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1
Senf, Cornelius, Jörg Müller, and Rupert Seidl. "Post-disturbance recovery of forest cover and tree height differ with management in Central Europe." Landscape Ecology 34, no. 12 (October 30, 2019): 2837–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10980-019-00921-9.
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Abstract Context Recovery from disturbances is a prominent measure of forest ecosystem resilience, with swift recovery indicating resilient systems. The forest ecosystems of Central Europe have recently been affected by unprecedented levels of natural disturbance, yet our understanding of their ability to recover from disturbances is still limited. Objectives We here integrated satellite and airborne Lidar data to (i) quantify multi-decadal post-disturbance recovery of two indicators of forest structure, and (ii) compare the recovery trajectories of forest structure among managed and un-managed forests. Methods We developed satellite-based models predicting Lidar-derived estimates of tree cover and stand height at 30 m grain across a 3100 km2 landscape in the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem (Central Europe). We summarized the percentage of disturbed area that recovered to > 40% tree cover and > 5 m stand height and quantified the variability in both indicators over a 30-year period. The analyses were stratified by three management regimes (managed, protected, strictly protected) and two forest types (beech-dominated, spruce-dominated). Results We found that on average 84% of the disturbed area met our recovery threshold 30 years post-disturbance. The rate of recovery was slower in un-managed compared to managed forests. Variability in tree cover was more persistent over time in un-managed forests, while managed forests strongly converged after a few decades post-disturbance. Conclusion We conclude that current management facilitates the recovery of forest structure in Central European forest ecosystems. However, our results underline that forests recovered well from disturbances also in the absence of human intervention. Our analysis highlights the high resilience of Central European forest ecosystems to recent disturbances.
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Löw, Markus, and Tatjana Koukal. "Phenology Modelling and Forest Disturbance Mapping with Sentinel-2 Time Series in Austria." Remote Sensing 12, no. 24 (December 21, 2020): 4191. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs12244191.
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Worldwide, forests provide natural resources and ecosystem services. However, forest ecosystems are threatened by increasing forest disturbance dynamics, caused by direct human activities or by altering environmental conditions. It is decisive to reconstruct and trace the intra- to transannual dynamics of forest ecosystems. National to local forest authorities and other stakeholders request detailed area-wide maps that delineate forest disturbance dynamics at various spatial scales. We developed a time series analysis (TSA) framework that comprises data download, data management, image preprocessing and an advanced but flexible TSA. We use dense Sentinel-2 time series and a dynamic Savitzky–Golay-filtering approach to model robust but sensitive phenology courses. Deviations from the phenology models are used to derive detailed spatiotemporal information on forest disturbances. In a first case study, we apply the TSA to map forest disturbances directly or indirectly linked to recurring bark beetle infestation in Northern Austria. In addition to spatially detailed maps, zonal statistics on different spatial scales provide aggregated information on the extent of forest disturbances between 2018 and 2019. The outcomes are (a) area-wide consistent data of individual phenology models and deduced phenology metrics for Austrian forests and (b) operational forest disturbance maps, useful to investigate and monitor forest disturbances to facilitate sustainable forest management.
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Jõgiste, Kalev, Lee E. Frelich, Floortje Vodde, Ahto Kangur, Marek Metslaid, and John A. Stanturf. "Natural Disturbance Dynamics Analysis for Ecosystem-Based Management—FORDISMAN." Forests 11, no. 6 (June 11, 2020): 663. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f11060663.
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Forest ecosystems are shaped by disturbances and functional features of vegetation recovery after disturbances. There is considerable variation in basic disturbance characteristics, magnitude, severity, and intensity. Disturbance legacies provide possible explanations for ecosystem resilience. The impact (length and strength) of the pool of ecosystem legacies and how they vary at different spatial and temporal scales is a most promising line of further research. Analyses of successional trajectories, ecosystem memory, and novel ecosystems are required to improve modelling in support of forests. There is growing evidence that managing ecosystem legacies can act as a driver in adaptive management to achieve goals in forestry. Managers can adapt to climate change and new conditions through anticipatory or transformational strategies of ecosystem management. The papers presented in this Special Issue covers a wide range of topics, including the impact of herbivores, wind, and anthropogenic factors, on ecosystem resilience.
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Kutnar, Nagel, and Kermavnar. "Effects of Disturbance on Understory Vegetation across Slovenian Forest Ecosystems." Forests 10, no. 11 (November 19, 2019): 1048. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f10111048.
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The herbaceous understory represents a key component of forest biodiversity across temperate forests of Europe. Here, we quantified changes in the diversity and composition of the forest understory layer in representative Slovenian forest ecosystems between 2004/05 and 2014/15. In total, 60 plots were placed across 10 different managed forest types, ranging from lowland deciduous and mid-altitude mesic mixed forests to mountain conifer forests. This network is part of an international network of sites launched within the ICP Forests Programme aimed to assess the condition of forests in Europe. To examine how disturbance influenced understory dynamics, we estimated the disturbance impacts considering both natural and/or anthropogenic disturbances that cause significant damage to trees and to ground-surface layers, including ground-vegetation layers and upper-soil layers. Species richness across 10 sites (gamma diversity) significantly decreased from 272 to 243 species during the study period, while mean species richness per site did not significantly change. The mean value of site level Shannon diversity indices and evenness significantly increased. The cover of most common plant species increased during the monitoring period. The mean value of disturbance estimates per site increased from 0.8% in 2004/05 (ranging from 0% to 2.5%) to 16.3% in 2014/15 (ranging from 5.0% to 38.8%), which corresponded to a reduction in total vegetation cover, including tree-layer cover. More disturbed sites showed larger temporal changes in species composition compared to less disturbed sites, suggesting that forest disturbances caused understory compositional shifts during the study period. Rather than observing an increase in plant diversity due to disturbance, our results suggest a short-term decrease in species number, likely driven by replacement of more specialized species with common species.
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Pan, Y., J. M. Chen, R. Birdsey, K. McCullough, L. He, and F. Deng. "Age structure and disturbance legacy of North American forests." Biogeosciences 8, no. 3 (March 18, 2011): 715–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-8-715-2011.
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Abstract. Most forests of the world are recovering from a past disturbance. It is well known that forest disturbances profoundly affect carbon stocks and fluxes in forest ecosystems, yet it has been a great challenge to assess disturbance impacts in estimates of forest carbon budgets. Net sequestration or loss of CO2 by forests after disturbance follows a predictable pattern with forest recovery. Forest age, which is related to time since disturbance, is a useful surrogate variable for analyses of the impact of disturbance on forest carbon. In this study, we compiled the first continental forest age map of North America by combining forest inventory data, historical fire data, optical satellite data and the dataset from NASA's Landsat Ecosystem Disturbance Adaptive Processing System (LEDAPS) project. A companion map of the standard deviations for age estimates was developed for quantifying uncertainty. We discuss the significance of the disturbance legacy from the past, as represented by current forest age structure in different regions of the US and Canada, by analyzing the causes of disturbances from land management and nature over centuries and at various scales. We also show how such information can be used with inventory data for analyzing carbon management opportunities. By combining geographic information about forest age with estimated C dynamics by forest type, it is possible to conduct a simple but powerful analysis of the net CO2 uptake by forests, and the potential for increasing (or decreasing) this rate as a result of direct human intervention in the disturbance/age status. Finally, we describe how the forest age data can be used in large-scale carbon modeling, both for land-based biogeochemistry models and atmosphere-based inversion models, in order to improve the spatial accuracy of carbon cycle simulations.
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Bradley, Elizabeth A., and Graeme Lockaby. "Invasive Wild Pigs: A Significant Disturbance in Coastal Forests." Forests 12, no. 8 (August 5, 2021): 1042. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f12081042.
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Introduced in ~59 countries and native across Europe and Asia, wild pigs, Sus scrofa, are the most wide-spread swine species in the world. As ecosystem engineers, wild pigs are a significant source of disturbance in introduced ecosystems due to their numerous, complex impacts on ecosystem processes. Wild pigs are often found in the resource-rich habitat of coastal forests. Coastal forests are complex, dynamic systems with tremendous biodiversity. Exposed to recurrent disturbances, the biophysical characteristics of coastal forests contribute to their ability to return to their original state post-disturbance. However, compounding disturbances can weaken this ability and threaten the health and function of the ecosystem. In this review, through the model of the forests of the southeastern United States Coastal Plain, we (1) describe conditions found across the forested coastal landscape, (2) describe wild pig disturbance, and (3) discuss how wild pig impacts can add to significant anthropogenic and climate-related disturbances threatening coastal forests. Through this review, we find that the impacts of wild pig disturbance on coastal forests often have similar effects as anthropogenic and climate change-related disturbances that may enhance these significant threats to coastal forest function and resiliency.
