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Lindenmayer D, Zylstra P. Identifying and managing disturbance-stimulated flammability in woody ecosystems. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:699-714. [PMID: 38105616 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2023] [Revised: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Many forest types globally have been subject to an increase in the frequency of, and area burnt by, high-severity wildfire. Here we explore the role that previous disturbance has played in increasing the extent and severity of subsequent forest fires. We summarise evidence documenting and explaining the mechanisms underpinning a pulse of flammability that may follow disturbances such as fire, logging, clearing or windthrow (a process we term disturbance-stimulated flammability). Disturbance sometimes initiates a short initial period of low flammability, but then drives an extended period of increased flammability as vegetation regrows. Our analysis initially focuses on well-documented cases in Australia, but we also discuss where these pattens may apply elsewhere, including in the Northern Hemisphere. We outline the mechanisms by which disturbance drives flammability through disrupting the ecological controls that limit it in undisturbed forests. We then develop and test a conceptual model to aid prediction of woody vegetation communities where such patterns of disturbance-stimulated flammability may occur. We discuss the interaction of ecological controls with climate change, which is driving larger and more severe fires. We also explore the current state of knowledge around the point where disturbed, fire-prone stands are sufficiently widespread in landscapes that they may promote spatial contagion of high-severity wildfire that overwhelms any reduction in fire spread offered by less-flammable stands. We discuss how land managers might deal with the major challenges that changes in landscape cover and altered fire regimes may have created. This is especially pertinent in landscapes now dominated by extensive areas of young forest regenerating after logging, regrowing following broadscale fire including prescribed burning, or regenerating following agricultural land abandonment. Where disturbance is found to stimulate flammability, then key management actions should consider the long-term benefits of: (i) limiting disturbance-based management like logging or burning that creates young forests and triggers understorey development; (ii) protecting young forests from disturbances and assisting them to transition to an older, less-flammable state; and (iii) reinforcing the fire-inhibitory properties of older, less-flammable stands through methods for rapid fire detection and suppression.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Lindenmayer
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, Building 141, Linnaeus Way, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2601, Australia
| | - Phil Zylstra
- School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, Western Australia, 6102, Australia
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2
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Wilson RN, Kopp CW, Hille Ris Lambers J, Angert AL. Fire sparks upslope range shifts of North Cascades plant species. Ecology 2024; 105:e4242. [PMID: 38272470 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Revised: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
As ongoing climate change drives suitable habitats to higher elevations, species ranges are predicted to follow. However, observed range shifts have been surprisingly variable, with most species differing in rates of upward shift and others failing to shift at all. Disturbances such as fires could play an important role in accelerating range shifts by facilitating recruitment in newly suitable habitats (leading edges) and removing adults from areas no longer suited for regeneration (trailing edges). To date, empirical evidence that fires interact with climate change to mediate elevational range shifts is scarce. Resurveying historical plots in areas that experienced climate change and fire disturbance between surveys provides an exciting opportunity to fill this gap. To investigate whether species have tended to shift upslope and if shifts depend on fires, we resurveyed historical vegetation plots in North Cascades National Park, Washington, USA, an area that has experienced warming, drying, and multiple fires since the original surveys in 1983. We quantified range shifts by synthesizing across two lines of evidence: (1) displacement at range edges and the median elevation of species occurrences, and (2) support for the inclusion of interactions among time, fire and elevation in models of species presence with elevation. Among species that experienced fire since the original survey, a plurality expanded into new habitats at their upper edge. In contrast, a plurality of species not experiencing fire showed no evidence of shifts, with the remainder exhibiting responses that were variable in magnitude and direction. Our results suggest that fires can facilitate recruitment at leading edges, while species in areas free of disturbance are more likely to experience stasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel N Wilson
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Christopher W Kopp
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Janneke Hille Ris Lambers
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
- Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Amy L Angert
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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Silvestro R, Mura C, Alano Bonacini D, de Lafontaine G, Faubert P, Mencuccini M, Rossi S. Local adaptation shapes functional traits and resource allocation in black spruce. Sci Rep 2023; 13:21257. [PMID: 38040772 PMCID: PMC10692160 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-48530-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Climate change is rapidly altering weather patterns, resulting in shifts in climatic zones. The survival of trees in specific locations depends on their functional traits. Local populations exhibit trait adaptations that ensure their survival and accomplishment of growth and reproduction processes during the growing season. Studying these traits offers valuable insights into species responses to present and future environmental conditions, aiding the implementation of measures to ensure forest resilience and productivity. This study investigates the variability in functional traits among five black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) provenances originating from a latitudinal gradient along the boreal forest, and planted in a common garden in Quebec, Canada. We examined differences in bud phenology, growth performance, lifetime first reproduction, and the impact of a late-frost event on tree growth and phenological adjustments. The findings revealed that trees from northern sites exhibit earlier budbreak, lower growth increments, and reach reproductive maturity earlier than those from southern sites. Late-frost damage affected growth performance, but no phenological adjustment was observed in the successive year. Local adaptation in the functional traits may lead to maladaptation of black spruce under future climate conditions or serve as a potent evolutionary force promoting rapid adaptation under changing environmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Silvestro
- Laboratoire sur les écosystèmes terrestres boréaux, Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l'Université, Chicoutimi, QC, G7H2B1, Canada.
