Understanding and Modeling Forest Disturbance Interactions at the Landscape Level

Abstract

Disturbances, both natural and anthropogenic, affect the configuration, composition, and function of forested ecosystems. Complex system behaviors emerge from the interactions between disturbance regimes, the vegetation response to those disturbances, and their interplay with multiple drivers (climate, topography, land use, etc.) across spatial and temporal scales. Here, we summarize conceptual advances and empirical approaches to disturbance interaction investigation, and used those insights to evaluate and categorize 146 landscape modeling studies emerging from a systematic review of the literature published since 2010. Recent conceptual advances include formal disaggregation of disturbances into their constituent components, embedding disturbance processes into system dynamics, and clarifying terminology for interaction factors, types, and ecosystem responses. Empirical studies investigating disturbance interactions now span a wide range of approaches, including (most recently) advanced statistical methods applied to an expanding set of spatial and temporal datasets. Concurrent development in spatially-explicit landscape models, informed by these empirical insights, integrate the interactions among natural and anthropogenic disturbances by coupling these processes to account for disturbance stochasticity, disturbance within and across scales, and non-linear landscape responses to climate change. Still, trade-offs between model elegance and complexity remain. We developed an index for the degree of process integration (i.e., balance of static vs. dynamic components) within a given disturbance agent and applied it to the studies from our systematic review. Contemporary model applications in this line of research have applied a wide range process integration, depending on the specific question, but also limited in part by data and knowledge. Non-linear “threshold” behavior and cross-scaled interactions remain a frontier in temperate, boreal, and alpine regions of North America and Europe, while even simplistic studies are lacking from other regions of the globe (e.g., subtropical and tropical biomes). Understanding and planning for uncertainty in system behavior—including disturbance interactions—is paramount at a time of accelerated anthropogenic change. While progress in landscape modeling studies in this area is evident, work remains to increase model transparency and confidence, especially for understudied regions and processes. Moving forward, a multi-dimensional approach is recommended to address the uncertainties of complex human-ecological dynamics.

The Database of European Forest Insect and Disease Disturbances: DEFID2

“…At (Sturtevant & Fortin, 2021). Uprooted and broken trees, as those felled by the strong winds over the Tatra Mountains, are virtually defenseless against bark beetles and provide readily available breeding material that promotes the buildup of beetle populations and the consequent increase in insect disturbance (Seidl et al, 2017;Stadelmann et al, 2014).…”

Allometric scaling and allocation patterns: Implications for predicting productivity across plant communities

“…A disturbance regime is defined as the combination of disturbance agents and disturbance attributes that characterize a particular landscape or region (Burton et al, 2020). Disturbance interactions are an important part of the disturbance regime (Burton et al, 2020;Sturtevant and Fortin, 2021). The main disturbance agents in forest ecosystems consist of abiotic (e.g., fire, drought, wind, snow, and ice) and biotic (e.g., insects and pathogens) agents (Fischer et al, 2013;Stephens et al, 2013;Sturtevant and Fortin, 2021).…”

“…Disturbance interactions are an important part of the disturbance regime (Burton et al, 2020;Sturtevant and Fortin, 2021). The main disturbance agents in forest ecosystems consist of abiotic (e.g., fire, drought, wind, snow, and ice) and biotic (e.g., insects and pathogens) agents (Fischer et al, 2013;Stephens et al, 2013;Sturtevant and Fortin, 2021). According to a recent systematic review of disturbance interactions studies (Sturtevant and Fortin, 2021), the most frequently investigated natural disturbance agent was fire accounting for 65% of studies, followed by wind (38%), insects (37%), water imbalance (drought or flooding; 15%), mammalian browsing/grazing (10%), and mass movement including erosion, debris flows, landslides and avalanche (7%).…”

Windthrow characteristics and their regional association with rainfall, soil, and surface elevation in the Amazon

“…Drivers of tree mortality include, among others, deforestation [7][8][9], fires [10,11], droughts [12][13][14] and severe storms [15][16][17][18][19], and these drivers are expected to become more frequent and intense [12,20,21]. Increases in tree mortality raise concerns due to the associated changes in carbon storage, forest structure, floristic composition and functioning of forest ecosystems [14,[22][23][24] and their legacies including loss of ecosystem resilience [18,25]. This mortality has already shifted some areas to be sources of CO 2 in the Amazon [7,26].…”