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Berglund, Håkan, and Timo Kuuluvainen. "Representative boreal forest habitats in northern Europe, and a revised model for ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation." Ambio 50, no. 5 (January 17, 2021): 1003–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13280-020-01444-3.
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AbstractThe natural range of variation of ecosystems provides reference conditions for sustainable management and biodiversity conservation. We review how the understanding of natural reference conditions of boreal forests in northern Europe has changed from earlier perceptions of even-aged dynamics driven by stand-replacing disturbances towards current understanding highlighting the role of non-stand-replacing disturbances and the resultant complex forest dynamics and structures. We show how earlier views and conceptual models of forest disturbance dynamics, including the influential ASIO model, provide estimates of reference conditions that are outside the natural range of variation. Based on a research synthesis, we present a revised forest reference model incorporating the observed complexity of ecosystem dynamics and the prevalence of old forests. Finally, we outline a management model and demonstrate its use in forest ecosystem management and show how regional conservation area needs can be estimated. We conclude that attaining favourable conservation status in northern Europe’s boreal forests requires increasing emphasis on ecosystem management and conservation for old forest characteristics.
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Lewis, Kathy J., and B. Staffan Lindgren. "A conceptual model of biotic disturbance ecology in the central interior of B.C.: How forest management can turn Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde." Forestry Chronicle 76, no. 3 (June 1, 2000): 433–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.5558/tfc76433-3.
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In forested ecosystems, insects and pathogens play an important role in ecosystem function, and there is increasing evidence that these organisms are primary determinants of forest structure and composition. Recent research has confirmed this even in sub-boreal forests, where fire was traditionally thought to be the major agent of disturbance and hence the main driver of successional processes. This paper presents a conceptual model of biotic disturbance ecology in sub-boreal forests of central B.C. We also describe how forest management practices can lead to forest health problems by disrupting these ecological processes, and the natural population dynamics of insects and pathogens. Key words: disturbance ecology, succession, forest pest, sub-boreal, forest management, forest health
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Cai, Yanjiang, and Scott X. Chang. "Disturbance Effects on Soil Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Forest Ecosystems." Forests 11, no. 3 (March 7, 2020): 297. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f11030297.
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Forests cover around 30% of the global land area and forest ecosystems can store over 70% of total soil organic carbon (SOC) of all terrestrial ecosystems, but SOC stocks and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions may be affected by both natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Even though the changes in forest soil C pool can have a significant effect on climate change, there are some contradictory results regarding the role of forest disturbance on SOC sequestration, GHG emissions, and the mitigation of global changes. Therefore, there is a need to better understand the impact of different disturbance regimes on forest soil C storage and GHG emissions. A Special Issue was therefore organized for discussing the responses of soil C storage and GHG emissions to various types of disturbances in forest ecosystems and a total of 15 studies were accepted for this special issue to assess these responses. This Special Issue includes the effects of storms and beetle outbreaks, Karstification, rock desertification, warming, nitrogen addition, land-use change, field tillage, and biochar application on soil C dynamics and/or GHG emissions.
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Konôpka, Bohdan, Peter Zach, and Ján Kulfan. "Wind – an important ecological factor and destructive agent in forests." Forestry Journal 62, no. 2 (June 1, 2016): 123–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/forj-2016-0013.
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AbstractWind is both an ecological provider and disturbance facilitator influences trees and other organisms in forests. Impacts of wind on induvidual trees and forests mainly depend on the strength (or intensity) of the wind and the stability of the trees. Wind causes large-scale damage to forests and serious economical losses for the forestry sector within Europe. Therefore, knowledge of interactions between wind and trees and/or forests provides the baseline for developing adequate prevention or mitigation of the negative consequences associated with wind disturbances in forest ecosystems. Herein, we analyse the wind as an ecological and disturbance factor in forests in Europe, emphasising forests in Slovakia. Here, strong winds destroy mostly spruce dominated forests in the following regions; Orava, High and Low Tatra Mountains, Great Fatra Mountains, Pohronie, Poľana Mountains and Slovak Ore Mountains. Increasing volumes of timber damaged by windstorms have been documented since 1961, with the maximum damage recorded in 2004. Yearly volumes of damaged timber of approximately 2.5 mil. m3are predicted from 2016 to 2030. This highlights the data requirement regarding wind disturbances for integrated forest protection against dangerous winds and other disturbance agents in forest ecosystems in Slovakia and other European countries.
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Spînu, Andreea Petronela, Ion Catălin Petrițan, Martin Mikoláš, Pavel Janda, Ondřej Vostarek, Vojtěch Čada, and Miroslav Svoboda. "Moderate- to High-Severity Disturbances Shaped the Structure of Primary Picea Abies (L.) Karst. Forest in the Southern Carpathians." Forests 11, no. 12 (December 10, 2020): 1315. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f11121315.
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Research Highlights: Past disturbances occurred naturally in primary forests in the Southern Carpathians. High- and moderate-severity disturbances shaped the present structure of these ecosystems, which regenerated successfully without forestry interventions. Background and Objectives: Windstorms and bark beetle outbreaks have recently affected large forest areas across the globe, causing concerns that these disturbances lie outside the range of natural variability of forest ecosystems. This often led to salvage logging inside protected areas, one of the main reasons for primary forest loss in Eastern Europe. Although more than two-thirds of temperate primary forests in Europe are located in the Carpathian region of Eastern Europe, knowledge about how natural disturbances shape the forest dynamics in this region is highly essential for future management decisions. Material and Methods: We established our study in a primary forest valley situated in the centre of the largest temperate primary forest landscape in Europe (Făgăraș Mountains). A dendrochronological investigation was carried out to reconstruct the natural disturbance history and relate it to the present forest structure. Results: The dendrochronological analysis revealed high temporal variability in the disturbance patterns both at the patch and stand level. Moderate severity disturbance events were most common (20–40% of canopy disturbed in 60% of the plots) but high severity events did also occur (33% of the plots). Regeneration was spruce-dominated and 71% of the seedlings were found on deadwood microsites. Conclusions: We conclude that the current structure of the studied area is a consequence of the past moderate-severity disturbances and sporadic high-severity events. The peak in disturbances (1880–1910) followed by reduced disturbance rates may contribute to a recent and future increase in disturbances in the Făgăraș Mts. Our findings show that these disturbance types are within the range of natural variability of mountain spruce forests in the Southern Carpathians and should not be a reason for salvage logging in primary forests from this area.
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Bergeron, Yves, Pierre Drapeau, Sylvie Gauthier, and Nicolas Lecomte. "Using knowledge of natural disturbances to support sustainable forest management in the northern Clay Belt." Forestry Chronicle 83, no. 3 (May 1, 2007): 326–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.5558/tfc83326-3.
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Several concepts are at the basis of forest ecosystem management, but a relative consensus exists around the idea of a forest management approach that is based on natural disturbances and forest dynamics. This type of approach aims to reproduce the main attributes of natural landscapes in order to maintain ecosystems within their natural range of variability and avoid creating an environment to which species are not adapted. By comparing attributes associated with natural fire regimes and current forest management, we were able to identify four major differences for the black spruce forest of the Clay Belt. The maintenance of older forests, the spatial extent of cutover areas, the maintenance of residuals within cutovers and disturbance severity on soils are major issues that should be addressed. Silvicultural strategies that mitigate differences between natural and managed forests are briefly discussed. Key words: natural disturbance, landscape patterns, coarse filter, harvest pattern, volume retention, historic variability, even-aged management
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Veblen, Thomas T. "Historic range of variability of mountain forest ecosystems: concepts and applications." Forestry Chronicle 79, no. 2 (April 1, 2003): 223–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.5558/tfc79223-2.