| | - C Mura
- Laboratoire sur les écosystèmes terrestres boréaux, Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l'Université, Chicoutimi, QC, G7H2B1, Canada
| | - D Alano Bonacini
- Laboratoire sur les écosystèmes terrestres boréaux, Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l'Université, Chicoutimi, QC, G7H2B1, Canada
| | - G de Lafontaine
- Canada Research Chair in Integrative Biology of the Northern Flora, Département de biologie, chimie et Géographie, Centre for Northern Studies, Centre for Forest Research, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada
| | - P Faubert
- Laboratoire sur les écosystèmes terrestres boréaux, Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l'Université, Chicoutimi, QC, G7H2B1, Canada
- Carbone boréal, Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l'Université, Chicoutimi, QC, G7H 2B1, Canada
| | - M Mencuccini
- Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF), 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig de Lluis Companys 23, 08010, Barcelona, Spain
| | - S Rossi
- Laboratoire sur les écosystèmes terrestres boréaux, Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l'Université, Chicoutimi, QC, G7H2B1, Canada
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Lucash MS, Marshall AM, Weiss SA, McNabb JW, Nicolsky DJ, Flerchinger GN, Link TE, Vogel JG, Scheller RM, Abramoff RZ, Romanovsky VE. Burning trees in frozen soil: Simulating fire, vegetation, soil, and hydrology in the boreal forests of Alaska. Ecol Modell 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2023.110367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/03/2023]
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Gaboriau DM, Chaste É, Girardin MP, Asselin H, Ali AA, Bergeron Y, Hély C. Interactions within the climate-vegetation-fire nexus may transform 21st century boreal forests in northwestern Canada. iScience 2023; 26:106807. [PMID: 37255655 PMCID: PMC10225900 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Dry and warm conditions have exacerbated the occurrence of large and severe wildfires over the past decade in Canada's Northwest Territories (NT). Although temperatures are expected to increase during the 21st century, we lack understanding of how the climate-vegetation-fire nexus might respond. We used a dynamic global vegetation model to project annual burn rates, as well as tree species composition and biomass in the NT during the 21st century using the IPCC's climate scenarios. Burn rates will decrease in most of the NT by the mid-21st century, concomitant with biomass loss of fire-prone evergreen needleleaf tree species, and biomass increase of broadleaf tree species. The southeastern NT is projected to experience enhanced fire activity by the late 21st century according to scenario RCP4.5, supported by a higher production of flammable evergreen needleleaf biomass. The results underlie the potential for major impacts of climate change on the NT's terrestrial ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorian M. Gaboriau
- Institut de recherche sur les forêts, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 Boulevard de l’Université, Rouyn-Noranda, QCJ9X 5E4, Canada
- Centre for Forest Research, Université du Québec à Montréal, P.O. Box 8888, Stn. Centre-ville, Montréal, QCH3C 3P8, Canada
| | - Émeline Chaste
- Université de Lorraine, AgroParisTech, INRAE, SILVAE, 54000 Nancy, France
- Now at: CIRAD, UMR Eco&Sols, University Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, Institut Agro, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Martin P. Girardin
- Centre for Forest Research, Université du Québec à Montréal, P.O. Box 8888, Stn. Centre-ville, Montréal, QCH3C 3P8, Canada
- Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, 1055 rue du PEPS, P.O. Box 10380, Stn. Sainte-Foy, Québec, QCG1V 4C7, Canada
| | - Hugo Asselin
- Centre for Forest Research, Université du Québec à Montréal, P.O. Box 8888, Stn. Centre-ville, Montréal, QCH3C 3P8, Canada
- École d’études autochtones, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 Boulevard de l’Université, Rouyn-Noranda, QCJ9X 5E4, Canada
| | - Adam A. Ali
- ISEM, University Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Montpellier, France
| | - Yves Bergeron
- Institut de recherche sur les forêts, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 Boulevard de l’Université, Rouyn-Noranda, QCJ9X 5E4, Canada
- Centre for Forest Research, Université du Québec à Montréal, P.O. Box 8888, Stn. Centre-ville, Montréal, QCH3C 3P8, Canada
| | - Christelle Hély
- ISEM, University Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Montpellier, France
- École Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL University, Paris, France
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Gaboriau DM, Asselin H, Ali AA, Hély C, Girardin MP. Drivers of extreme wildfire years in the 1965–2019 fire regime of the Tłı̨chǫ First Nation territory, Canada. ECOSCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/11956860.2022.2070342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dorian M. Gaboriau
- School of Indigenous Studies, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 Boulevard de l’Université, Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, Canada
- ISEM, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Montpellier, France
| | - Hugo Asselin
- School of Indigenous Studies, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 Boulevard de l’Université, Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, Canada
- Centre for Forest Research, Université du Québec à Montréal, P.O. Box 8888, Stn. Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Adam A. Ali
- ISEM, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Montpellier, France
| | - Christelle Hély
- ISEM, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Montpellier, France
- Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL University, Paris, France
| | - Martin P. Girardin
- Centre for Forest Research, Université du Québec à Montréal, P.O. Box 8888, Stn. Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, Québec, Canada
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Woolet J, Whitman E, Parisien MA, Thompson DK, Flannigan MD, Whitman T. Effects of short-interval reburns in the boreal forest on soil bacterial communities compared to long-interval reburns. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2022; 98:6603815. [PMID: 35671126 PMCID: PMC9303391 DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiac069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2022] [Revised: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 06/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Increasing fire frequency in some biomes is leading to fires burning in close succession, triggering rapid vegetation change and altering soil properties. We studied the effects of short-interval (SI) reburns on soil bacterial communities of the boreal forest of northwestern Canada using paired sites (n = 44). Both sites in each pair had burned in a recent fire; one site had burned within the previous 20 years before the recent fire (SI reburn) and the other had not. Paired sites were closely matched in prefire ecosite characteristics, prefire tree species composition, and stand structure. We hypothesized that there would be a significant effect of short vs. long fire-free intervals on community composition and that richness would not be consistently different between paired sites. We found that Blastococcus sp. was consistently enriched in SI reburns, indicating its role as a strongly ‘pyrophilous’ bacterium. Caballeronia sordidicola was consistently depleted in SI reburns. The depletion of this endophytic diazotroph raises questions about whether this is contributing to—or merely reflects—poor conifer seedling recolonization post-fire at SI reburns. While SI reburns had no significant effect on richness, dissimilarity between short- and long-interval pairs was significantly correlated with difference in soil pH, and there were small significant changes in overall community composition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie Woolet
- Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison , 1525 Observatory Dr., Madison, WI, 53706 , USA
- Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University , 1001 Amy VanDyken Way, Fort Collins, CO, 80521 , USA
| | - Ellen Whitman
- Northern Forestry Centre , Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, 5320 122Street, Edmonton, AB, T6H 3S5 , Canada
- Great Lakes Forestry Centre , Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, 1219 Queen St. E., Sault Ste. Marie, ON, P6A 2E5 , Canada
| | - Marc-André Parisien
- Northern Forestry Centre , Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, 5320 122Street, Edmonton, AB, T6H 3S5 , Canada
| | - Dan K Thompson
- Northern Forestry Centre , Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, 5320 122Street, Edmonton, AB, T6H 3S5 , Canada
- Great Lakes Forestry Centre , Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, 1219 Queen St. E., Sault Ste. Marie, ON, P6A 2E5 , Canada
| | - Mike D Flannigan
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta , 751 General Services Building, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2H1 , Canada
- Faculty of Science, Thompson Rivers University , 805 TRU Way, Kamloops, BC, V2C 0C8 , Canada
| | - Thea Whitman
- Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison , 1525 Observatory Dr., Madison, WI, 53706 , USA
