What Happens after the Gap?— Size Distributions of Patches with Homogeneously Sized Trees in Natural and Managed Beech Forests in Europe

Drößler, Lars; Feldmann, Eike; Glatthorn, Jonas; Annighöfer, Peter; Kucbel, Stanislav; Tabaku, V.

doi:10.4236/ojf.2016.63015

Cited by 12 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…In the first part of this proposed model, the shared matrix structure we observed in all three development stages would be common to neighborhoods that have experienced relatively long periods of stability in which both the continuous regeneration of beech under an existing canopy (Nagel, Svoboda, Rugani, & Diaci, ; Wagner et al., ) and neighborhood dynamics (e.g., competition) exacerbate size differentiation among trees (Podlaski, Sobala, & Kocurek, ). Structure in natural beech forests is dominated by neighboring trees that often vary considerably in age (Drössler et al., ; Trotsiuk, Hobi, & Commarmot, ), due to a high tolerance for suppression (Piovesan, Di Filippo, Alessandrini, Biondi, & Schirone, ; Wagner et al., ) combined with a strong capacity for release (Korpeľ, ; Leibundgut, ; Schütz, ), which would be consistent with the wide span of tree sizes observed within these plenter‐like matrix neighborhoods.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Common ground among beech forest development stages: Matrix versus stage‐typical live tree structure

Peck

Zenner

2019

J Vegetation Science

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Questions Doubt has recently been shed on the validity of the European patch mosaic‐forest life cycle model involving the assignment of stages of development to natural forests. To partially explain the inconsistency in development stage assignment, we ask: does the high neighborhood‐scale structural heterogeneity inherent to old‐growth beech forests subject to small‐scale gap dynamics transcend development stages? Location Natural Oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) forests in four regions of the Elborz Mountain range in northern Iran. Methods Natural tree neighborhoods at three different scales (ca. 112, 508, and 1,228 m2) were identified within 1.0 ha plots in each of the three main development stages (Initial, Optimum, Decay) in each region using the spatially explicit Delaunay‐triangulation‐based floating neighborhood approach. The diameter distribution across all neighborhoods in all three stages was summarized using Principal Components Analysis. Neighborhoods exhibiting shared structure among stages were identified as those within one standard deviation of the centroid of the 2D ordination space. Results Shared neighborhoods, which were highly heterogeneous with a weakly rotated sigmoid size class structure, were found to consistently occur in ca. 10%–20% of neighborhoods in all three development stages. Only neighborhoods more than one, and particularly more than two, standard deviations from the centroid differed among development stages in size class structure, with stage‐typical distributions observed in each development stage (i.e., negative exponential in the Initial stage, normal in the Optimum, and bimodal in the Decay). Conclusions Regardless of development stage, forested beech stands subject to a small‐scale disturbance regime share a common core of tree neighborhoods with similar, heterogeneous live tree structure. We conjecture that this structure reflects temporal and spatial variation in gap dynamics, with variously aged but relatively newer gap patches with relatively high within‐patch homogeneity nested within a matrix of the highly heterogeneous neighborhoods that develop in the absence of recent disturbance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Common ground among beech forest development stages: Matrix versus stage‐typical live tree structure

Peck

Zenner

2019

J Vegetation Science

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“…Similarly, the latest results of Drössler et al. () indicate that even an initially homogenous large single cohort of small trees can, in the course of forest development, be divided into different tree groups, and so formerly distinct patchiness can thus gradually subside over the long term. As a conclusion, it seems that local processes in plant interactions play a key role in forest dynamics, giving rise to the development of a neighborhood‐oriented perspective in forest community dynamics (Gratzer et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Where have all the tree diameters grown? Patterns in Fagus sylvatica L. diameter growth on their run to the upper canopy