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Concepts of historical range of variability (HRV) have taken on an increasingly important role in resource planning and the management of mountain forest ecosystems. This essay draws on examples from the study of the history of disturbance ecology in the Colorado Rocky Mountains and the southern Andes to examine key HRV concepts and their applications. These case studies show that historical perspectives can reduce the chances of major future surprises in ecosystem conditions related to climatic variation, which often overrides many of the effects of management practices. They demonstrate the long-lasting legacy effects of relatively infrequent but severe disturbances in the past that shaped the present landscape and its potential response to future climatic variation. Finally, the case studies illustrate the importance of conducting area-specific research in potential management areas rather than simply extrapolating research findings from studies of historic range of variability of forest ecosystems conducted elsewhere. Key words: climatic variation, disturbance, Rocky Mountains, Andes, Patagonia, Ponderosa pine, landscape, ecosystem management, fire
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Bergeron, Yves, Brian Harvey, Alain Leduc, and Sylvie Gauthier. "Forest management guidelines based on natural disturbance dynamics: Stand- and forest-level considerations." Forestry Chronicle 75, no. 1 (February 1, 1999): 49–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.5558/tfc75049-1.
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Although the concept of forest ecosystem management based on natural disturbance has generated a great deal of interest, few concrete examples exist of FEM principles being put into application. Silvicultural practices that emulate natural disturbances are proposed with examples from the principal vegetation zones of Quebec. With the exception of the large-scale use of careful logging to protect advanced regeneration in ecosystems generally controlled by fire, stand-level silvicultural practices currently used are reasonably similar to natural disturbances, although important differences exist. In contrast, at the forest-level, even-aged management, as is currently practised, rarely permits adequate reproduction of the variety of age classes, stand types, and structural components normally found in the boreal forest. A model that allows an even-aged management approach inspired by natural dynamics is proposed.
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Perry, Kayla, and Daniel Herms. "Dynamic Responses of Ground-Dwelling Invertebrate Communities to Disturbance in Forest Ecosystems." Insects 10, no. 3 (February 26, 2019): 61. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects10030061.
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In forest ecosystems, natural and anthropogenic disturbances alter canopy structure, understory vegetation, amount of woody debris, and the properties of litter and soil layers. The magnitude of these environmental changes is context-dependent and determined by the properties of the disturbance, such as the frequency, intensity, duration, and extent. Therefore, disturbances can dynamically impact forest communities over time, including populations of ground-dwelling invertebrates that regulate key ecosystem processes. We propose conceptual models that describe the dynamic temporal effects of canopy gap formation and coarse woody debris accumulation following disturbances caused by invasive insects, wind, and salvage logging, and their impacts on ground-dwelling invertebrate communities. Within this framework, predictions are generated, literature on ground-dwelling invertebrate communities is synthesized, and pertinent knowledge gaps identified.
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Corace, III, R. Gregory, P. Charles Goebel, David M. Hix, Tracy Casselman, and Nancy E. Seefelt. "Ecological forestry at National Wildlife Refuges: Experiences from Seney National Wildlife Refuge and Kirtland’s Warbler Wildlife Management Area, USA." Forestry Chronicle 85, no. 5 (October 1, 2009): 695–701. http://dx.doi.org/10.5558/tfc85695-5.
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Although land management over much of the history of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) has emphasized single-species management, recent policy has encouraged land managers to focus on broader ecosystem restoration goals. One framework for forest ecosystem management that is becoming more popular in the NWRS and other federal and state resource agencies has been termed “ecological forestry”—an approach to forest ecosystem management where the focus is on incorporating an understanding of the outcomes of natural disturbances and stand development processes into designing silvicultural practices. This approach stresses understanding the effects of natural disturbances on biological legacies, structural and compositional heterogeneity, and the recovery periods between disturbance events (including how this recovery period influences stand complexity). Recently, resource managers and ecologists from Seney National Wildlife Refuge, The Ohio State University, and Central Michigan University have partnered to examine how these guiding principles can be integrated into NWRS forest ecosystem management. Specifically, we are partnering to develop management strategies to help: 1) restore the once extensive mixed-pine forest ecosystems of eastern Upper Michigan; 2) mitigate the effects of the beech-bark disease complex on American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.), a foundation species in northern hardwood forests of eastern North America; and 3) promote more natural forest patterns for wildlife species of young jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) forest ecosystems, including the federally endangered Kirtland’s warbler (Dendroica kirtlandii). These efforts are ongoing and will continue to be monitored over time. However, initial collaborations suggest that the NWRS provides an excellent crucible to study the application of ecological forestry principles and develop novel ways to manage forest ecosystems. Key words: ecological forestry, forest restoration, Kirtland’s warbler, National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
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Iglesias, Virginia, and Cathy Whitlock. "If the trees burn, is the forest lost? Past dynamics in temperate forests help inform management strategies." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 375, no. 1794 (January 27, 2020): 20190115. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0115.
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Forest dynamics are driven by top-down changes in climate and bottom-up positive (destabilizing) and negative (stabilizing) biophysical feedbacks involving disturbance and biotic interactions. When positive feedbacks prevail, the resulting self-propagating changes can potentially shift the system into a new state, even in the absence of climate change. Conversely, negative feedbacks help maintain a dynamic equilibrium that allows communities to recover their pre-disturbance characteristics. We examine palaeoenvironmental records from temperate forests to assess the nature of long-term stability and regime shifts under a broader range of environmental forcings than can be observed at present. Forest histories from northwestern USA, Patagonia, Tasmania and New Zealand show long-term trajectories that were governed by (i) the biophysical template, (ii) characteristics of climate and disturbance, (iii) historical legacies that condition the ecological capacity to respond to subsequent disturbances, and (iv) thresholds that act as irreversible barriers. Attention only to current forest conditions overlooks the significance of history in creating path dependency, the importance of individual extreme events, and the inherent feedbacks that force an ecosystem into reorganization. A long-time perspective on ecological resilience helps guide conservation strategies that focus on environmental preservation as well as identify vulnerable species and ecosystems to future climate change. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Climate change and ecosystems: threats, opportunities and solutions’.
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Panayotov, Momchil, Peter Bebi, Nickolay Tsvetanov, Neno Alexandrov, Lucinda Laranjeiro, and Dominik Kulakowski. "The disturbance regime of Norway spruce forests in Bulgaria." Canadian Journal of Forest Research 45, no. 9 (September 2015): 1143–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2014-0505.
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Natural disturbances are among the most important factors that shape forest dynamics and forest landscapes. However, the natural disturbance regime of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) forests in Europe is not well understood. We studied the disturbance regimes in three forest reserves in Bulgaria (Parangalitsa, Bistrishko branishte, and Beglika), which are representative of the range of conditions typical for P. abies ecosystems in central and southern Europe. Our data indicated that large-scale disturbances were most numerous in forests that were between 120 and 160 years old, those with unimodal diameter at breast height (DBH) distributions, and especially those located in vulnerable topographic settings. Wind disturbances ranged up to 60 ha, followed in one case by a 200 ha Ips typographus (Linnaeus, 1758) outbreak. Older forests and those with more complex structures (i.e., reverse-J DBH) were characterized by numerous small gaps but were also affected by a few larger disturbances. In some old-growth forests at highly productive sites, gaps could be so numerous that the long-term existence of old trees may become an exception. Over the past centuries, the natural range of variability of these Norway spruce forests in Bulgaria appears to have been shaped mostly by wind and bark beetle disturbances of various sizes.
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Barnes, Burton V., Zhenbang Xü, and Shidong Zhao. "Forest ecosystems in an old-growth pine–mixed hardwood forest of the Changbai Shan Preserve in northeastern China." Canadian Journal of Forest Research 22, no. 2 (February 1, 1992): 144–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/x92-020.
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Landscape ecosystems of a 60-ha area, representative of the pine–mixed hardwood forest of the Changbai Shan Preserve in Jilin Province of northeastern China, were identified, described, and contrasted. Site–species relationships and successional trends were examined together with a comparison of these ecosystems and species with those of northern hardwood forests of eastern North America. Ecosystem components of physiography, soil, and vegetation were used to distinguish two major ecosystem types. The more widespread ecosystem 1 differed from ecosystem 2 in having a flatter topography and more moist and nutrient-rich soil. The overstory of ecosystem 1 was dominated by Tiliaamurensis Rupr., Pinuskoraiensis Sieb. & Zucc, Quercusmongolica Fisch. & Turcz., and Fraxinusmandshurica L., whereas that of ecosystem 2 was dominated primarily by Pinuskoraiensis and Quercusmongolica. Understory species and ground-cover vegetation also reflected the difference in physiography and soil between the two ecosystem types. Six Acer species were recorded; they occurred primarily in the subdominant overstory and the understory of both ecosystems. Without catastrophic disturbance, succession favors the more shade tolerant species in all layers. Pinus and Quercus are rare in the ground cover and understory. Acermono Maxim, is much less dominant than its North American counterpart, Acersaccharum Marsh., in their respective mesic ecosystems in the Changbai Shan forest and forests of western upper Michigan. Fagus and Tsuga, characteristic dominants of northern hardwood forests of eastern North America, are absent. The establishment ecology of Pinuskoraiensis, a five-needled pine with wingless seeds, in the mixed hardwood forest is discussed.
