Structural and Compositional Resilience in Second-Growth Relative to Primary Northern Hardwood Stands
Event Website
http://www.nafew2009.org/
Start Date
6-24-2009 10:30 AM
End Date
6-24-2009 10:50 AM
Description
Effective implementation of natural-disturbance based silviculture requires an understanding of if, and how, structural and compositional patterns across multiple scales have been altered in second-growth forests relative to primary forests. We examined averages and heterogeneity of compositional and structural characteristics and diversity in primary stands and nearby second-growth stands that were cutover at the time of Euro-American settlement. Overstory trees and snags, coarse woody debris, understory vegetation, and light transmittance were sampled in four primary and eight second-growth stands along the North Shore of Lake Superior, Minnesota, USA. Primary and second-growth stands differed in both overstory and understory compositional characteristics but less so in structural characteristics. Primary stands were distinguished from second-growth stands by higher abundances of yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis, Britt.) and conifers and greater variability in tree sizes and abundances, duff depth, understory composition, and decayed coarse woody debris despite the fact that second-growth stands encompassed a broader range of developmental stages. Similarity in structural conditions indicates that second-growth stands may have been relatively resilient to the original cutover 70-100 years ago, whereas composition differences arose during subsequent high-grading.
Structural and Compositional Resilience in Second-Growth Relative to Primary Northern Hardwood Stands
Effective implementation of natural-disturbance based silviculture requires an understanding of if, and how, structural and compositional patterns across multiple scales have been altered in second-growth forests relative to primary forests. We examined averages and heterogeneity of compositional and structural characteristics and diversity in primary stands and nearby second-growth stands that were cutover at the time of Euro-American settlement. Overstory trees and snags, coarse woody debris, understory vegetation, and light transmittance were sampled in four primary and eight second-growth stands along the North Shore of Lake Superior, Minnesota, USA. Primary and second-growth stands differed in both overstory and understory compositional characteristics but less so in structural characteristics. Primary stands were distinguished from second-growth stands by higher abundances of yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis, Britt.) and conifers and greater variability in tree sizes and abundances, duff depth, understory composition, and decayed coarse woody debris despite the fact that second-growth stands encompassed a broader range of developmental stages. Similarity in structural conditions indicates that second-growth stands may have been relatively resilient to the original cutover 70-100 years ago, whereas composition differences arose during subsequent high-grading.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/nafecology/sessions/recovery/2