Repeated insect outbreaks promote multi-cohort aspen mixedwood forests in northern Minnesota, USA

Reinikainen, Michael; D’Amato, Anthony W.; Fraver, Shawn

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2011.11.023

Cited by 23 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…The thinning effect of forest tent caterpillar defoliation may facilitate the release of shade-tolerant conifer species such as spruce or fir, speeding their growth into the canopy (Ghent 1958, Man andRice 2010). Alternatively, canopy gaps may be large enough to allow for the self-replacement of trembling aspen from root suckers (Kneeshaw and Bergeron 1998, Man and Rice 2010, Moulinier et al 2011, Reinikainen et al 2012. Although less frequent than insect disturbance, major windthrow events are another patch disturbance observed in mixedwood forests (Peterson 2004, Bouchard et al 2009).…”

Section: The Influence Of Non-stand Replacing (Secondary) Disturbancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the western boreal, older mixedwood stands are perpetuated through the ongoing recruitment of both trembling aspen and white spruce, with lesser amounts of balsam poplar and paper birch (Rowe 1961, Caners and Kenkel 2003, Awada et al 2004, Levac 2012, Reinikainen et al 2012. This long-term coexistence of trembling aspen and white spruce as a self-replacing mixed mosaic may be attributable to the absence of white cedar, together with limited recruitment of balsam fir over much of the western boreal forest (Moss 1953, Dix andSwan 1971).…”

Section: Ongoing Recruitment Of Both Broadleaf and Conifer: Multi-agementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stand dynamics following a small-scale disturbance depend on the regeneration already present. In stands with abundant white spruce regeneration, a forest tent caterpillar outbreak that thins the broadleaf canopy can facilitate a more rapid transition to mixedwood stands and eventual conifer dominance (Ghent 1958, Man and Rice 2010, Reinikainen et al 2012. Similarly, removal of the aspen canopy through windthrow or disturbance by beavers could accelerate the release and recruitment of conifers such as white spruce and white cedar (Johnston andNaiman 1990, Rich et al 2007).…”

Section: Accelerated Replacement By Conifers: Rapid Mixedwood To Conimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The conifer stand could then transition to a mixedwood condition and be maintained as such, displaying mixedwood gap dynamics (Kneeshaw and Bergeron 1998, Senecal et al 2004, Römer et al 2007, Reinikainen et al 2012. Spruce budworm defoliation or windthrow could be causal factors producing this dynamic Chen 2011, Reinikainen et al 2012).…”

Section: Accelerated Replacement By Conifers: Rapid Mixedwood To Conimentioning

confidence: 99%

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Boreal mixedwood stand dynamics: ecological processes underlying multiple pathways

Bergeron¹,

Kenkel²,

Leduc³

et al. 2014

The Forestry Chronicle

104

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The southern portions of the boreal region across Canada are dominated by boreal mixedwoods forests, which are characterized by varying canopy dominance of boreal broadleaf and conifer trees. This forest region encompasses a large east-to-west gradient of climate and disturbance regimes. Although the same major boreal tree species occur in all parts of the boreal mixedwood region, they vary greatly in relative abundance. This is a reflection of the interactions among the different abiotic and biotic components. As a result, there is considerable variation in post-disturbance stand development, producing a wide variety of mixedwood forest conditions existing as a mosaic in time and space. Post-disturbance dominance by broadleaf species followed by a transition to conifers is the "classic" pathway in all regions. However, there is wide variation in the transition rate and the species sequence across the gradient depending on factors such as moisture, abundance of each species, fire cycle, climate and secondary disturbances (mainly insect outbreaks). Future changes in climate and disturbance regime could influence the nature of stand dynamics of boreal mixedwoods and the prominence of different pathways among regions. Focussing on the commonality of processes in mixedwood stand development across the boreal is a promising way to address the management of this important forest ecosystem.Keywords: Canadian boreal mixedwood forest, stand dynamics, fire disturbance, insect disturbance, forest management emulating natural stand dynamics RÉSUMÉ Le sud de la région boréale canadienne est dominé par la forêt boréale mixte, caractérisée par une canopée à dominance feuillue et coniférienne en différentes proportions. Cette région forestière traverse d' est en ouest, un large gradient climatique et différents régimes de perturbation. Les espèces principales de la forêt boréale mixte sont les mêmes à travers le Canada, mais leur importance relative varie. Cela reflète les interactions entre les différentes composantes biotiques et abiotiques de l' écosystème. Le développement d'un peuplement après perturbation peut prendre différentes tangentes ce qui fait qu'il existe plusieurs types de forêts boréales mixtes qui se présentent sous forme de mosaïques spatiales et temporelles. Une dominance feuillue après perturbation, suivie d'une transition vers les conifères, constitue la séquence temporelle « classique » de la dynamique forestière dans toutes les régions. Toutefois, les taux de transition et les séquences d' espèces varient grandement à travers le gradient. Cette variabilité dépend principalement du régime d'humidité, de l'abondance de chaque espèce, du cycle de feu, du climat et des perturbations secondaires (surtout les épidémies d'insectes). Les changements climatiques futurs et le régime de perturbations pourraient influencer la nature de la dynamique des peuplements de la forêt boréale mixte et l'importance relative des différents patrons temporels à travers les régions. Bien comprendre les processus communs a...