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Euler, David L. "Will ecosystem management supply woodland caribou habitat in northwestern Ontario?" Rangifer 18, no. 5 (March 1, 1998): 25. http://dx.doi.org/10.7557/2.18.5.1438.
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Ecosystem management is emerging as an important concept in managing forests. Although the basic conceptual idea is not new, important defining principles are developing that elucidate some of the specific attributes of ecosystem management. These principles include: the maintenance of all ecosystems in the managed forest, rhe emulation of natural disturbance patterns on rhe landscape and the insurance that structure and function of forested ecosystems are conserved. Forest management has an impact on woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), although the presence of wolves (Canis lupus) and moose (Alces alces) in the same northern ecosystems also affects the caribou-forestry interacrion. Specific management for caribou as a featured species has been proposed, based on managing large landscape blocks. Ecosystem management would also produce habitat in a manner that might accomplish the goal of conserving woodland caribou as well as maintaining other important ecosystem functions.
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Chaves Cardoso, Jéssica, Philip J. Burton, and Che M. Elkin. "A Disturbance Ecology Perspective on Silvicultural Site Preparation." Forests 11, no. 12 (November 28, 2020): 1278. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f11121278.
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Silvicultural site preparation methods are used as planned disturbances for counteracting soil and vegetation constraints, as well as facilitating successful tree regeneration and growth. Understanding the possible effects of silvicultural site preparation on the ecosystem and evaluating site preparation as an ecological disturbance can help guide the selection and application of site preparation techniques for forest management goals. This review evaluates silvicultural site preparation techniques that are commonly used in boreal mixedwood ecosystems as agents of ecological disturbance by comparing the effects of each technique on the area disturbed and the degree of biomass modification, and then ordering them along a disturbance severity gradient. With a strong emphasis on the numerical estimation of the spatial footprint of different disturbances, broadcast burning typically has the highest disturbance severity, followed in order by broadcast herbicide use, mixing, plowing, disc trenching, mounding, scalping, and inverting. The evaluation of disturbance severity of various silvicultural site preparation techniques while using the proposed framework is feasible, in which quantitative assessments of area disturbed and biomass modification could be collected and assessed in most managed forests.
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Ilisson, Triin, Marek Metslaid, Floortje Vodde, Kalev Jõgiste, and Malle Kurm. "Storm disturbance in forest ecosystems in Estonia." Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research 20, sup6 (October 2005): 88–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14004080510041020.
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Pan, Y., J. M. Chen, R. Birdsey, K. McCullough, L. He, and F. Deng. "Age structure and disturbance legacy of North American forests." Biogeosciences Discussions 7, no. 1 (February 10, 2010): 979–1020. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bgd-7-979-2010.
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Abstract. Most forests of the world are recovering from a past disturbance. It is well known that forest disturbances profoundly affect carbon stock and fluxes in forest ecosystems, yet it has been a great challenge to assess disturbance impacts in estimates of forest carbon budgets. Net sequestration or loss of CO2 by forests after disturbance follows a predictable pattern with forest recovery. Forest age, which is related to time since disturbance, is the most available surrogate variable for various forest carbon analyses that concern the impact of disturbance. In this study, we compiled the first continental forest age map of North America by combining forest inventory data, historical fire data, optical satellite data and the dataset from NASA's LEDAPS project. Mexico and interior Alaska are excluded from this initial map due to unavailability of all required data sets, but work is underway to develop some different methodology for these areas. We discuss the significance of disturbance legacy from the past, as represented by current forest age structure in different regions of the US and Canada, tracking back disturbances caused by human and nature over centuries and at various scales. We also show how such information can be used with inventory data for analyzing carbon management opportunities, and other modeling applications. By combining geographic information about forest age with estimated C dynamics by forest type, it is possible to conduct a simple but powerful analysis of the net CO2 uptake by forests, and the potential for increasing (or decreasing) this rate as a result of direct human intervention in the disturbance/age status. The forest age map may also help address the recent concern that the terrestrial C sink from forest regrowth in North America may saturate in the next few decades. Finally, we describe how the forest age data can be used in large-scale carbon modeling, both for land-based biogeochemistry models and atmosphere-based inversion models, in order to improve the spatial accuracy of carbon cycle simulations.
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Goode, J. Davis, Justin L. Hart, Daniel C. Dey, Scott J. Torreano, and Stacy L. Clark. "Spatial Patterns of Canopy Disturbance and Shortleaf Pine in a Mixedwood Forest." Forest Science 67, no. 4 (June 12, 2021): 433–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/forsci/fxab017.
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Abstract The spatial structure of forest ecosystems is dominated by the horizontal and vertical distribution of trees and their attributes across space. Canopy disturbance is a primary regulator of forest spatial structure. Although the importance of tree spatial pattern is widely acknowledged as it affects important ecosystem processes such as regeneration and recruitment into the overstory, quantitative reference spatial conditions to inform silvicultural systems are lacking. This is especially true for mixedwood forests, defined as those that contain hardwoods and softwoods in the canopy. We used data from a preexisting network of plots in a complex-stage mixedwood stand to investigate the influence of canopy disturbance on stand and neighborhood-scale spatial patterns. We reconstructed canopy disturbance history and linked detected stand-wide and gap-scale disturbance events to establishment and spatial patterns of shortleaf pine. The majority of shortleaf pine establishment coincided with stand-wide or gap-scale disturbance. Shortleaf pine was clustered at the stand scale but was randomly distributed at the neighborhood scale (i.e. five tree clusters), which was a legacy of the historical disturbance regime. These results may be used to improve natural disturbance-based silvicultural systems to restore and maintain mixedwood forests for enhanced resilience and provisioning of ecosystem goods and services.
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TAULMAN, JAMES F. "Modification of a hierarchical model of forest disturbance." Environmental Conservation 25, no. 1 (March 1998): 3–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0376892998000022.
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A model of disturbance equilibrationThe contemporary ‘non-equilibrium’ paradigm in ecology acknowledges that ecosystems and their component floral and faunal communities show historic dynamism, not unchanging constancy (Shugart & West 1981; Pickett et al. 1992; Hengeveld 1994). In formulating a hierarchical view of landscape ecology, Urban et al. (1987) modelled broad classes of forest disturbances and corresponding landscape scales. A reference level is the scale at which a disturbance is observed as an ‘interesting event’. At the next, lower landscape scale the disturbance has a significant impact and explanatory mechanisms may be investigated. At the level above the reference scale, the ‘event’ may be viewed in a broader ecological context where its impact has been buffered and successfully incorporated. Urban et al. (1987) suggested that ‘a disturbance regime that can be incorporated is not disturbing at all’. Extending this perspective to anthropogenic perturbations, Urban et al. (1987) praised the ‘wisdom’ of foresters for discovering clear-cut harvesting as a forest management strategy that mimics natural disturbances. It might be possible for a reader with a pro-exploitation agenda to misinterpret the meaning of the model presented in Urban et al. (1987) and attempt to use it in support of forest management that is destructive to overall ecosystem health, thereby detracting from Urban et al.'s (1987) and Shugart and West's (1981) pioneering contributions to the field of landscape ecology. It could be argued that we only need look to a higher landscape scale in the model of equilibration to find a level at which clear-cuts need no longer be considered forest disturbances.
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Drever, C. Ronnie, Garry Peterson, Christian Messier, Yves Bergeron, and Mike Flannigan. "Can forest management based on natural disturbances maintain ecological resilience?" Canadian Journal of Forest Research 36, no. 9 (September 1, 2006): 2285–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/x06-132.