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Palm EC, Suitor MJ, Joly K, Herriges JD, Kelly AP, Hervieux D, Russell KLM, Bentzen TW, Larter NC, Hebblewhite M. Increasing fire frequency and severity will increase habitat loss for a boreal forest indicator species. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 32:e2549. [PMID: 35094462 PMCID: PMC9286541 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Revised: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/06/2021] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Climate change will lead to more frequent and more severe fires in some areas of boreal forests, affecting the distribution and availability of late-successional forest communities. These forest communities help to protect globally significant carbon reserves beneath permafrost layers and provide habitat for many animal species, including forest-dwelling caribou. Many caribou populations are declining, yet the mechanisms by which changing fire regimes could affect caribou declines are poorly understood. We analyzed resource selection of 686 GPS-collared female caribou from three ecotypes and 15 populations in a ~600,000 km2 region of northwest Canada and eastern Alaska. These populations span a wide gradient of fire frequency but experience low levels of human-caused habitat disturbance. We used a mixed-effects modeling framework to characterize caribou resource selection in response to burns at different seasons and spatiotemporal scales, and to test for functional responses in resource selection to burn availability. We also tested mechanisms driving observed selection patterns using burn severity and lichen cover data. Caribou avoided burns more strongly during winter relative to summer and at larger spatiotemporal scales relative to smaller scales. During the winter, caribou consistently avoided burns at both spatiotemporal scales as burn availability increased, indicating little evidence of a functional response. However, they decreased their avoidance of burns during summer as burn availability increased. Burn availability explained more variation in caribou selection for burns than ecotype. Within burns, caribou strongly avoided severely burned areas in winter, and this avoidance lasted nearly 30 years after a fire. Caribou within burns also selected higher cover of terrestrial lichen (an important caribou food source). We found a negative relationship between burn severity and lichen cover, confirming that caribou avoidance of burns was consistent with lower lichen abundance. Consistent winter avoidance of burns and severely burned areas suggests that caribou will experience increasing winter habitat loss as fire frequency and severity increase. Our results highlight the potential for climate-induced alteration of natural disturbance regimes to affect boreal biodiversity through habitat loss. We suggest that management strategies prioritizing protection of core winter range habitat with lower burn probabilities would provide important climate-change refugia for caribou.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric C. Palm
- Wildlife Biology Program, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, W. A. Franke College of Forestry and ConservationUniversity of MontanaMissoulaMontanaUSA
| | - Michael J. Suitor
- Department of EnvironmentYukon GovernmentDawson CityYukon TerritoriesCanada
| | - Kyle Joly
- Yukon‐Charley Rivers National Preserve, National Park ServiceFairbanksAlaskaUSA
| | | | - Allicia P. Kelly
- Department of Environment and Natural ResourcesGovernment of the Northwest TerritoriesFort SmithNorthwest TerritoriesCanada
| | - Dave Hervieux
- Alberta Environment and Parks − Operations DivisionGrande PrairieAlbertaCanada
| | | | | | - Nicholas C. Larter
- Department of Environment and Natural ResourcesGovernment of the Northwest TerritoriesFort SimpsonNorthwest TerritoriesCanada
| | - Mark Hebblewhite
- Wildlife Biology Program, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, W. A. Franke College of Forestry and ConservationUniversity of MontanaMissoulaMontanaUSA
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Short-interval fires increasing in the Alaskan boreal forest as fire self-regulation decays across forest types. Sci Rep 2022; 12:4901. [PMID: 35318377 PMCID: PMC8941092 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08912-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate drivers are increasingly creating conditions conducive to higher frequency fires. In the coniferous boreal forest, the world’s largest terrestrial biome, fires are historically common but relatively infrequent. Post-fire, regenerating forests are generally resistant to burning (strong fire self-regulation), favoring millennial coniferous resilience. However, short intervals between fires are associated with rapid, threshold-like losses of resilience and changes to broadleaf or shrub communities, impacting carbon content, habitat, and other ecosystem services. Fires burning the same location 2 + times comprise approximately 4% of all Alaskan boreal fire events since 1984, and the fraction of short-interval events (< 20 years between fires) is increasing with time. While there is strong resistance to burning for the first decade after a fire, from 10 to 20 years post-fire resistance appears to decline. Reburning is biased towards coniferous forests and in areas with seasonally variable precipitation, and that proportion appears to be increasing with time, suggesting continued forest shifts as changing climatic drivers overwhelm the resistance of early postfire landscapes to reburning. As area burned in large fire years of ~ 15 years ago begin to mature, there is potential for more widespread shifts, which should be evaluated closely to understand finer grained patterns within this regional trend.
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Wind and fire: Rapid shifts in tree community composition following multiple disturbances in the southern boreal forest. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
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Increasing fire and the decline of fire adapted black spruce in the boreal forest. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2024872118. [PMID: 34697246 PMCID: PMC8609439 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2024872118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Black spruce is the dominant tree species in boreal North America and has shaped forest flammability, carbon storage, and other landscape processes over the last several thousand years. However, climate warming and increases in wildfire activity may be undermining its ability to maintain dominance, shifting forests toward alternative forested and nonforested states. Using data from across North America, we evaluate whether loss of black spruce resilience is already widespread. Resilience was the most common outcome, but drier climatic conditions and more severe fires consistently undermine resilience, often resulting in complete regeneration failure. Although black spruce forests are currently moderately resilient, ongoing warming and drying may alter this trajectory, with large potential consequences for the functioning of this globally important biome. Intensifying wildfire activity and climate change can drive rapid forest compositional shifts. In boreal North America, black spruce shapes forest flammability and depends on fire for regeneration. This relationship has helped black spruce maintain its dominance through much of the Holocene. However, with climate change and more frequent and severe fires, shifts away from black spruce dominance to broadleaf or pine species are emerging, with implications for ecosystem functions including carbon sequestration, water and energy fluxes, and wildlife habitat. Here, we predict that such reductions in black spruce after fire may already be widespread given current trends in climate and fire. To test this, we synthesize data from 1,538 field sites across boreal North America to evaluate compositional changes in tree species following 58 recent fires (1989 to 2014). While black spruce was resilient following most fires (62%), loss of resilience was common, and spruce regeneration failed completely in 18% of 1,140 black spruce sites. In contrast, postfire regeneration never failed in forests dominated by jack pine, which also possesses an aerial seed bank, or broad-leaved trees. More complete combustion of the soil organic layer, which often occurs in better-drained landscape positions and in dryer duff, promoted compositional changes throughout boreal North America. Forests in western North America, however, were more vulnerable to change due to greater long-term climate moisture deficits. While we find considerable remaining resilience in black spruce forests, predicted increases in climate moisture deficits and fire activity will erode this resilience, pushing the system toward a tipping point that has not been crossed in several thousand years.
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McColl‐Gausden SC, Bennett LT, Ababei DA, Clarke HG, Penman TD. Future fire regimes increase risks to obligate‐seeder forests. DIVERS DISTRIB 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.13417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah C. McColl‐Gausden
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences The University of Melbourne Melbourne Victoria Australia
| | - Lauren T. Bennett
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences The University of Melbourne Melbourne Victoria Australia
| | - Dan A. Ababei
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences The University of Melbourne Melbourne Victoria Australia
| | - Hamish G. Clarke
- Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires Centre for Sustainable Ecosystem Solutions University of Wollongong Wollongong New South Wales Australia
- Hawkesbury Institute for the EnvironmentWestern Sydney University Penrith New South Wales Australia
| | - Trent D. Penman
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences The University of Melbourne Melbourne Victoria Australia
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Forest Disturbance Types and Current Analogs for Historical Disturbance-Independent Forests. LAND 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/land10020136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Forest classifications by disturbance permit designation of multiple types of both old growth forests and shorter-lived forests, which auto-replace under severe disturbance, and also identification of loss of the disturbance type and associated forest. Historically, fire and flooding disturbance regimes, or conversely, infrequent disturbance, produced unique forests such as disturbance-independent forests of American beech (Fagus grandifolia), eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), and sugar maple (Acer saccharum) in the Eastern United States. However, disturbance has changed to primarily frequent mechanical overstory disturbance, resulting in novel forests. To demonstrate the transition to no-analog forests after disturbance change, I compared historical tree surveys (ca. 1837 to 1857) to current surveys in the Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. To establish widespread disturbance change effects, I also located where beech and hemlock are currently most abundant throughout the Eastern US compared to historical distribution of beech–hemlock forests. In the Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan, beech and hemlock historically were about 30% of all trees, but currently, beech and hemlock are 2% of all trees. Red maple (Acer rubrum) increased from 1% to 11% of all trees and aspen (Populus) increased from 2% to 13% of all trees. The squared-chord difference between historical and current surveys was 0.40, or dissimilar forests. Areas with ≥20% beech and hemlock or ≥15% of either species decreased from about 52 million to 6 million hectares, with current distribution restricted to the Northeastern US. Current forests are dissimilar to historical forests, and this transition appears to be driven by disturbance regimes without historical analogs. Disturbance change may provide perspective in forest management for climate change.