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Section: The Influence Of Non-stand Replacing (Secondary) Disturbancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ongoing Recruitment Of Both Broadleaf and Conifer: Multi-agementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Accelerated Replacement By Conifers: Rapid Mixedwood To Conimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Accelerated Replacement By Conifers: Rapid Mixedwood To Conimentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Boreal mixedwood stand dynamics: ecological processes underlying multiple pathways

Bergeron¹,

Kenkel²,

Leduc³

et al. 2014

The Forestry Chronicle

104

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…These defoliators' with repeated years of infestation can reduce host species productivity, opening the canopy, producing mixed species multi-cohort stands [45]. Alternatively, beetles can then kill hosts by feeding on the phloem (inner bark) and xylem (outer sapwood), where nutrients, water and minerals are transported.…”

Section: Trends In Insect Air Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Automated Approach to Map the History of Forest Disturbance from Insect Mortality and Harvest with Landsat Time-Series Data

et al. 2014

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Forests contain a majority of the aboveground carbon (C) found in ecosystems, and understanding biomass lost from disturbance is essential to improve our C-cycle knowledge. Our study region in the Wisconsin and Minnesota Laurentian Forest had a strong decline in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from 1982 to 2007, observed with the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) series of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). To understand the potential role of disturbances in the terrestrial C-cycle, we developed an algorithm to map forest disturbances from either harvest or insect outbreak for Landsat time-series stacks. We merged two image analysis approaches into one algorithm to monitor forest change that included: (1) multiple disturbance index thresholds to capture clear-cut harvest; and (2) a OPEN ACCESS Remote Sens. 2014, 6 2783 spectral trajectory-based image analysis with multiple confidence interval thresholds to map insect outbreak. We produced 20 maps and evaluated classification accuracy with air-photos and insect air-survey data to understand the performance of our algorithm. We achieved overall accuracies ranging from 65% to 75%, with an average accuracy of 72%. The producer's and user's accuracy ranged from a maximum of 32% to 70% for insect disturbance, 60% to 76% for insect mortality and 82% to 88% for harvested forest, which was the dominant disturbance agent. Forest disturbances accounted for 22% of total forested area (7349 km 2 ). Our algorithm provides a basic approach to map disturbance history where large impacts to forest stands have occurred and highlights the limited spectral sensitivity of Landsat time-series to outbreaks of defoliating insects. We found that only harvest and insect mortality events can be mapped with adequate accuracy with a non-annual Landsat time-series. This limited our land cover understanding of NDVI decline drivers. We demonstrate that to capture more subtle disturbances with spectral trajectories, future observations must be temporally dense to distinguish between type and frequency in heterogeneous landscapes.

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Improving ecosystem‐scale modeling of evapotranspiration using ecological mechanisms that account for compensatory responses following disturbance

Millar

Ewers

Mackay

et al. 2017

Water Resources Research

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Mountain pine beetle outbreaks in western North America have led to extensive forest mortality, justifiably generating interest in improving our understanding of how this type of ecological disturbance affects hydrological cycles. While observational studies and simulations have been used to elucidate the effects of mountain beetle mortality on hydrological fluxes, an ecologically mechanistic model of forest evapotranspiration (ET) evaluated against field data has yet to be developed. In this work, we use the Terrestrial Regional Ecosystem Exchange Simulator (TREES) to incorporate the ecohydrological impacts of mountain pine beetle disturbance on ET for a lodgepole pine‐dominated forest equipped with an eddy covariance tower. An existing degree‐day model was incorporated that predicted the life cycle of mountain pine beetles, along with an empirically derived submodel that allowed sap flux to decline as a function of temperature‐dependent blue stain fungal growth. The eddy covariance footprint was divided into multiple cohorts for multiple growing seasons, including representations of recently attacked trees and the compensatory effects of regenerating understory, using two different spatial scaling methods. Our results showed that using a multiple cohort approach matched eddy covariance‐measured ecosystem‐scale ET fluxes well, and showed improved performance compared to model simulations assuming a binary framework of only areas of live and dead overstory. Cumulative growing season ecosystem‐scale ET fluxes were 8 – 29% greater using the multicohort approach during years in which beetle attacks occurred, highlighting the importance of including compensatory ecological mechanism in ET models.

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Repeated insect outbreaks promote multi-cohort aspen mixedwood forests in northern Minnesota, USA

Cited by 23 publications

References 47 publications

Boreal mixedwood stand dynamics: ecological processes underlying multiple pathways

Boreal mixedwood stand dynamics: ecological processes underlying multiple pathways

An Automated Approach to Map the History of Forest Disturbance from Insect Mortality and Harvest with Landsat Time-Series Data

Improving ecosystem‐scale modeling of evapotranspiration using ecological mechanisms that account for compensatory responses following disturbance

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