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Given the increasingly global stresses on forests, many ecologists argue that managers must maintain ecological resilience: the capacity of ecosystems to absorb disturbances without undergoing fundamental change. In this review we ask: Can the emerging paradigm of natural-disturbance-based management (NDBM) maintain ecological resilience in managed forests? Applying resilience theory requires careful articulation of the ecosystem state under consideration, the disturbances and stresses that affect the persistence of possible alternative states, and the spatial and temporal scales of management relevance. Implementing NDBM while maintaining resilience means recognizing that (i) biodiversity is important for long-term ecosystem persistence, (ii) natural disturbances play a critical role as a generator of structural and compositional heterogeneity at multiple scales, and (iii) traditional management tends to produce forests more homogeneous than those disturbed naturally and increases the likelihood of unexpected catastrophic change by constraining variation of key environmental processes. NDBM may maintain resilience if silvicultural strategies retain the structures and processes that perpetuate desired states while reducing those that enhance resilience of undesirable states. Such strategies require an understanding of harvesting impacts on slow ecosystem processes, such as seed-bank or nutrient dynamics, which in the long term can lead to ecological surprises by altering the forest's capacity to reorganize after disturbance.
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Thom, Dominik, Werner Rammer, Rita Garstenauer, and Rupert Seidl. "Legacies of past land use have a stronger effect on forest carbon exchange than future climate change in a temperate forest landscape." Biogeosciences 15, no. 18 (September 25, 2018): 5699–713. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5699-2018.
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Abstract. Forest ecosystems play an important role in the global climate system and are thus intensively discussed in the context of climate change mitigation. Over the past decades temperate forests were a carbon (C) sink to the atmosphere. However, it remains unclear to which degree this C uptake is driven by a recovery from past land use and natural disturbances or ongoing climate change, inducing high uncertainty regarding the future temperate forest C sink. Here our objectives were (i) to investigate legacies within the natural disturbance regime by empirically analyzing two disturbance episodes affecting the same landscape 90 years apart, and (ii) to unravel the effects of past land use and natural disturbances as well as the future climate on 21st century forest C uptake by means of simulation modeling. We collected historical data from archives to reconstruct the vegetation and disturbance history of a forest landscape in the Austrian Alps from 1905 to 2013. The effects of legacies and climate were disentangled by individually controlling for past land use, natural disturbances, and future scenarios of climate change in a factorial simulation study. We found only moderate spatial overlap between two episodes of wind and bark beetle disturbance affecting the landscape in the early 20th and 21st century, respectively. Our simulations revealed a high uncertainty about the relationship between the two disturbance episodes, whereas past land use clearly increased the impact of the second disturbance episode on the landscape. The future forest C sink was strongly driven by the cessation of historic land use, while climate change reduced forest C uptake. Compared to land-use change the two past episodes of natural disturbance had only marginal effects on the future carbon cycle. We conclude that neglecting legacies can substantially bias assessments of future forest dynamics.
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Kashian, Daniel, Michael Ryan, Willaim Romme, Daniel Tinker, and Monica Turner. "Carbon Cycling at the Landscape Scale: The Effect of Changes in Climate and Fire Frequency on Age Distribution, Stand Structure and Net Ecosystem Production." UW National Parks Service Research Station Annual Reports 29 (January 1, 2005): 55–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.13001/uwnpsrc.2005.3609.
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Climate, fire frequency and intensity, and forest structure and development are strongly linked, and predicting potential changes in carbon storage depends on understanding these links. However, we lack the ability to make robust predictions about how changes in climate will alter these interactions and change the carbon balance of a landscape. Forests contain as much as 80% of the total carbon stored aboveground and 40% of that stored belowground in terrestrial ecosystems (Dixon et al. 1994, Harmon 2001). Disturbances such as fires or insect outbreaks - controlled largely by climate - may shift a forested area from a net sink to a net source of carbon to the atmosphere, and increasing the frequency of large disturbances may affect the global carbon budget. Complex interactions among climate, disturbance regimes, and stand-level ecosystem processes, however, preclude predicting the importance of climate change for forest landscapes.
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SHCHUR, ALEXANDER, EUGENIA BRAGINA, ANIKA SIEBER, ANNA M. PIDGEON, and VOLKER C. RADELOFF. "Monitoring selective logging with Landsat satellite imagery reveals that protected forests in Western Siberia experience greater harvest than non-protected forests." Environmental Conservation 44, no. 2 (January 24, 2017): 191–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0376892916000576.
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SUMMARYWhen timber harvesting is an important source of local income and forest resources are declining, even forests that are designated as protected areas may become vulnerable. Therefore, regular monitoring of forest disturbance is necessary to enforce the protection of forest ecosystems. However, mapping forest disturbance with satellite imagery can be complicated if the majority of the harvesting is selective logging and not clearcuts. Our goal was to map both selective logging and clearcuts within and outside of protected areas in Western Siberia, a region with a highly developed timber industry. Combining summer and winter imagery allowed us to accurately estimate not only clearcuts, but also selective logging. Winter Landsat images substantially improved our classification and resulted in a highly accurate forest disturbance map (97.5% overall accuracy and 86% user accuracy for the rarest class, clearcuts). Selective logging and stripcuts were the dominant disturbance types, accounting for 96.3% of all forest disturbances, versus 3.7% for clearcuts. The total annual forest disturbance rate (i.e. disturbance rate for clearcuts, stripcuts and selective logging together) was 0.53%, but total forest disturbance within protected areas was greater than in non-protected forest (0.66% versus 0.50%, respectively), and so was the annual rate of selective logging (i.e. without clearcuts, 0.37% versus 0.25%, respectively). Our results highlight that monitoring only clearcuts without assessing selective logging might result in significant underestimation of forest disturbance. Also, when timber harvesting is important for the local economy and when protected areas have valuable timber resources that have already been depleted elsewhere, then additional protection may be necessary in order to maintain natural forests within protected areas. We suggest that this is the situation in our study area in Western Siberia right now and is likely the situation in many other parts of the globe as well.
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Spencer, Sheena A., Kevin Devito, and Ellen Macdonald. "Terrestrial and Riparian Organisms, Lakes and Streams (TROLS)." Forestry Chronicle 92, no. 01 (January 2016): 50–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.5558/tfc2016-015.
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The Terrestrial and Riparian Organisms, Lakes and Streams Project studied the impacts of forest harvest and riparian buffers on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in twelve fish-bearing lakes in the boreal mixed-wood forests of Alberta. Major results are outlined based on forest harvest and buffer effects on the landscape, water quality, and the aquatic ecosystem. Results from this project suggest that forest managers should be flexible in buffer width recommendations and should consider the entire watershed when determining the effects of disturbance due to complexities in the landscape.
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Mcguire, A. David, and Mike Apps. "Foreword: Climate-Disturbance Interactions in Boreal Forest Ecosystems." Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 11, no. 4 (July 2006): 765–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11027-005-9021-6.
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Girardin, Martin P., Adam A. Ali, and Christelle Hély. "Wildfires in boreal ecosystems: past, present and some emerging trends." International Journal of Wildland Fire 19, no. 8 (2010): 991. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wfv19n8_fo.
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With the emergence of a new forest management paradigm based on the emulation of natural disturbance regimes, interest in fire-related studies has increased in the boreal forest management community. A key issue in this regard is the improvement of our understanding of the variability in past disturbances and its linkages with climate and ecosystems. The surge in research activity has further been exacerbated by the increasing awareness of climate change, which has already exposed boreal forests to greater fire risk in recent decades. It is anticipated that further warming and drying will further enhance fire frequency and area burned in many boreal forests. Better predictions of future fire activity will contribute to better long-term forest planning in managed boreal forests. The 12 papers presented in this special issue exemplify this increased research activity by bringing together studies from diverse disciplines and presenting the latest advances regarding methodological approaches for reconstruction and modelling of past, present and future fire activity. Here we aim to summarise, evaluate and set into context some of the new insights arising from these studies and also to discuss some considerations to be taken into account in future research activities.
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Russell, Matthew, Stephanie Patton, David Wilson, Grant Domke, and Katie Frerker. "Impacts of Alternative Harvesting and Natural Disturbance Scenarios on Forest Biomass in the Superior National Forest, USA." Forests 9, no. 8 (August 12, 2018): 491. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f9080491.