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Jennewein JS, Hebblewhite M, Mahoney P, Gilbert S, Meddens AJH, Boelman NT, Joly K, Jones K, Kellie KA, Brainerd S, Vierling LA, Eitel JUH. Behavioral modifications by a large-northern herbivore to mitigate warming conditions. MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2020; 8:39. [PMID: 33072330 PMCID: PMC7559473 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-020-00223-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Temperatures in arctic-boreal regions are increasing rapidly and pose significant challenges to moose (Alces alces), a heat-sensitive large-bodied mammal. Moose act as ecosystem engineers, by regulating forest carbon and structure, below ground nitrogen cycling processes, and predator-prey dynamics. Previous studies showed that during hotter periods, moose displayed stronger selection for wetland habitats, taller and denser forest canopies, and minimized exposure to solar radiation. However, previous studies regarding moose behavioral thermoregulation occurred in Europe or southern moose range in North America. Understanding whether ambient temperature elicits a behavioral response in high-northern latitude moose populations in North America may be increasingly important as these arctic-boreal systems have been warming at a rate two to three times the global mean. METHODS We assessed how Alaska moose habitat selection changed as a function of ambient temperature using a step-selection function approach to identify habitat features important for behavioral thermoregulation in summer (June-August). We used Global Positioning System telemetry locations from four populations of Alaska moose (n = 169) from 2008 to 2016. We assessed model fit using the quasi-likelihood under independence criterion and conduction a leave-one-out cross validation. RESULTS Both male and female moose in all populations increasingly, and nonlinearly, selected for denser canopy cover as ambient temperature increased during summer, where initial increases in the conditional probability of selection were initially sharper then leveled out as canopy density increased above ~ 50%. However, the magnitude of selection response varied by population and sex. In two of the three populations containing both sexes, females demonstrated a stronger selection response for denser canopy at higher temperatures than males. We also observed a stronger selection response in the most southerly and northerly populations compared to populations in the west and central Alaska. CONCLUSIONS The impacts of climate change in arctic-boreal regions increase landscape heterogeneity through processes such as increased wildfire intensity and annual area burned, which may significantly alter the thermal environment available to an animal. Understanding habitat selection related to behavioral thermoregulation is a first step toward identifying areas capable of providing thermal relief for moose and other species impacted by climate change in arctic-boreal regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jyoti S. Jennewein
- Department of Natural Resources and Society, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID USA
| | - Mark Hebblewhite
- Wildlife Biology Program, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Science, W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT USA
| | - Peter Mahoney
- College of the Environment, University of Washington, Seattle, WA USA
| | - Sophie Gilbert
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID USA
| | | | - Natalie T. Boelman
- Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY USA
| | - Kyle Joly
- National Park Service, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Fairbanks, AK USA
| | - Kimberly Jones
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 1800 Glenn Hwy #2, Palmer, AK USA
| | - Kalin A. Kellie
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Wildlife Conservation, 1300 College Rd, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
| | - Scott Brainerd
- Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Evenstad, Norway
| | - Lee A. Vierling
- Department of Natural Resources and Society, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID USA
| | - Jan U. H. Eitel
- Department of Natural Resources and Society, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID USA
- McCall Outdoor Science School, University of Idaho, McCall, ID USA
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15
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Hanberry BB. Baseline to novel ecosystems in Michigan, USA, with a quantitative and qualitative assessment. ECOSCIENCE 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/11956860.2020.1791686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Brice B. Hanberry
- Grassland, Shrubland, and Desert Ecosystem, USDA Forest Service, Rapid City, SD, USA
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16
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Buma B, Schultz C. Disturbances as opportunities: Learning from disturbance‐response parallels in social and ecological systems to better adapt to climate change. J Appl Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Brian Buma
- Department of Integrative Biology University of Colorado Denver Denver CO USA
| | - Courtney Schultz
- Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship Colorado State University Fort Collins CO USA
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17
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Early Regeneration Dynamics of Pure Black Spruce and Aspen Forests after Wildfire in Boreal Alberta, Canada. FORESTS 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/f11030333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Research Highlights: Black spruce (Picea mariana Mill.) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) both regenerated vigorously after wildfire. However, pure semi-upland black spruce stands are at increasing risk of changing successional trajectories, due to greater aspen recruitment. Background and Objectives: Black spruce and aspen are found across the boreal forest with black spruce dominating lowlands and aspen being common in uplands. Both species are well adapted to wildfire with black spruce holding an aerial seedbank while aspen reproduce rapidly via root suckering. In the summer of 2016, the Horse River wildfire burned 589,617 hectares of northern Alberta’s boreal forest. Methods: We assessed early regeneration dynamics of both pure aspen and pure black spruce forests. For black spruce, 12 plots were established in both bog and semi-upland habitats to assess seedling regeneration and seedbed availability. For aspen, 12 plots were established in each of the low, moderate, and high burn severities, as well as 5 unburned plots. Results: Post-fire black spruce regeneration densities did not differ between bog and semi-upland habitats, but were positively correlated with forb cover and charred organic matter seedbeds. Aspen regeneration within pure black sprue stands was substantial, particularly in semi-upland habitats, indicating a potential shift in successional trajectory. Fire severity did not significantly affect aspen regeneration in pure aspen stands, but regeneration density in all severity types was >90,000 stems ha−1. Aspen regeneration densities were negatively related to post-fire forb and shrub cover, likely due to competition and cooler soil temperature.
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18
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Temperature-Dominated Driving Mechanisms of the Plant Diversity in Temperate Forests, Northeast China. FORESTS 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/f11020227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Climate, topography, and tree structure have different effects on plant diversity that vary with spatial scale. In this study, we assessed the contribution of these drivers and how they affect the vascular plant richness of different functional groups in a temperate forest ecosystem in Northeast China. We investigated about 0.986 million plants from 3160 sites to quantify the impact of annual mean temperature, sunshine duration, annual precipitation, standard deviation of diameter at breast height, and forest type on richness of vascular plants (total species, tree, treelet, shrub, and herb, separately) using the gradient boosting model. The results show that annual mean temperature had the strongest impact on plant richness. The tree richness peaked at intermediate annual mean temperature and sunshine duration and increased with annual precipitation. The Shannon diversity index and Simpson dominance index increased with annual precipitation and standard deviation of diameter at breast height, decreased with sunshine duration, and peaked at intermediate annual mean temperature and forest type. The total richness and understory richness increased with annual mean temperature and standard deviation of diameter at breast height and peaked at intermediate sunshine duration and annual precipitation. A comprehensive mechanism was found to regulate the plant diversity in forest ecosystems. The relationship between tree richness and annual mean temperature with latitudinal effect could be affected by the differences in number and size of tree individuals, indicating that plant diversity varies with the utilization of energy. The force driving plant richness varied with the functional group due to the different environmental resource requirements and the life history strategies of plants layers.
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19
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Short-interval wildfire and drought overwhelm boreal forest resilience. Sci Rep 2019; 9:18796. [PMID: 31827128 PMCID: PMC6906309 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-55036-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2019] [Accepted: 11/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The size and frequency of large wildfires in western North America have increased in recent years, a trend climate change is likely to exacerbate. Due to fuel limitations, recently burned forests resist burning for upwards of 30 years; however, extreme fire-conducive weather enables reburning at shorter fire-free intervals than expected. This research quantifies the outcomes of short-interval reburns in upland and wetland environments of northwestern Canadian boreal forests and identifies an interactive effect of post-fire drought. Despite adaptations to wildfire amongst boreal plants, post-fire forests at paired short- and long-interval sites were significantly different, with short-interval sites having lower stem densities of trees due to reduced conifer recruitment, a higher proportion of broadleaf trees, less residual organic material, and reduced herbaceous vegetation cover. Drought reinforced changes in proportions of tree species and decreases in tree recruitment, reinforcing non-resilient responses to short-interval reburning. Drier and warmer weather will increase the incidence of short-interval reburning and amplify the ecological changes such events cause, as wildfire activity and post-fire drought increase synergistically. These interacting disturbances will accelerate climate-driven changes in boreal forest structure and composition. Our findings identify processes of ongoing and future change in a climate-sensitive biome.
