Slope Aspect Modifies Community Responses to Clear-Cutting in Boreal Forests

Åström, Marcus; Dynesius, Mats; Hylander, Kristoffer

doi:10.1890/06-0613

Cited by 70 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(42 reference statements)

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“…For example, the forb E. angustifolium increased in cover, and C. agrestis decreased in cover. This finding was consistent with our personal observations and similar to previous findings on the vascular plant community in the boreal forest (Astrom et al 2007), deciduous forest (Fenton et al 2003), and stream-side forest . The four species groups of bryophytes all experienced substantial reductions in cover (Table 1), which further supported the previous observations of the bryophyte assemblage in the boreal forest (Astrom et al 2007), indicating that all existing bryophyte growth forms had high and immediate sensitivity to clear-cut logging.…”

Section: Short-term Responsessupporting

confidence: 94%

Understory plant assemblages present distinct short-term responses to the clear-cutting of an old-growth spruce forest near an alpine timberline

Liu

Bao

2014

Can. J. For. Res.

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Forest clear-cutting is a prominent disturbance influencing understory plant communities. We implemented a before-after, control-impact (BACI) designed experiment in a high-elevation, old-growth spruce forest in the eastern Tibetan Plateau to understand the response in cover and species richness of the understory plant community and its assemblages, as well as the driving roles of environmental alteration (e.g., radiation, temperature, humidity, and nutrients), physical disturbance (e.g., direct damage by trampling and tree-felling), and interplay effects (e.g., shading or burial from logging residue) during a 2-year period. The decrease in cover for the understory vegetation was predominantly due to a decrease in bryophytes; the grass cover, however, increased. While bryophyte species richness decreased, the total number of understory and vascular plants changed minimally. Furthermore, the environmental alteration drove the increase in grass cover, as well as the cover and species richness decline for bryophytes and its two species groups. It was also found that physical disturbances and interplay effects caused the decrease in cover for bryophytes. The total effects influenced the understory community and bryophytes in terms of cover, but not in terms of species richness. We conclude that the short-term responses of understory vegetation to clear-cutting are distinct across different assemblages due to various mechanisms. Bryophytes are more sensitive than vascular plants, and cover percentage responded more swiftly than species richness to clear-cutting.Key words: understory vegetation, species groups, driving mechanism, physical disturbance, clear-cut logging, Tibetan Plateau.Résumé : La coupe à blanc est une perturbation importante de la forêt qui influence les communautés végétales de sous-bois. Nous avons implanté un dispositif expérimental BACI dans une vieille forêt d'épinette établie en haute altitude sur le plateau tibétain oriental pour comprendre l'impact sur la richesse du couvert et les espèces de la communauté végétale de sous-bois et de ses assemblages de même que les rôles déterminants de l'altération des conditions environnementales (c.-à -d. le rayonnement, la température, l'humidité et les nutriments), des perturbations physiques (c.-à -d. les dommages directs par le piétinement et la coupe des arbres) et des effets d'interaction (c.-à -d. l'ombrage ou l'enfouissement par les résidus forestiers) pendant une période de 2 ans. La diminution du couvert de la végétation de sous-bois a surtout été causée par une diminution des bryophytes. Le couvert herbacé, de son côté, a augmenté. Bien que la richesse en espèces de bryophytes ait diminué, le nombre total de plantes vasculaires et de sous-bois a peu changé. De plus, l'altération des conditions environnementales a entraîné l'augmentation du couvert herbacé et la diminution du couvert et de la richesse en espèces de bryophytes et de ses deux groupes d'espèces. Nous avons aussi observé que les perturbations physiques et que les effets d'i...

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Section: Short-term Responsessupporting

confidence: 94%

Understory plant assemblages present distinct short-term responses to the clear-cutting of an old-growth spruce forest near an alpine timberline

Liu

Bao

2014

Can. J. For. Res.

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“…This is contradictory to certain guidelines that promote wider strips at moist sites. Aspect is also important, since Northfacing edges suffer less from edge effects than south-facing (Hylander 2005;Å ström et al 2007). The location of the buffer in the landscape in relation to prevailing winds should be considered in making decisions on the width, especially in the case when only on side of a stream is cut and the other side of the stream is left untouched.…”

Section: Riparian Forest Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Services Provided from Riparian Forests in the Nordic Countries

Gundersen

Laurén

Finér

et al. 2010

AMBIO

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Riparian forests (RF) growing along streams, rivers and lakes comprise more than 2% of the forest area in the Nordic countries (considering a 10 m wide zone from the water body). They have special ecological functions in the landscape. They receive water and nutrients from the upslope areas, are important habitats for biodiversity, have large soil carbon stores, but may emit more greenhouse gases (GHG) than the uplands. In this article, we present a review of the environmental services related to water protection, terrestrial biodiversity, carbon storage and greenhouse gas dynamics provided by RF in the Nordic countries. We discuss the benefits and trade-offs when leaving the RF as a buffer against the impacts from upland forest management, in particular the impacts of clear cutting. Forest buffers are effective in protecting water quality and aquatic life, and have positive effects on terrestrial biodiversity, particularly when broader than 40 m, whereas the effect on the greenhouse gas exchange is unclear.

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“…Therefore, equator-ward slopes are often both warmer and drier and have larger temperature fluctuations than pole-ward slopes [22]–[24]. As a consequence, north- and south-facing slopes are potentially good candidates for studies on microclimatic gradients and have also shown to influence species composition [25]. However, the interactions of many climate-forcing factors (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance of Forest Bryophytes with Different Geographical Distributions Transplanted across a Topographically Heterogeneous Landscape

2014

Self Cite

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Most species distribution models assume a close link between climatic conditions and species distributions. Yet, we know little about the link between species' geographical distributions and the sensitivity of performance to local environmental factors. We studied the performance of three bryophyte species transplanted at south- and north-facing slopes in a boreal forest landscape in Sweden. At the same sites, we measured both air and ground temperature. We hypothesized that the two southerly distributed species Eurhynchium angustirete and Herzogiella seligeri perform better on south-facing slopes and in warm conditions, and that the northerly distributed species Barbilophozia lycopodioides perform better on north-facing slopes and in relatively cool conditions. The northern, but not the two southern species, showed the predicted relationship with slope aspect. However, the performance of one of the two southern species was still enhanced by warm temperatures. An important reason for the inconsistent results can be that microclimatic gradients across landscapes are complex and influenced by many climate-forcing factors. Therefore, comparing only north- and south-facing slopes might not capture the complexity of microclimatic gradients. Population growth rates and potential distributions are the integrated results of all vital rates. Still, the study of selected vital rates constitutes an important first step to understand the relationship between population growth rates and geographical distributions and is essential to better predict how climate change influences species distributions.

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Slope Aspect Modifies Community Responses to Clear-Cutting in Boreal Forests

Cited by 70 publications

References 40 publications

Understory plant assemblages present distinct short-term responses to the clear-cutting of an old-growth spruce forest near an alpine timberline

Understory plant assemblages present distinct short-term responses to the clear-cutting of an old-growth spruce forest near an alpine timberline

Environmental Services Provided from Riparian Forests in the Nordic Countries

Performance of Forest Bryophytes with Different Geographical Distributions Transplanted across a Topographically Heterogeneous Landscape

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