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The amount of biomass stored in forest ecosystems is a result of past natural disturbances, forest management activities, and current structure and composition such as age class distributions. Although natural disturbances are projected to increase in their frequency and severity on a global scale in the future, forest management and timber harvesting decisions continue to be made at local scales, e.g., the ownership or stand level. This study simulated potential changes in natural disturbance regimes and their interaction with timber harvest goals across the Superior National Forest (SNF) in northeastern Minnesota, USA. Forest biomass stocks and stock changes were simulated for 120 years under three natural disturbance and four harvest scenarios. A volume control approach was used to estimate biomass availability across the SNF and a smaller project area within the SNF (Jeanette Project Area; JPA). Results indicate that under current harvest rates and assuming disturbances were twice that of normal levels resulted in reductions of 2.62 to 10.38% of forest biomass across the four primary forest types in the SNF and JPA, respectively. Under this scenario, total biomass stocks remained consistent after 50 years at current and 50% disturbance rates, but biomass continued to decrease under a 200%-disturbance scenario through 120 years. In comparison, scenarios that assumed both harvest and disturbance were twice that of normal levels and resulted in reductions ranging from 14.18 to 29.85% of forest biomass. These results suggest that both natural disturbances and timber harvesting should be considered to understand their impacts to future forest structure and composition. The implications from simulations like these can provide managers with strategic approaches to determine the economic and ecological outcomes associated with timber harvesting and disturbances.
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Lakyda, Petro, Anatoly Shvidenko, Andrii Bilous, Viktor Myroniuk, Maksym Matsala, Sergiy Zibtsev, Dmitry Schepaschenko, et al. "Impact of Disturbances on the Carbon Cycle of Forest Ecosystems in Ukrainian Polissya." Forests 10, no. 4 (April 15, 2019): 337. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f10040337.
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Climate change continues to threaten forests and their ecosystem services while substantially altering natural disturbance regimes. Land cover changes and consequent management entail discrepancies in carbon sequestration provided by forest ecosystems and its accounting. Currently there is a lack of sufficient and harmonized data for Ukraine that can be used for the robust and spatially explicit assessment of forest provisioning and regulation of ecosystem services. In the frame of this research, we established an experimental polygon (area 45 km2) in Northern Ukraine aiming at estimating main forest carbon stocks and fluxes and determining the impact caused by natural disturbances and harvest for the study period of 2010–2015. Coupled field inventory and remote sensing data (RapidEye image for 2010 and SPOT 6 image for 2015) were used. Land cover classification and estimation of biomass and carbon pools were carried out using Random Forest and k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN) method, respectively. Remote sensing data indicates a ca. 16% increase of carbon stock, while ground-based computations have shown only a ca. 1% increase. Net carbon fluxes for the study period are relatively even: 5.4 Gg C·year−1 and 5.6 Gg C C·year−1 for field and remote sensing data, respectively. Stand-replacing wildfires, as well as insect outbreaks and wind damage followed by salvage logging, and timber harvest have caused 21% of carbon emissions among all C sources within the experimental polygon during the study period. Hence, remote sensing data and non-parametric methods coupled with field data can serve as reliable tools for the precise estimation of forest carbon cycles on a regional spatial scale. However, featured land cover changes lead to unexpected biases in consistent assessment of forest biophysical parameters, while current management practices neglect natural forest dynamics and amplify negative impact of disturbances on ecosystem services.
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Huo, Lian-Zhi, Luigi Boschetti, and Aaron Sparks. "Object-Based Classification of Forest Disturbance Types in the Conterminous United States." Remote Sensing 11, no. 5 (February 26, 2019): 477. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs11050477.
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Forest ecosystems provide critical ecosystem goods and services, and any disturbance-induced changes can have cascading impacts on natural processes and human socioeconomic systems. Forest disturbance frequency, intensity, and spatial and temporal scale can be altered by changes in climate and human activity, but without baseline forest disturbance data, it is impossible to quantify the magnitude and extent of these changes. Methodologies for quantifying forest cover change have been developed at the regional-to-global scale via several approaches that utilize data from high (e.g., IKONOS, Quickbird), moderate (e.g., Landsat) and coarse (e.g., Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)) spatial resolution satellite imagery. While detection and quantification of forest cover change is an important first step, attribution of disturbance type is critical missing information for establishing baseline data and effective land management policy. The objective here was to prototype and test a semi-automated methodology for characterizing high-magnitude (>50% forest cover loss) forest disturbance agents (stress, fire, stem removal) across the conterminous United States (CONUS) from 2003–2011 using the existing University of Maryland Landsat-based Global Forest Change Product and Web-Enabled Landsat Data (WELD). The Forest Cover Change maps were segmented into objects based on temporal and spatial adjacency, and object-level spectral metrics were calculated based on WELD reflectance time series. A training set of objects with known disturbance type was developed via high-resolution imagery and expert interpretation, ingested into a Random Forest classifier, which was then used to attribute disturbance type to all 15,179,430 forest loss objects across CONUS. Accuracy assessments of the resulting classification was conducted with an independent dataset consisting of 4156 forest loss objects. Overall accuracy was 88.1%, with the highest omission and commission errors observed for fire (32.8%) and stress (31.9%) disturbances, respectively. Of the total 172,686 km2 of forest loss, 83.75% was attributed to stem removal, 10.92% to fire and 5.33% to stress. The semi-automated approach described in this paper provides a promising framework for the systematic characterization and monitoring of forest disturbance regimes.
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Bergeron, Yves, Brian Harvey, Alain Leduc, and Sylvie Gauthier. "Stratégies d'aménagement forestier qui s′inspirent de la dynamique des perturbations naturelles : considérations à l'échelle du peuplement et de la forêt." Forestry Chronicle 75, no. 1 (February 1, 1999): 55–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.5558/tfc75055-1.
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Although the concept of forest ecosystem management based on natural disturbance has generated a great deal of interest, few concrete examples exist of FEM principles being put into application. Silvicultural practices that emulate natural disturbances are proposed with examples from the principal vegetation zones of Quebec. With the exception of the large-scale use of careful logging to protect advanced regeneration in ecosystems generally controlled by fire, stand-level silvicultural practices currently used are reasonably similar to natural disturbances, although important differences exist. In contrast, at the forest-level, even-aged management, as is currently practised, rarely permits adequate reproduction of the variety of age classes, stand types, and structural components normally found in the boreal forest. A model that allows an even-aged management approach inspired by natural dynamics is proposed.
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Fenton, Nicole J. "Applied ecology in Canada’s boreal: a holistic view of the mitigation hierarchy and resilience theory." Botany 94, no. 11 (November 2016): 1009–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2016-0123.
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Canada’s boreal biome is a mosaic of forests and peatlands. These ecosystems have developed dynamically, periodically affected by disturbance events of significant spatial extent and variable severity, reducing ecosystem biomass. The same ecosystem types typically regenerate from biological legacies. However, concern is growing about the impact of these different anthropogenic disturbances, particularly compound disturbances including climate change, which open the door to shifts to alternate stable states. One strategy promoted to regulate anthropogenic disturbance is the “mitigation hierarchy” for development projects, where impacts on ecosystems are avoided, mitigated, restored, or compensated. This practical approach is not yet integrated into disturbance and resilience theory. Here, I develop an integrated view of the mitigation hierarchy, as well as resilience and disturbance theory, in a boreal context using ecosystem services to measure ecosystem state in a two-step process that first models loss of ecosystem function and then integrates the mitigation hierarchy and resilience theory. The application of this model is discussed in the context of restoration studies after different types of catastrophic anthropogenic disturbance. These studies, some of which are published in this special issue, highlight the important role of bryophytes and understory plants in setting restoration targets and developing criteria and indicators of success.
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Sharik, Terry L., William Adair, Fred A. Baker, Michael Battaglia, Emily J. Comfort, Anthony W. D'Amato, Craig Delong, et al. "Emerging Themes in the Ecology and Management of North American Forests." International Journal of Forestry Research 2010 (2010): 1–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2010/964260.
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The 7th North American Forest Ecology Workshop, consisting of 149 presentations in 16 oral sessions and a poster session, reflected a broad range of topical areas currently under investigation in forest ecology and management. There was an overarching emphasis on the role of disturbance, both natural and anthropogenic, in the dynamics of forest ecosystems, and the recognition that legacies from past disturbances strongly influence future trajectories. Climate was invoked as a major driver of ecosystem change. An emphasis was placed on application of research findings for predicting system responses to changing forest management initiatives. Several “needs” emerged from the discussions regarding approaches to the study of forest ecosystems, including (1) consideration of variable spatial and temporal scales, (2) long-term monitoring, (3) development of universal databases more encompassing of time and space to facilitate meta-analyses, (4) combining field studies and modeling approaches, (5) standardizing methods of measurement and assessment, (6) guarding against oversimplification or overgeneralization from limited site-specific results, (7) greater emphasis on plant-animal interactions, and (8) better alignment of needs and communication of results between researchers and managers.
