Fire and Successional Trajectories in Boreal Forest

Fire and Successional Trajectories in Boreal Forest PDF Author: Jill Frances Johnstone
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Climatic changes
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
"Because of the key role played by fire in structuring boreal forest ecosystems, interactions between vegetation and fire regime may be an important and dynamic control of forest response to climate change. This research uses a series of field observations and experiments in boreal forests to examine the nature of several potential fire and vegetation interactions, and how such interactions may influence forest response to climate change. Long-term observations of post-fire succession provide information on the timing of tree establishment and the effects of early establishment on subsequent successional trajectories. The role of competitive interactions in driving patterns of early establishment was tested with experimental manipulations of aspen (Populus tremuloides) cover after fire. This research demonstrated that competition by aspen re-sprouts may reduce the success of conifer establishment and favor long-term dominance by deciduous trees. The effects of fire severity on successional trajectories were tested in a series of field experiments that contrasted patterns of seedling establishment across differences in depth of the post-fire organic layer. All species in the experiment responded negatively to decreased fire severity, but deciduous trees were more sensitive in their response than conifers. Thus, variations in bum severity are likely to mediate deciduous establishment in organic-rich stands. Observations of natural tree regeneration in stands that burned at different ages also indicate that a decrease in fire interval can influence the relative abundance of deciduous and coniferous species by reducing coniferestablishment. Over longer time scales, changes in biota caused by species migration may influence fire and vegetation interactions. Observations of post-fire regeneration at the current distribution limits of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) indicate that continued range expansion of pine could initiate rapid shifts in dominance from spruce to pine within a single fire cycle. Together, these results provide insight into the dynamic feedbacks between fire and vegetation that can lead to high levels of system resilience, while also promoting rapid responses when threshold conditions are crossed. A more complete understanding of these interactions will improve our ability to manage and predict boreal ecosystem responses to a changing climate"--Leaves iii-iv.

Fire and Successional Trajectories in Boreal Forest

Fire and Successional Trajectories in Boreal Forest PDF Author: Jill Frances Johnstone
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Climatic changes
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
"Because of the key role played by fire in structuring boreal forest ecosystems, interactions between vegetation and fire regime may be an important and dynamic control of forest response to climate change. This research uses a series of field observations and experiments in boreal forests to examine the nature of several potential fire and vegetation interactions, and how such interactions may influence forest response to climate change. Long-term observations of post-fire succession provide information on the timing of tree establishment and the effects of early establishment on subsequent successional trajectories. The role of competitive interactions in driving patterns of early establishment was tested with experimental manipulations of aspen (Populus tremuloides) cover after fire. This research demonstrated that competition by aspen re-sprouts may reduce the success of conifer establishment and favor long-term dominance by deciduous trees. The effects of fire severity on successional trajectories were tested in a series of field experiments that contrasted patterns of seedling establishment across differences in depth of the post-fire organic layer. All species in the experiment responded negatively to decreased fire severity, but deciduous trees were more sensitive in their response than conifers. Thus, variations in bum severity are likely to mediate deciduous establishment in organic-rich stands. Observations of natural tree regeneration in stands that burned at different ages also indicate that a decrease in fire interval can influence the relative abundance of deciduous and coniferous species by reducing coniferestablishment. Over longer time scales, changes in biota caused by species migration may influence fire and vegetation interactions. Observations of post-fire regeneration at the current distribution limits of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) indicate that continued range expansion of pine could initiate rapid shifts in dominance from spruce to pine within a single fire cycle. Together, these results provide insight into the dynamic feedbacks between fire and vegetation that can lead to high levels of system resilience, while also promoting rapid responses when threshold conditions are crossed. A more complete understanding of these interactions will improve our ability to manage and predict boreal ecosystem responses to a changing climate"--Leaves iii-iv.

A Key for Predicting Postfire Successional Trajectories in Black Spruce Stands of Interior Alaska

A Key for Predicting Postfire Successional Trajectories in Black Spruce Stands of Interior Alaska PDF Author: Jill Frances Johnstone
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Black spruce
Languages : en
Pages : 46

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Book Description
Black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill) B.S.P) is the dominant forest cover type in interior Alaska and is prone to frequent, stand-replacing wildfires. Through impacts on tree recruitment, the degree of fire consumption of soil organic layers can act as an important determinant of whether black spruce forests regenerate to a forest composition similar to the prefire forest, or to a new forest composition dominated by deciduous hardwoods. Here we present a simple, rule-based framework for predicting fire-initiated changes in forest cover within Alaska's black spruce forests. Four components are presented: (1) a key to classifying potential site moisture, (2) a summary of conditions that favor black spruce self-replacement, (3) a key to predicting postfire forest recovery in recently burned stands, and (4) an appendix of photos to be used as a visual reference tool. This report should be useful to managers in designing fire management actions and predicting the effects of recent and future fires on postfire forest cover in black spruce forests of interior Alaska.

