Forest Ecology and Management最新文献

{"title":"Improving the predictive capacity of the windthrow risk model ForestGALES with long-term monitoring data – A statistical calibration approach","authors":"Catrin Stadelmann ,&nbsp;Line Grottian ,&nbsp;Marco Natkhin ,&nbsp;Tanja GM Sanders","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122389","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122389","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Winter storms cause severe damage in German forests. Different modelling approaches have already been used to try and map endangered areas to minimize the risk of wind damage by stand adaption. Prevalent models for Germany include empirical-statistical and hybrid-mechanistic models, such as ForestGALES (FG). As of yet, FG is not extensively used in Germany as its parametrization requires extensive experimental efforts to derive regionally sensitive species-specific parameters. Here, we implement a statistical calibration approach for German forest conditions with observed damage from single tree data, soil types, topography (topex) and gust speed data. We use simulated annealing to generate new species-specific values for the tree species, Norway spruce, European beech, and Douglas fir from within the range of all coniferous (deciduous) species for Norway spruce and Douglas fir (European beech) and an additional 10 % buffer around the default species-specific values for each species. We compare two optimization approaches: First, we aim to maximize the Matthew’s correlation coefficient (MCC), which is calculated from the confusion matrix, applying a fixed classification threshold of 0.5. In comparison to the optimization at a fixed threshold, we optimized the species-specific parameters by maximizing the area-under-curve (AUC) value directly generated from the receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) analysis. We compare our statistical parametrizations for the considered species to those currently implemented in FG and validate the resulting damage probabilities based on confusion matrices and related performance measures. We created separate parametrizations for a single-tree and stand-wide analysis of storm damage risk, which we validated with gust speed data for Germany. Our results show, that for the single-tree method, MCC improved for all species: By 0.26 (0.22) for the calibration (validation) subset for Douglas fir, by 0.22 (0.18) for Norway spruce and by 0.08 (0.05) for European beech. The optimization for the stand-method shows an increase in MCC as well, with results not being considered due to low numbers of observation data. We show that for German forests, FG’s predictive capability can be improved by statistical optimization when no tree-pulling data is available, which could be valuable for creating further regionalizations of FG.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"576 ","pages":"Article 122389"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142656424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Changing climate and disturbance effects on southwestern US forests","authors":"Matthew D. Hurteau ,&nbsp;Reese Baker ,&nbsp;Kyle Gonterman ,&nbsp;Abigail Granath ,&nbsp;Josh Lopez-Binder ,&nbsp;M. Dylan Taylor ,&nbsp;Lorraina S. Rojas ,&nbsp;Lindsey Rotche ,&nbsp;Andy Graves ,&nbsp;Marissa J. Goodwin ,&nbsp;Gavin Jones ,&nbsp;Christopher Marsh","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122388","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122388","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Changing climate and its interaction with disturbances is reshaping forests of the western United States and southwestern forests are experiencing these changes at an accelerated pace. Southwestern forests are fire prone and a legacy of fire exclusion from past land use and management have homogenized many frequent fire forests, increasing the chance that disturbances reinforce landscape homogeneity. Widespread disturbances, especially those that cause a vegetation type change from forest to non-forest, are and will continue to influence the provision of ecosystem services upon which society depends. Here we review our current understanding of changing climate and disturbance and how they will influence southwestern United States forests (defined as California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico). We synthesize the literature on climate-driven changes in disturbance and how disturbance combined with changing climate will alter forest structure, forest cover, and species composition. We then synthesize management options for improving forest resilience and present them in the context of the resist-accept-direct framework for managing in a changing climate. Managing for more resilient southwestern forests will require a more nimble approach to forest management than is currently practiced in the southwestern US. Our current process of years-long planning for a document that charts the course for several decades of management action is ill-suited to the rate of change that southwestern forests are undergoing. Effective management will require truly adaptive management, with frequent monitoring that informs decision-making and some level of experimentation with management approaches as a hedge against the uncertainty facing southwestern forests.