et al. 2018

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The diameter growth of a tree reflects the success of that tree in competition. We investigated patterns of Fagus sylvatica diameter growth in the Žofín Forest Dynamics Plot, which is part of Smithsonian's Forest Global Earth Observatory as a research plot representing European natural mixed temperate forests. We focused primarily on the spatial patterns of beech diameter growth from the viewpoint of the most successful individuals in different ontogenetic stages. We analyzed the reaction of trees along a gradient of disturbance intensity as well as the effects of neighborhood competition. We used stem maps of trees with a diameter at breast height (dbh) ≥ 10 cm carried out in 1997 and 2012. Various types of the pair correlation function were applied to the data to describe the tree density variability. Tree spatial pattern analyses were performed on six 1.5‐ha square plots. Our results show an increasing trend of general increment growth in the interval between dbh 10 cm and dbh 40 cm. Average increment first peaked between dbh 40–42 cm with values higher than 5 mm/year, after which the absolute average increment slightly decreased and stagnated; dbh increment again increased only after dbh 79 cm, but with a much wider range of confidence intervals. An analysis of the variability in diameter growth at intermediate spatial scales showed that disturbance events influence diameter growth differently in connection with dbh. Diameter growth in thinner trees was strongly positively correlated with disturbance intensity, while disturbance had no effect on the variability in diameter growth in larger trees. The spatial pattern of elite‐growth recruits differed from the generally clustered pattern of recruits, with mutual negative interactions up to 2 m. Elite‐growth small‐sized trees (dbh 10–19 cm) showed a positive association with dead individuals in the same size category. In contrast, elite‐growth medium‐sized trees (dbh 20–39 cm) had no positive associations at all. At the same time, negative correlations with canopy beeches were observed across all categories. In conclusion, current tree spatial patterns of trees and their diameter growth are the results of multiple interactions accumulated over the long term with high inertia.

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“…At the Log/ID and RB sites, age curves show a sudden and high amount of recruitment, with a sharp drop afterwards. Diameter curves at these sites, however, rather resemble those of relatively unevenaged stands (Shorohova et al 2009;Drössler et al 2016), caused by highly variable growth rates of the single trees. The few recorded saplings at these sites might be attributed to the pronounced crown cover and resultant shading (Osawa et al 2010).…”

Section: Stand Structure Is Influenced By Disturbance Regime and Intementioning

confidence: 97%

“…Spatial point patterns, like the positions of trees within a forest patch, can be investigated using second-order statistics (Diggle 2003;Wiegand and Moloney 2013), for example Ripley's K-function (Ripley 1977) or the pair-correlation function (Stoyan and Stoyan 1994). We used univariate and bivariate point-pattern techniques to characterise spatial patterns within and between different life stages.…”

Section: Statistical Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disturbance-effects on treeline larch-stands in the lower Kolyma River area (NE Siberia)

Wieczorek¹,

Kolmogorov²,

Kruse³

et al. 2017

Silva Fenn.

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Highlights• Disturbances are an important shaping factor of larch stands at lower Kolyma.• Youngest larch stands have the highest population densities and highest growth rates.• Saplings grow clustered, irrespective of the underlying disturbance regime.• Mixed climate-disturbance signals make it difficult to infer future treeline processes. AbstractTree stands in the boreal treeline ecotone are, in addition to climate change, impacted by disturbances such as fire, water-related disturbances and logging. We aim to understand how these disturbances affect growth, age structure, and spatial patterns of larch stands in the north-eastern Siberian treeline ecotone (lower Kolyma River region), an insufficiently researched region. Stand structure of Larix cajanderi Mayr was studied at seven sites impacted by disturbances. Maximum tree age ranged from 44 to 300 years. Young to medium-aged stands had, independent of disturbance type, the highest stand densities with over 4000 larch trees per ha. These sites also had the highest growth rates for tree height and stem diameter. Overall lowest stand densities were found in a polygonal field at the northern end of the study area, with larches growing in distinct "tree islands". At all sites, saplings are significantly clustered. Differences in fire severity led to contrasting stand structures with respect to tree, recruit, and overall stand densities. While a low severity fire resulted in low-density stands with high proportions of small and young larches, high severity fires resulted in high-density stands with high proportions of big trees. At waterdisturbed sites, stand structure varied between waterlogged and drained sites and latitude. These mixed effects of climate and disturbance make it difficult to predict future stand characteristics and the treeline position.

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What Happens after the Gap?— Size Distributions of Patches with Homogeneously Sized Trees in Natural and Managed Beech Forests in Europe

Cited by 12 publications

References 31 publications

Common ground among beech forest development stages: Matrix versus stage‐typical live tree structure

Common ground among beech forest development stages: Matrix versus stage‐typical live tree structure

Where have all the tree diameters grown? Patterns in Fagus sylvatica L. diameter growth on their run to the upper canopy

Disturbance-effects on treeline larch-stands in the lower Kolyma River area (NE Siberia)

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