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Volney, W. Jan A., and Kelvin G. Hirsch. "Disturbing forest disturbances." Forestry Chronicle 81, no. 5 (September 1, 2005): 662–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.5558/tfc81662-5.
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The forest sector in Canada makes a significant contribution to the wealth of the nation. Many of our forest ecosystems, like the phoenix, need fire for rebirth and renewal. In contrast, other forests rely on a cool, wet disintegration driven by insects and their commensal fungi feeding on trees to effect this renewal. This disparity has a manifest difference in the character of these forests and how they have developed and evolved over thousands of years. While there are characteristic natural temporal and spatial patterns to these disturbances, recent work has shown that they are being perturbed by global change. Compounding these perturbations is the emergence of extensive anthropogenic disturbances in these forests. If humans continue trying to manage complex natural systems as though they were machines, problems with unknown consequences will compound. For example, we have only recently begun to understand that changes in disturbance regimes can generate positive feedbacks leading to what could amount to sudden and drastic change for certain forest communities. Systems-based techniques aimed at adapting to these consequences are emerging and will need to be implemented in a timely fashion to minimize the risks and maximize the opportunities associated with sustainable forest management under a changing climate. Key words: insects, diseases, fire, disturbances, climate change, adaptation, FireSmart, partial harvesting
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SINGH, S. P. "Chronic disturbance, a principal cause of environmental degradation in developing countries." Environmental Conservation 25, no. 1 (March 1998): 1–2. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0376892998000010.
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Impact of human action is being felt in all ecosystems. Traditionally, urban landscapes and agricultural fields have been considered to be dominated by humans, but human alteration has also been substantial in tropical forests. The common forms of acute forest disturbance are ones that involve logging selectively or clear-cutting, allowing forest to regenerate by natural means. In contrast to the acute forms of disturbance, the chronic form of disturbance, which is subtle and slowly creeping, but equally destructive, is a much less-recognized problem. In the chronic form of disturbance people remove only a small fraction of forest biomass at a given time, generally as head-loads of firewood, or in the form of fodder, leaf litter and other non-timber forest products (NTFPs). The problem with the chronic form of forest disturbance is that plants or ecosystems often do not get time to recover adequately, because the human onslaught never stops, and can cause adverse changes in the forest, even if rates of biomass removal are within the carrying capacity of the forest. In a similar fashion, the cumulative effects of low but chronic exposure to air pollution are now cause for concern all over the planet (Pitelka 1994). In the case of chronic forest disturbance, the effect somewhat resembles that of persistent insect herbivory at a moderate scale. Fuelwood, which is still the main source of cooking energy in most developing countries, is reported to be in under supply for 1.4 thousand million people, and these may rise to 2.5 thousand million by 2010 (Food and Agriculture Organization 1994). Therefore, more areas are likely to come under regimes of chronic disturbance in the next century.
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Ivory, Sarah J., and James Russell. "Lowland forest collapse and early human impacts at the end of the African Humid Period at Lake Edward, equatorial East Africa." Quaternary Research 89, no. 1 (August 24, 2017): 7–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/qua.2017.48.
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AbstractIn Africa, the early Holocene was characterized by wetter, warmer conditions than today, followed by rapid aridification at ~5.2 ka. However, a lack of lowland vegetation records has prevented a detailed evaluation of forest response to Holocene climate change. Additionally, although modern vegetation communities are linked to human disturbance, few studies have addressed how prehistoric human activities helped engineer the character of modern African ecosystems. Understanding the architecture of lowland and highland forests is important to prevent further degradation from climate/land-use change. We present an 11,000 yr fossil pollen record from Lake Edward, Uganda. We show that Guineo-Congolian forests dominated the highlands and lowlands in equatorial East Africa in the early Holocene, highlighting the importance of rainfall and temperature in controlling forest communities. These forests remained until ~5.2 ka, when the climate became drier. The lacustrine ecosystem response to aridification was abrupt; however, forest decreased gradually, replaced by deciduous woodlands. Woodlands dominated until after an arid period at 2 ka; however, forest did not recover. Increased disturbance indicators and grasses suggest that the arrival of Iron Age people resulted in the modern fire-tolerant vegetation. Although late Holocene climate played a role in vegetation opening, the modern ecosystem architecture in East Africa is linked to early human activities.
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De Faria, Bruno L., Gina Marano, Camille Piponiot, Carlos A. Silva, Vinícius de L. Dantas, Ludmila Rattis, Andre R. Rech, and Alessio Collalti. "Model-Based Estimation of Amazonian Forests Recovery Time after Drought and Fire Events." Forests 12, no. 1 (December 23, 2020): 8. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f12010008.
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In recent decades, droughts, deforestation and wildfires have become recurring phenomena that have heavily affected both human activities and natural ecosystems in Amazonia. The time needed for an ecosystem to recover from carbon losses is a crucial metric to evaluate disturbance impacts on forests. However, little is known about the impacts of these disturbances, alone and synergistically, on forest recovery time and the resulting spatiotemporal patterns at the regional scale. In this study, we combined the 3-PG forest growth model, remote sensing and field derived equations, to map the Amazonia-wide (3 km of spatial resolution) impact and recovery time of aboveground biomass (AGB) after drought, fire and a combination of logging and fire. Our results indicate that AGB decreases by 4%, 19% and 46% in forests affected by drought, fire and logging + fire, respectively, with an average AGB recovery time of 27 years for drought, 44 years for burned and 63 years for logged + burned areas and with maximum values reaching 184 years in areas of high fire intensity. Our findings provide two major insights in the spatial and temporal patterns of drought and wildfire in the Amazon: (1) the recovery time of the forests takes longer in the southeastern part of the basin, and, (2) as droughts and wildfires become more frequent—since the intervals between the disturbances are getting shorter than the rate of forest regeneration—the long lasting damage they cause potentially results in a permanent and increasing carbon losses from these fragile ecosystems.
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Lunt, Ian D. "Grazed, burnt and cleared: how ecologists have studied century-scale vegetation changes in Australia." Australian Journal of Botany 50, no. 4 (2002): 391. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt01044.
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Ecological studies of century-scale vegetation changes in Australia were quantitatively reviewed by assessing relevant papers according to a range of methodological and environmental attributes. In general, century-scale vegetation dynamics are rarely studied by Australian ecologists. Most studies of century-scale changes are short-term studies with one sampling period, and few long-term experimental studies exist. Century-scale changes are well documented in open forests, grassy woodlands, tussock grasslands and rainforests, but little information is available from lowland heathlands, herblands or hummock grasslands. Tall open forests and rainforests have received the most comprehensive attention. Five major genres of research were recognised from a multivariate analysis of methodological attributes: (1) single-species tree-ring and fire-scar studies; (2) forest dynamics and age-structure studies; (3) floristic degradation studies (usually caused by stock grazing); (4) archival benchmarking studies; and (5) palynological research. These genres tend to focus on different ecosystems and ecosystem attributes, giving incomplete pictures of vegetation changes even in some well-studied ecosystems. In all genres other than forest dynamics studies, century-scale changes are commonly described by comparing present conditions with a pre-European reference point, and few studies have documented successive vegetation changes within the period of European occupation. Considerable opportunity exists to document long-term ecosystem responses to successive disturbances resulting from European disturbance regimes.
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Savage, Melissa. "Anthropogenic and natural disturbance and patterns of mortality in a mixed conifer forest in California." Canadian Journal of Forest Research 24, no. 6 (June 1, 1994): 1149–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/x94-152.
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Anthropogenic and natural disturbances have been implicated in recent mortality episodes in montane forests. While the role of natural disturbance in patterning forest ecosystems has been widely explored in recent decades, the agency of human influence is less well understood. In this paper, stand structure analysis is used to characterize patterns of mortality in a montane mixed conifer forest in southern California subject to multiple influences, both anthropogenic and natural, including fire suppression, air pollution, drought, competition, and insect infestation. While it is difficult to separate the contribution of any one of these factors to tree death, because there have been cumulative and synchronous disturbances, successional trends can be identified. Anthropogenic influences appear to abet the effects of natural disturbance in enhancing the shift from early successional pines to species that tolerate stresses such as drought, fire suppression, or competition that result from increased stand density, or a combination of such stresses.