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20
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Stephens EZ, Murar CP, Tinker DB, Copenhaver-Parry PE. Environmental Determinants of Recruitment Success of Subalpine Fir (Abies lasiocarpa) in a Mixed-Conifer Forest. WEST N AM NATURALIST 2019. [DOI: 10.3398/064.079.0402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Daniel B. Tinker
- Program in Ecology and Department of Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071
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21
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Turner MG, Braziunas KH, Hansen WD, Harvey BJ. Short-interval severe fire erodes the resilience of subalpine lodgepole pine forests. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:11319-11328. [PMID: 31110003 PMCID: PMC6561258 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1902841116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Subalpine forests in the northern Rocky Mountains have been resilient to stand-replacing fires that historically burned at 100- to 300-year intervals. Fire intervals are projected to decline drastically as climate warms, and forests that reburn before recovering from previous fire may lose their ability to rebound. We studied recent fires in Greater Yellowstone (Wyoming, United States) and asked whether short-interval (<30 years) stand-replacing fires can erode lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) forest resilience via increased burn severity, reduced early postfire tree regeneration, reduced carbon stocks, and slower carbon recovery. During 2016, fires reburned young lodgepole pine forests that regenerated after wildfires in 1988 and 2000. During 2017, we sampled 0.25-ha plots in stand-replacing reburns (n = 18) and nearby young forests that did not reburn (n = 9). We also simulated stand development with and without reburns to assess carbon recovery trajectories. Nearly all prefire biomass was combusted ("crown fire plus") in some reburns in which prefire trees were dense and small (≤4-cm basal diameter). Postfire tree seedling density was reduced sixfold relative to the previous (long-interval) fire, and high-density stands (>40,000 stems ha-1) were converted to sparse stands (<1,000 stems ha-1). In reburns, coarse wood biomass and aboveground carbon stocks were reduced by 65 and 62%, respectively, relative to areas that did not reburn. Increased carbon loss plus sparse tree regeneration delayed simulated carbon recovery by >150 years. Forests did not transition to nonforest, but extreme burn severity and reduced tree recovery foreshadow an erosion of forest resilience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica G Turner
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706;
| | - Kristin H Braziunas
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706
| | | | - Brian J Harvey
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
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22
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Roland CA, Schmidt JH, Winder SG, Stehn SE, Nicklen EF. Regional variation in interior Alaskan boreal forests is driven by fire disturbance, topography, and climate. ECOL MONOGR 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Carl A. Roland
- Denali National Park and Preserve and Central Alaska Network U.S. National Park Service 4175 Geist Road Fairbanks Alaska 99709 USA
| | - Joshua H. Schmidt
- Central Alaska Network U.S. National Park Service 4175 Geist Road Fairbanks Alaska 99709 USA
| | - Samantha G. Winder
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics University of Alaska Fairbanks P.O. Box 756660 Fairbanks Alaska 99775 USA
| | - Sarah E. Stehn
- Denali National Park and Preserve P.O. Box 9 Denali Park Alaska 99755 USA
| | - E. Fleur Nicklen
- Central Alaska Network U.S. National Park Service 4175 Geist Road Fairbanks Alaska 99709 USA
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23
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Competition and Burn Severity Determine Post-Fire Sapling Recovery in a Nationally Protected Boreal Forest of China: An Analysis from Very High-Resolution Satellite Imagery. REMOTE SENSING 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/rs11060603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Anticipating how boreal forest landscapes will change in response to changing fire regime requires disentangling the effects of various spatial controls on the recovery process of tree saplings. Spatially explicit monitoring of post-fire vegetation recovery through moderate resolution Landsat imagery is a popular technique but is filled with ambiguous information due to mixed pixel effects. On the other hand, very-high resolution (VHR) satellite imagery accurately measures crown size of tree saplings but has gained little attention and its utility for estimating leaf area index (LAI, m2/m2) and tree sapling abundance (TSA, seedlings/ha) in post-fire landscape remains untested. We compared the explanatory power of 30 m Landsat satellite imagery with 0.5-m WorldView-2 VHR imagery for LAI and TSA based on field sampling data, and subsequently mapped the distribution of LAI and TSA based on the most predictive relationships. A random forest (RF) model was applied to assess the relative importance and causal mechanisms of spatial controls on tree sapling recovery. The results showed that pixel percentage of canopy trees (PPCT) derived from VHR imagery outperform all Landsat-derived spectral indices for explaining variance of LAI (R2VHR = 0.676 vs. R2Landsat = 0.427) and TSA (R2VHR = 0.508 vs. R2Landsat = 0.499). The RF model explained an average of 55.5% (SD = 3.0%, MSE = 0.382, N = 50) of the variation of estimated LAI. Understory vegetation coverage (competition) and post-fire surviving mature trees (seed sources) were the most important spatial controls for LAI recovery, followed by burn severity (legacy effect), topographic factors (environmental filter) and nearest distance to unburned area (edge effect). These analyses allow us to conclude that in our study area, mitigating wildfire severity and size may increase forest resilience to wildfire damage. Given the easily-damaged seed banks and relatively short seed dispersal distance of coniferous trees, reasonable human help to natural recovery of coniferous forests is necessary for severe burns with a large patch size, particularly in certain areas. Our research shows the VHR WorldView-2 imagery better resolves key characteristics of forest landscapes like LAI and TSA than Landsat imagery, providing a valuable tool for land managers and researchers alike.
