings survived after 8 years. The survival rate for seedlings exposed to restricted traffic did not differ from that for seedlings exposed to unrestricted traffic. No evidence of seedlings being pulled out of the ground was observed. After three growing seasons, there was no significant difference in visual site disturbance between the two treatments. After eight growing seasons, the status of the reproduction suggests that little damage was incurred under unrestricted equipment traffic.

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Overstory species composition of naturally regenerated clearcuts in an ecological classification framework

Cited by 11 publications

References 28 publications

Changing tree composition by life history strategy in a grassland‐forest landscape

Changing tree composition by life history strategy in a grassland‐forest landscape

Exploring Factors Influencing Species Natural Regeneration Response Following Harvesting in the Acadian Forests of New Brunswick

Logging Intensity Impact on Small Oak Seedling Survival and Growth on the Cumberland Plateau in Northeastern Alabama

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