Fire, Climate Change, and Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest

Fire, Climate Change, and Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest PDF Author: Eric S. Kasischke
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387216294
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 490

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Book Description
A discussion of the direct and indirect mechanisms by which fire and climate interact to influence carbon cycling in North American boreal forests. The first section summarizes the information needed to understand and manage fires' effects on the ecology of boreal forests and its influence on global climate change issues. Following chapters discuss in detail the role of fire in the ecology of boreal forests, present data sets on fire and the distribution of carbon, and treat the use of satellite imagery in monitoring these regions as well as approaches to modeling the relevant processes.

Forest Dynamics and Disturbance Regimes

Forest Dynamics and Disturbance Regimes PDF Author: Lee E. Frelich
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521052474
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Lee Frelich provides a major contribution to the study of temperate-zone forest dynamics by considering three important themes: the combined influence of wind, fire, and herbivory on the successional trajectories and structural characteristics of forests; the interaction of deciduous and evergreen tree species to form mosiacs; and the significance of temporal and spatial scale with regard to the overall impact of disturbances. These themes are explored via case studies from the forests in the Lake States of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, where the presence of large primary forest remnants provides a unique opportunity to study the long-term dynamics of near-boreal, pine, and hardwood-hemlock forests.

Fire Regimes: Spatial and Temporal Variability and Their Effects on Forests

Fire Regimes: Spatial and Temporal Variability and Their Effects on Forests PDF Author: Yves Bergeron
Publisher: MDPI
ISBN: 3038423904
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Fire Regimes: Spatial and Temporal Variability and Their Effects on Forests" that was published in Forests

Fire and Harvest Residual (FAHR) Project

Fire and Harvest Residual (FAHR) Project PDF Author: Alberta. Alberta Environment
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780778509196
Category : Aspen
Languages : en
Pages : 46

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Book Description


Alaska's Changing Boreal Forest

Alaska's Changing Boreal Forest PDF Author: F. Stuart Chapin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195154312
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
The Boreal forest is the northern-most forest in the world, whose organisms and dynamics are shaped by low temperature and high latitude. The Alaskan Boreal forest is warming as rapidly as any place on earth, providing an opportunity to examine a biome as it adjusts to change. This book looks at this issue.

Quantifying Upland Boreal Forest Successional Pathways Near Fairbanks, Alaska

Quantifying Upland Boreal Forest Successional Pathways Near Fairbanks, Alaska PDF Author: Thomas Andrew Kurkowski
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Forest fires
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description
"Previous studies have suggested that post-fire forest succession in Interior Alaska can occur in two different ways. Self-replacement occurs when pre-fire dominant species immediately replace themselves as the canopy dominants after fire. Species-dominance relay occurs when, after simultaneously establishing themselves after fire, deciduous trees relinquish canopy dominance to conifer species as the stand ages. The relative importance of these different successional processes at landscape scales in Interior Alaska is unknown. To test for the importance of these two trajectories, we built a multinomial logistic regression model explaining the relationship between classified vegetation type and topographic variables. We also determined the relative occurrence of species-dominance relay by comparing aged stands to known successional patterns. The model correctly predicted 78% of spruce distribution, and the majority of stands are not following the species-dominance relay pattern, implying that most of the study area appears to be following a self-replacement trajectory with only a small proportion of sites capable of supporting both deciduous and spruce species. These results have important implications for modeling forest succession in Interior Alaska because of the importance of these dynamics in determining the fire regime, carbon storage, and global warming scenanos"--Leaf iii.

Wildland Fire, Forest Dynamics, and Their Interactions

Wildland Fire, Forest Dynamics, and Their Interactions PDF Author: Marc-André Parisien
Publisher: MDPI
ISBN: 3038970999
Category : Electronic books
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Wildland Fire, Forest Dynamics, and Their Interactions" that was published in Forests

Permafrost Ecosystems

Permafrost Ecosystems PDF Author: Akira Osawa
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402096933
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 507

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Book Description
Drawing from a decade-long collaboration between Japan and Russia, this important volume presents the first major synthesis of current knowledge on the ecophysiology of the coniferous forests growing on permafrost at high latitudes. It presents ecological data for a region long inaccessible to most scientists, and raises important questions about the global carbon balance as these systems are affected by the changing climate. Making up around 20% of the entire boreal forests of the northern hemisphere, these ‘permafrost forest ecosystems’ are subject to particular constraints in terms of temperature, nutrient availability, and root space, creating exceptional ecosystem characteristics not known elsewhere. This authoritative text explores their diversity, structure, dynamics and physiology. It provides a comparison of these forests in relation to boreal forests elsewhere, and concludes with an assessment of the potential responses of this unique biome to climate change. The book will be invaluable to advanced students and researchers interested in boreal vegetation, forest ecology, silviculture and forest soils, as well as to researchers into climate change and the global carbon balance.