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24
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Hart SJ, Henkelman J, McLoughlin PD, Nielsen SE, Truchon-Savard A, Johnstone JF. Examining forest resilience to changing fire frequency in a fire-prone region of boreal forest. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2019; 25:869-884. [PMID: 30570807 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2018] [Revised: 11/09/2018] [Accepted: 12/04/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Future changes in climate are widely anticipated to increase fire frequency, particularly in boreal forests where extreme warming is expected to occur. Feedbacks between vegetation and fire may modify the direct effects of warming on fire activity and shape ecological responses to changing fire frequency. We investigate these interactions using extensive field data from the Boreal Shield of Saskatchewan, Canada, a region where >40% of the forest has burned in the past 30 years. We use geospatial and field data to assess the resistance and resilience of eight common vegetation states to frequent fire by quantifying the occurrence of short-interval fires and their effect on recovery to a similar vegetation state. These empirical relationships are combined with data from published literature to parameterize a spatially explicit, state-and-transition simulation model of fire and forest succession. We use this model to ask if and how: (a) feedbacks between vegetation and wildfire may modify fire activity on the landscape, and (b) more frequent fire may affect landscape forest composition and age structure. Both field and GIS data suggest the probability of fire is low in the initial decades after fire, supporting the hypothesis that fuel accumulation may exert a negative feedback on fire frequency. Field observations of pre- and postfire composition indicate that switches in forest state are more likely in conifer stands that burn at a young age, supporting the hypothesis that resilience is lower in immature stands. Stands dominated by deciduous trees or jack pine were generally resilient to fire, while mixed conifer and well-drained spruce forests were less resilient. However, simulation modeling suggests increased fire activity may result in large changes in forest age structure and composition, despite the feedbacks between vegetation-fire likely to occur with increased fire activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah J Hart
- Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
| | - Jonathan Henkelman
- Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
| | - Philip D McLoughlin
- Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
| | - Scott E Nielsen
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | | | - Jill F Johnstone
- Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska
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25
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Prince TJ, Pisaric MFJ, Turner KW. Postglacial Reconstruction of Fire History Using Sedimentary Charcoal and Pollen From a Small Lake in Southwest Yukon Territory, Canada. Front Ecol Evol 2018. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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26
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Liberati D, de Dato G, Guidolotti G, De Angelis P. Linking photosynthetic performances with the changes in cover degree of three Mediterranean shrubs under climate manipulation. OIKOS 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.05263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dario Liberati
- Dept for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food and Forest Systems (DIBAF); Univ. of Tuscia; Viterbo Italy
| | - Giovanbattista de Dato
- Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA); Research Centre for Forestry and Wood; Arezzo Italy
| | - Gabriele Guidolotti
- Dept for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food and Forest Systems (DIBAF); Univ. of Tuscia; Viterbo Italy
- Inst. for Agro-Environment and Forest Biology (IBAF); National Research Council of Italy (CNR); Porano (TR) Italy
| | - Paolo De Angelis
- Dept for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food and Forest Systems (DIBAF); Univ. of Tuscia; Viterbo Italy
- Div. of Impact Studies and Physiological Analyses; Global Change Research Centre; Brno Czech Republic
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27
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Topoedaphic and Forest Controls on Post-Fire Vegetation Assemblies Are Modified by Fire History and Burn Severity in the Northwestern Canadian Boreal Forest. FORESTS 2018. [DOI: 10.3390/f9030151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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28
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Trugman AT, Medvigy D, Anderegg WRL, Pacala SW. Differential declines in Alaskan boreal forest vitality related to climate and competition. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2018; 24:1097-1107. [PMID: 29055122 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2017] [Revised: 09/13/2017] [Accepted: 10/12/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Rapid warming and changes in water availability at high latitudes alter resource abundance, tree competition, and disturbance regimes. While these changes are expected to disrupt the functioning of boreal forests, their ultimate implications for forest composition are uncertain. In particular, recent site-level studies of the Alaskan boreal forest have reported both increases and decreases in productivity over the past few decades. Here, we test the idea that variations in Alaskan forest growth and mortality rates are contingent on species composition. Using forest inventory measurements and climate data from plots located throughout interior and south-central Alaska, we show significant growth and mortality responses associated with competition, midsummer vapor pressure deficit, and increased growing season length. The governing climate and competition processes differed substantially across species. Surprisingly, the most dramatic climate response occurred in the drought tolerant angiosperm species, trembling aspen, and linked high midsummer vapor pressure deficits to decreased growth and increased insect-related mortality. Given that species composition in the Alaskan and western Canadian boreal forests is projected to shift toward early-successional angiosperm species due to fire regime, these results underscore the potential for a reduction in boreal productivity stemming from increases in midsummer evaporative demand.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna T Trugman
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - David Medvigy
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
| | | | - Stephen W Pacala
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
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29
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Effects of Burn Severity and Environmental Conditions on Post-Fire Regeneration in Siberian Larch Forest. FORESTS 2017. [DOI: 10.3390/f8030076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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30
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Rolstad J, Blanck YL, Storaunet KO. Fire history in a western Fennoscandian boreal forest as influenced by human land use and climate. ECOL MONOGR 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jørund Rolstad
- Department of Forest Genetics and Biodiversity; Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research; P.O. Box 115 NO-1431 Ås Norway
| | - Ylva-li Blanck
- Department of Forest Genetics and Biodiversity; Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research; P.O. Box 115 NO-1431 Ås Norway
- Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management; Norwegian University of Life Sciences; P.O. Box 5003 NMBU NO-1432 Ås Norway
| | - Ken Olaf Storaunet
- Department of Forest Genetics and Biodiversity; Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research; P.O. Box 115 NO-1431 Ås Norway
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31
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Walker XJ, Mack MC, Johnstone JF. Predicting Ecosystem Resilience to Fire from Tree Ring Analysis in Black Spruce Forests. Ecosystems 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s10021-016-0097-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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32
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Benkman CW. The Natural History of the South Hills Crossbill in Relation to Its Impending Extinction. Am Nat 2016; 188:589-601. [PMID: 27860509 DOI: 10.1086/688904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Increasingly, the species that we discover will be uncommon, area restricted, and vulnerable to extinction. I describe the natural history of a newly discovered seed-eating finch from the Rocky Mountain region, the South Hills crossbill (Loxia curvirostra complex). It relies on seeds in the closed cones of the fire-adapted Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta latifolia) and is found only in the higher elevations of two small mountain ranges in southern Idaho. Here crossbills and pine are engaged in a coevolutionary arms race. Although most of the seeds remain secured within the cones for decades until the heat of a stand-replacing fire causes the cone scales to separate, seeds become accessible to crossbills slowly as cones weather and gaps form between some of the scales. However, hot days (≥32°C), especially four or more hot days, seem to mimic the effect of fire, apparently causing the immediate release of a fraction of the seeds. Such events caused a 20% annual decline in crossbills that lasted up to 4 years and an 80% decline in the population between 2003 and 2011. This is an example of a novel trophic mismatch between a consumer and its resource caused by a shift in the phenology of the resource arising from climate change. Not only do these phenological shifts have the potential to cause seed consumers to decline, these shifts are also likely to cause reduced recruitment of the plants. The South Hills crossbill is especially vulnerable and will likely go extinct this century before lodgepole pine is extirpated from the South Hills.
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Stevens-Rumann C, Morgan P. Repeated wildfires alter forest recovery of mixed-conifer ecosystems. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2016; 26:1842-1853. [PMID: 27755710 DOI: 10.1890/15-1521.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2015] [Revised: 12/09/2015] [Accepted: 01/28/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Most models project warmer and drier climates that will contribute to larger and more frequent wildfires. However, it remains unknown how repeated wildfires alter post-fire successional patterns and forest structure. Here, we test the hypothesis that the number of wildfires, as well as the order and severity of wildfire events interact to alter forest structure and vegetation recovery and implications for vegetation management. In 2014, we examined forest structure, composition, and tree regeneration in stands that burned 1-18 yr before a subsequent 2007 wildfire. Three important findings emerged: (1) Repeatedly burned forests had 15% less woody surface fuels and 31% lower tree seedling densities compared with forests that only experienced one recent wildfire. These repeatedly burned areas are recovering differently than sites burned once, which may lead to alternative ecosystem structure. (2) Order of burn severity (high followed by low severity compared with low followed by high severity) did influence forest characteristics. When low burn severity followed high, forests had 60% lower canopy closure and total basal area with 92% fewer tree seedlings than when high burn severity followed low. (3) Time between fires had no effect on most variables measured following the second fire except large woody fuels, canopy closure and tree seedling density. We conclude that repeatedly burned areas meet many vegetation management objectives of reduced fuel loads and moderate tree seedling densities. These differences in forest structure, composition, and tree regeneration have implications not only for the trajectories of these forests, but may reduce fire intensity and burn severity of subsequent wildfires and may be used in conjunction with future fire suppression tactics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camille Stevens-Rumann
- University of Idaho, Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences, Moscow, Idaho, 83844 USA .