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Gudiel, A. Andrea, Shane C. Nieves, Kim E. Reuter, and Brent J. Sewall. "The effect of anthropogenic disturbance on non-native plant species in Madagascar." Journal of Tropical Ecology 32, no. 6 (October 4, 2016): 543–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0266467416000481.
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Abstract:Non-native species impact tropical ecosystems, but the role of different anthropogenic disturbances on the success of non-natives remains unclear, especially in island tropical forests. We sought to understand the influence of anthropogenic habitat degradation and disturbance on non-native plant species in Madagascar. Specifically, we evaluated how densities of non-native species of woody shrub (Lantana camara), climber (Mucuna pruriens) and tree (Mangifera indica, Albizia lebbeck, Tamarindus indica) varied with forest habitat degradation and by disturbance type. We surveyed 60400 m2, recording 482 instances of disturbance and 903 non-native plants in and around the Ankarana National Park. Non-native plant densities were higher in degraded than primary forest. Within degraded forest, densities of non-native trees increased with disturbance. Tree densities correlated with extent of tree damage only in Tamarindus indica, never correlated with extent of tree removal, and always correlated with proximity to roads and trails. Our results suggest roads and trails have relatively greater importance in facilitating the success of non-native tree species than structural changes to habitat. In contrast, densities of Lantana camara and Tamarindus indica did not correlate with any measured type of disturbance; other unmeasured or historical factors may be more important drivers of these smaller, faster-reproducing species.
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De Grandpré, Louis, Kaysandra Waldron, Mathieu Bouchard, Sylvie Gauthier, Marilou Beaudet, Jean-Claude Ruel, Christian Hébert, and Daniel Kneeshaw. "Incorporating Insect and Wind Disturbances in a Natural Disturbance-Based Management Framework for the Boreal Forest." Forests 9, no. 8 (August 2, 2018): 471. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f9080471.
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Natural disturbances are fundamental to forest ecosystem dynamics and have been used for two decades to improve forest management, notably in the boreal forest. Initially based on fire regimes, there is now a need to extend the concept to include other types of disturbances as they can greatly contribute to forest dynamics in some regions of the boreal zone. Here we review the main descriptors—that is, the severity, specificity, spatial and temporal descriptors and legacies, of windthrow and spruce bud worm outbreak disturbance regimes in boreal forests—in order to facilitate incorporating them into a natural disturbance-based forest management framework. We also describe the biological legacies that are generated by these disturbances. Temporal and spatial descriptors characterising both disturbance types are generally variable in time and space. This makes them difficult to reproduce in an ecosystem management framework. However, severity and specificity descriptors may provide a template upon which policies for maintaining post harvesting and salvage logging biological legacies can be based. In a context in which management mainly targets mature and old-growth stages, integrating insect and wind disturbances in a management framework is an important goal, as these disturbances contribute to creating heterogeneity in mature and old-growth forest characteristics.
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Wood, Tana, Grizelle González, Whendee Silver, Sasha Reed, and Molly Cavaleri. "On the Shoulders of Giants: Continuing the Legacy of Large-Scale Ecosystem Manipulation Experiments in Puerto Rico." Forests 10, no. 3 (February 27, 2019): 210. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f10030210.
Full textAbstract:
There is a long history of experimental research in the Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico. These experiments have addressed questions about biotic thresholds, assessed why communities vary along natural gradients, and have explored forest responses to a range of both anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic disturbances. Combined, these studies cover many of the major disturbances that affect tropical forests around the world and span a wide range of topics, including the effects of forest thinning, ionizing radiation, hurricane disturbance, nitrogen deposition, drought, and global warming. These invaluable studies have greatly enhanced our understanding of tropical forest function under different disturbance regimes and informed the development of management strategies. Here we summarize the major field experiments that have occurred within the Luquillo Experimental Forest. Taken together, results from the major experiments conducted in the Luquillo Experimental Forest demonstrate a high resilience of Puerto Rico’s tropical forests to a variety of stressors.
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Sokolova, G. G. "Influence of recreation on the forest ecosystems of Altai Region low lands." Ukrainian Journal of Ecology 9, no. 3 (October 21, 2019): 399–401. http://dx.doi.org/10.15421/2019_115.
Full textAbstract:
The paper describes the results of studying the dynamics of the species composition and changes in the structure of forest ecosystems in the lowlands of the Altai Territory under the influence of recreation. The study revealed five types of forest disturbance. Three groups of herbaceous plants were distinguished depending on the response to trampling. Recommendations on permissible loads in recreational forests are given.
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Khatancharoen, Chulabush, Satoshi Tsuyuki, Semyon V. Bryanin, Konosuke Sugiura, Tatsuyuki Seino, Viktor V. Lisovsky, Irina G. Borisova, and Naoya Wada. "Long-Time Interval Satellite Image Analysis on Forest-Cover Changes and Disturbances around Protected Area, Zeya State Nature Reserve, in the Russian Far East." Remote Sensing 13, no. 7 (March 27, 2021): 1285. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs13071285.
Full textAbstract:
Boreal forest areas in the Russian Far East contained very large intact forests. This particular area is considered one of the most productive and diverse forests in the boreal biome of the world, and it is also home to many endangered species. Zeya State Nature Reserve is located at the southern margin of the boreal forest area in the Russian Far East and has rich fauna and flora. However, the forest in the region faced large-scale forest fires and clearcutting for timber recently. The information of disturbances is rarely understood. This study aimed to explore the effects of disturbance and forest dynamics around the reserve. Our study used two-year overlaid Landsat images from Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), to generate forest-cover-change maps of 1988–1999, 1999–2010, and 2010–2016. In this paper, we analyze the direction of forest successional stages, to demonstrate the effectiveness of this protected area in terms of preventing human-based deforestation on the vegetation indices. The vegetation indices included the normalized burn ratio (NBR), the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and the normalized difference water index (NDWI). The study provided information on the pattern of forest-cover change and disturbance area around the reserve. The NDWI was used to differentiate between water and non-water areas. The mean values of NBR and NDVI were calculated and determine the forest successional stages between burn, vegetation recovery, grass, mixed forest, oak forest, and birch and larch forest. The accuracy was assessed by using field measurements, field photos, and high-resolution images as references. Overall, our classification results have high accuracy for all three periods. The most disturbed area occurred during 2010–2016. The reserve was highly protected, with no human-disturbance activity. However, large areas from fire disturbance were found (137 km2) during 1999–2010. The findings also show a large area of disturbance, mostly located outside of the reserve. Mixed disturbance increased to almost 50 km2 during 2010–2016, in the buffer zone and outside of the reserve. We recommend future works to apply our methods to other ecosystems, to compare the forest dynamics and disturbance inside and outside the protected area.
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Hartmann, A., J. Kobler, M. Kralik, T. Dirnböck, F. Humer, and M. Weiler. "Model-aided quantification of dissolved carbon and nitrogen release after windthrow disturbance in an Austrian karst system." Biogeosciences 13, no. 1 (January 15, 2016): 159–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-159-2016.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract. Karst systems are important for drinking water supply. Future climate projections indicate increasing temperature and a higher frequency of strong weather events. Both will influence the availability and quality of water provided from karst regions. Forest disturbances such as windthrow can disrupt ecosystem cycles and cause pronounced nutrient losses from the ecosystems. In this study, we consider the time period before and after the wind disturbance period (2007/08) to identify impacts on DIN (dissolved inorganic nitrogen) and DOC (dissolved organic carbon) with a process-based flow and solute transport simulation model. When calibrated and validated before the disturbance, the model disregards the forest disturbance and its consequences on DIN and DOC production and leaching. It can therefore be used as a baseline for the undisturbed system and as a tool for the quantification of additional nutrient production. Our results indicate that the forest disturbance by windthrow results in a significant increase of DIN production lasting ∼ 3.7 years and exceeding the pre-disturbance average by 2.7 kg ha−1 a−1 corresponding to an increase of 53 %. There were no significant changes in DOC concentrations. With simulated transit time distributions we show that the impact on DIN travels through the hydrological system within some months. However, a small fraction of the system outflow (< 5 %) exceeds mean transit times of > 1 year.