| | - Penelope Morgan
- University of Idaho, Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences, Moscow, Idaho, 83844 USA
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34
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Roland CA, Stehn SE, Schmidt J, Houseman B. Proliferating poplars: the leading edge of landscape change in an Alaskan subalpine chronosequence. Ecosphere 2016. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.1398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Carl A. Roland
- Denali National Park and Preserve P.O. Box 9 Denali National Park Alaska 99755 USA
- Central Alaska NetworkNational Park Service 4175 Geist Road Fairbanks Alaska 99709 USA
| | - Sarah E. Stehn
- Denali National Park and Preserve P.O. Box 9 Denali National Park Alaska 99755 USA
- Central Alaska NetworkNational Park Service 4175 Geist Road Fairbanks Alaska 99709 USA
| | - Joshua Schmidt
- Central Alaska NetworkNational Park Service 4175 Geist Road Fairbanks Alaska 99709 USA
| | - Brian Houseman
- Denali National Park and Preserve P.O. Box 9 Denali National Park Alaska 99755 USA
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Tautenhahn S, Lichstein JW, Jung M, Kattge J, Bohlman SA, Heilmeier H, Prokushkin A, Kahl A, Wirth C. Dispersal limitation drives successional pathways in Central Siberian forests under current and intensified fire regimes. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2016; 22:2178-2197. [PMID: 26649652 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2014] [Revised: 11/06/2015] [Accepted: 11/18/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Fire is a primary driver of boreal forest dynamics. Intensifying fire regimes due to climate change may cause a shift in boreal forest composition toward reduced dominance of conifers and greater abundance of deciduous hardwoods, with potential biogeochemical and biophysical feedbacks to regional and global climate. This shift has already been observed in some North American boreal forests and has been attributed to changes in site conditions. However, it is unknown if the mechanisms controlling fire-induced changes in deciduous hardwood cover are similar among different boreal forests, which differ in the ecological traits of the dominant tree species. To better understand the consequences of intensifying fire regimes in boreal forests, we studied postfire regeneration in five burns in the Central Siberian dark taiga, a vast but poorly studied boreal region. We combined field measurements, dendrochronological analysis, and seed-source maps derived from high-resolution satellite images to quantify the importance of site conditions (e.g., organic layer depth) vs. seed availability in shaping postfire regeneration. We show that dispersal limitation of evergreen conifers was the main factor determining postfire regeneration composition and density. Site conditions had significant but weaker effects. We used information on postfire regeneration to develop a classification scheme for successional pathways, representing the dominance of deciduous hardwoods vs. evergreen conifers at different successional stages. We estimated the spatial distribution of different successional pathways under alternative fire regime scenarios. Under intensified fire regimes, dispersal limitation of evergreen conifers is predicted to become more severe, primarily due to reduced abundance of surviving seed sources within burned areas. Increased dispersal limitation of evergreen conifers, in turn, is predicted to increase the prevalence of successional pathways dominated by deciduous hardwoods. The likely fire-induced shift toward greater deciduous hardwood cover may affect climate-vegetation feedbacks via surface albedo, Bowen ratio, and carbon cycling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Tautenhahn
- Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Hans-Knöll-Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany
- Department of Biosciences, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Leipziger Strasse 29, 09596, Freiberg, Germany
| | - Jeremy W Lichstein
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
| | - Martin Jung
- Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Hans-Knöll-Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany
| | - Jens Kattge
- Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Hans-Knöll-Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Stephanie A Bohlman
- School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
| | - Hermann Heilmeier
- Department of Biosciences, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Leipziger Strasse 29, 09596, Freiberg, Germany
| | - Anatoly Prokushkin
- Sukachev Institute of Forest, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Akademgorodok 50/28, Krasnoyarsk, 660036, Russia
| | - Anja Kahl
- University of Leipzig, Johannisallee 21-23, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Christian Wirth
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- University of Leipzig, Johannisallee 21-23, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
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36
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Lecomte N, Simard M, Bergeron Y. Effects of fire severity and initial tree composition on stand structural development in the coniferous boreal forest of northwestern Québec, Canada. ECOSCIENCE 2016. [DOI: 10.2980/i1195-6860-13-2-152.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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37
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Laquerre S, Leduc A, Harvey BD. Augmentation du couvert en peuplier faux-tremble dans les pessières noires du nord-ouest du Québec après coupe totale. ECOSCIENCE 2015. [DOI: 10.2980/16-4-3252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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38
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Taking time to consider the causes and consequences of large wildfires. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:13137-8. [PMID: 26483507 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1518170112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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39
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Alexander HD, Mack MC. A Canopy Shift in Interior Alaskan Boreal Forests: Consequences for Above- and Belowground Carbon and Nitrogen Pools during Post-fire Succession. Ecosystems 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s10021-015-9920-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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40
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Lienard J, Florescu I, Strigul N. An appraisal of the classic forest succession paradigm with the shade tolerance index. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0117138. [PMID: 25658092 PMCID: PMC4319751 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2014] [Accepted: 12/19/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper we revisit the classic theory of forest succession that relates shade tolerance and species replacement and assess its validity to understand patch-mosaic patterns of forested ecosystems of the USA. We introduce a macroscopic parameter called the “shade tolerance index” and compare it to the classic continuum index in southern Wisconsin forests. We exemplify shade tolerance driven succession in White Pine-Eastern Hemlock forests using computer simulations and analyzing approximated chronosequence data from the USDA FIA forest inventory. We describe this parameter across the last 50 years in the ecoregions of mainland USA, and demonstrate that it does not correlate with the usual macroscopic characteristics of stand age, biomass, basal area, and biodiversity measures. We characterize the dynamics of shade tolerance index using transition matrices and delimit geographical areas based on the relevance of shade tolerance to explain forest succession. We conclude that shade tolerance driven succession is linked to climatic variables and can be considered as a primary driving factor of forest dynamics mostly in central-north and northeastern areas in the USA. Overall, the shade tolerance index constitutes a new quantitative approach that can be used to understand and predict succession of forested ecosystems and biogeographic patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean Lienard
- Department of Mathematics & School of Art and Sciences, Washington State University Vancouver, Washington, United States of America
| | - Ionut Florescu
- Financial Engineering Division and the Hanlon Financial Systems Lab, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA
| | - Nikolay Strigul
- Department of Mathematics & School of Art and Sciences, Washington State University Vancouver, Washington, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Kettridge N, Turetsky MR, Sherwood JH, Thompson DK, Miller CA, Benscoter BW, Flannigan MD, Wotton BM, Waddington JM. Moderate drop in water table increases peatland vulnerability to post-fire regime shift. Sci Rep 2015; 5:8063. [PMID: 25623290 PMCID: PMC4306970 DOI: 10.1038/srep08063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2014] [Accepted: 12/31/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Northern and tropical peatlands represent a globally significant carbon reserve accumulated over thousands of years of waterlogged conditions. It is unclear whether moderate drying predicted for northern peatlands will stimulate burning and carbon losses as has occurred in their smaller tropical counterparts where the carbon legacy has been destabilized due to severe drainage and deep peat fires. Capitalizing on a unique long-term experiment, we quantify the post-wildfire recovery of a northern peatland subjected to decadal drainage. We show that the moderate drop in water table position predicted for most northern regions triggers a shift in vegetation composition previously observed within only severely disturbed tropical peatlands. The combined impact of moderate drainage followed by wildfire converted the low productivity, moss-dominated peatland to a non-carbon accumulating shrub-grass ecosystem. This new ecosystem is likely to experience a low intensity, high frequency wildfire regime, which will further deplete the legacy of stored peat carbon.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Kettridge
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - M R Turetsky
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - J H Sherwood
- School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - D K Thompson
- 1] School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada [2] Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Northern Forestry Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, T6H 3S5, Canada
| | - C A Miller
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - B W Benscoter
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Davie, Florida 33314, USA
| | - M D Flannigan
- 1] Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Northern Forestry Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, T6H 3S5, Canada [2] Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H1, Canada
| | - B M Wotton
- 1] Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B3, Canada [2] Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, P6A ZES, Canada
| | - J M Waddington
- School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada
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Seidl R, Rammer W, Spies TA. Disturbance legacies increase the resilience of forest ecosystem structure, composition, and functioning. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2014; 24:2063-2077. [PMID: 27053913 PMCID: PMC4820056 DOI: 10.1890/14-0255.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Disturbances are key drivers of forest ecosystem dynamics, and forests are well adapted to their natural disturbance regimes. However, as a result of climate change, disturbance frequency is expected to increase in the future in many regions. It is not yet clear how such changes might affect forest ecosystems, and which mechanisms contribute to (current and future) disturbance resilience. We studied a 6364-ha landscape in the western Cascades of Oregon, USA, to investigate how patches of remnant old-growth trees (as one important class of biological legacies) affect the resilience of forest ecosystems to disturbance. Using the spatially explicit, individual-based, forest landscape model iLand, we analyzed the effect of three different levels of remnant patches (0%, 12%, and 24% of the landscape) on 500-year recovery trajectories after a large, high-severity wildfire. In addition, we evaluated how three different levels of fire frequency modulate the effects of initial legacies. We found that remnant live trees enhanced the recovery of total ecosystem carbon (TEC) stocks after disturbance, increased structural complexity of forest canopies, and facilitated the recolonization of late-seral species (LSS). Legacy effects were most persistent for indicators of species composition (still significant 500 years after disturbance), while TEC (i.e., a measure of ecosystem functioning) was least affected, with no significant differences among legacy scenarios after 236 years. Compounding disturbances were found to dampen legacy effects on all indicators, and higher initial legacy levels resulted in elevated fire severity in the second half of the study period. Overall, disturbance frequency had a stronger effect on ecosystem properties than the initial level of remnant old-growth trees. A doubling of the historically observed fire frequency to a mean fire return interval of 131 years reduced TEC by 10.5% and lowered the presence of LSS on the landscape by 18.1% on average, demonstrating that an increase in disturbance frequency (a potential climate change effect) may considerably alter the structure, composition, and functioning of forest landscapes. Our results indicate that live tree legacies are an important component of disturbance resilience, underlining the potential of retention forestry to address challenges in ecosystem management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rupert Seidl
- Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria
| | - Werner Rammer
- Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas A. Spies
- USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Corvallis, Oregon 97331 USA
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Conifer Recruitment in Trembling Aspen (Populus Tremuloides Michx.) Stands along an East-West Gradient in the Boreal Mixedwoods of Canada. FORESTS 2014. [DOI: 10.3390/f5112905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Abstract
Boreal ecosystems and their large carbon stocks are strongly shaped by extensive wildfires. Coupling climate projections with records of area burned during the last 3 decades across the North American boreal zone suggests that area burned will increase by 30-500% by the end of the 21st century, with a cascading effect on ecosystem dynamics and on the boreal carbon balance. Fire size and the frequency of large-fire years are both expected to increase. However, how fire size and time since previous fire will influence future burn rates is poorly understood, mostly because of incomplete records of past fire overlaps. Here, we reconstruct the length of overlapping fires along a 190-km-long transect during the last 200 y in one of the most fire-prone boreal regions of North America to document how fire size and time since previous fire will influence future fire recurrence. We provide direct field evidence that extreme burn rates can be sustained by a few occasional droughts triggering immense fires. However, we also show that the most fire-prone areas of the North American boreal forest are resistant to high burn rates because of overabundant young forest stands, thereby creating a fuel-mediated negative feedback on fire activity. These findings will help refine projections of fire effect on boreal ecosystems and their large carbon stocks.
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Larocque GR, Paré D, Boutin R, Sarr L, Lacerte V, Ansseau C. Comparing carbon pools and tree growth in balsam fir ( Abies balsamea) and black spruce ( Picea mariana) forest ecosystems located along a climatic gradient. ECOSCIENCE 2014. [DOI: 10.2980/21-(3-4)-3701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Guy R. Larocque
- Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, 1055 du PEPS, PO Box 10380, Stn. Ste-Foy, Québec, Quebec G1V 4C7, Canada,
| | - David Paré
- Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, 1055 du PEPS, PO Box 10380, Stn. Ste-Foy, Québec, Quebec G1V 4C7, Canada,
| | - Robert Boutin
- 3720 rue Gabrielle Vallée, Québec, Quebec G1W 2Z7, Canada
| | - Lamine Sarr
- Agence de développement local (ADL), VDN Liberté VI lot no 23, Dakar Yoff, Ninea: 4406311 2G3, Sénégal
| | - Valérie Lacerte
- 13 des Jacinthes, St-Lambert de Lauzon, Quebec G0S 2W0, Canada
| | - Colette Ansseau
- Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec J1K 2R1, Canada
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Taylor AR, Seedre M, Brassard BW, Chen HYH. Decline in Net Ecosystem Productivity Following Canopy Transition to Late-Succession Forests. Ecosystems 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s10021-014-9759-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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47
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Roy BA, Mulder CPH. Pathogens, herbivores, and phenotypic plasticity of borealVaccinium vitis-idaeaexperiencing climate change. Ecosphere 2014. [DOI: 10.1890/es13-00271.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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48
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Roland CA, Schmidt JH, Nicklen EF. Landscape-scale patterns in tree occupancy and abundance in subarctic Alaska. ECOL MONOGR 2013. [DOI: 10.1890/11-2136.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Nitschke CR, Amoroso M, Coates KD, Astrup R. The influence of climate change, site type, and disturbance on stand dynamics in northwest British Columbia, Canada. Ecosphere 2012. [DOI: 10.1890/es11-00282.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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50
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Continued warming could transform Greater Yellowstone fire regimes by mid-21st century. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2011; 108:13165-70. [PMID: 21788495 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1110199108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 215] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate change is likely to alter wildfire regimes, but the magnitude and timing of potential climate-driven changes in regional fire regimes are not well understood. We considered how the occurrence, size, and spatial location of large fires might respond to climate projections in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem (GYE) (Wyoming), a large wildland ecosystem dominated by conifer forests and characterized by infrequent, high-severity fire. We developed a suite of statistical models that related monthly climate data (1972-1999) to the occurrence and size of fires >200 ha in the northern Rocky Mountains; these models were cross-validated and then used with downscaled (~12 km × 12 km) climate projections from three global climate models to predict fire occurrence and area burned in the GYE through 2099. All models predicted substantial increases in fire by midcentury, with fire rotation (the time to burn an area equal to the landscape area) reduced to <30 y from the historical 100-300 y for most of the GYE. Years without large fires were common historically but are expected to become rare as annual area burned and the frequency of regionally synchronous fires increase. Our findings suggest a shift to novel fire-climate-vegetation relationships in Greater Yellowstone by midcentury because fire frequency and extent would be inconsistent with persistence of the current suite of conifer species. The predicted new fire regime would transform the flora, fauna, and ecosystem processes in this landscape and may indicate similar changes for other subalpine forests.
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