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"575 ","pages":"Article 122388"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142658344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Forest transformation increases soil N2O fluxes in an unmanaged Moso bamboo forest","authors":"Yibo Yan ,&nbsp;Xueying Tu ,&nbsp;Hui Zhang ,&nbsp;Yang Lv ,&nbsp;Yihui Zhao ,&nbsp;Ao Hu ,&nbsp;Yanping Wu ,&nbsp;Caixian Tang ,&nbsp;Yixiang Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122280","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122280","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Moso bamboo forests have a high capacity for carbon sequestration and are associated with greenhouse gas emissions, but are facing abandonment due to rising labor costs and falling prices of bamboo products. Due to lower carbon fixation and ecosystem degradation of abandoned bamboo forest, transformation (thinning and replanting with tree species) has recently been used to address the issue but its effect on soil N₂O fluxes is unknown. In this study, a 25-month field experiment was conducted with four management treatments (light, moderate and heavy strip transformation and abandonment management), using intensive management as a control, to investigate the effects of abandonment and its transformation on soil N₂O fluxes in shallow soils of an abandoned Moso bamboo forest. The results revealed that the highest N₂O emissions occurred in the intensive management control, while the lowest values were observed under the abandonment management. Furthermore, compared with the control, forest transformation with heavy, moderate and light intensities and abandonment management lowered annual cumulative soil N₂O emissions by 7 %, 12 %, 14 %, and 20 %, respectively, in the first year, and by 6 %, 14 %, 17 %, and 22 %, respectively, in the second year. Regardless of the treatment, soil N₂O emissions were correlated positively with soil temperature, and the concentrations of NO₃^--N, NH₄⁺-N, microbial biomass C and N, and water-soluble organic C and N (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05), but negatively with soil water-filled porosity (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01). The increased N₂O emissions in the forest transformation treatments had mainly resulted from the elevated soil temperature and increased concentrations of labile C and N. The study suggests that the light strip transformation, due to its lower N₂O emissions during the first two years of the transformation, is a favorable practice for managing abandoned Moso bamboo forests.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"576 ","pages":"Article 122280"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142656426","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Long-term impact of an extreme wildfire and salvage logging legacies on ecosystem services provision: Decomposition and nutrient cycling in fire-prone Mediterranean pine forests","authors":"Sara Turiel-Santos ,&nbsp;Leonor Calvo ,&nbsp;David Johannes Kotze ,&nbsp;Angela Taboada","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122381","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122381","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>New wildfire regimes under accelerated global change may have unprecedented effects on ecosystem services (ES) provision but may also be mediated by the biological legacies left onsite. However, until now, we know very little about these effects, especially over the long term after fire. We investigated the impact of an extreme wildfire event and the burned wood legacies resulting from a decade post-fire salvage logging of dead trees on the recovery of two regulating/supporting ES, i.e., litter decomposition and nutrient cycling, in fire-prone Mediterranean ecosystems dominated by <em>Pinus pinaster</em> forests. For this, we (i) performed a two-year decomposition experiment using the Tea Bag Index (TBI) as a standard method to determine the percentage loss of litter mass and decomposition rates over time, and (ii) quantified soil biochemical variables (microbial biomass C, and β-glucosidase, urease and acid phosphatase enzymatic activities) reflecting nutrient cycling processes, in the burned area and in an adjacent 40-year unburned forest (hereafter, control). Furthermore, we analyzed the influence of soil chemical properties, vegetation variables, and fine (FWD) and coarse (CWD) woody debris characteristics on the recovery of the ES supply capacity. Although our results revealed initial differences with lower litter mass loss in the burned compared to the control area, possibly due to the higher humidity conditions created by mosses and FWD in the unburned forest that favour decomposition processes, decomposition rates in the burned area approached those in the control area at the end of the experiment. Furthermore, nutrient cycling driven by plant and microbial enzymatic activities, recovered fully a decade after fire. However, contrary to our expectations, burned wood legacies did not influence the recovery of ES provision, possibly because CWD remains were mostly intact and not decayed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"576 ","pages":"Article 122381"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142656425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tree planting outcomes after severe wildfire depend on climate, competition, and priority","authors":"Quinn M. Sorenson,&nbsp;Derek J.N. Young,&nbsp;Andrew M. Latimer","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122346","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122346","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With dramatic increases in both area burned and fire severity in Western North American conifer forests, the demand for postfire replanting greatly exceeds land managers’ capacity. Despite the importance of tree planting for forest recovery in many areas, it remains unclear how environmental variation and planting timing affect tree planting success relative to passive natural tree regeneration, or how to optimize limited planting resources by focusing on the right places at the right time. To address this gap, we surveyed replanting success across five fires in California Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest that had been partially replanted with conifer species after intense wildfire. We selected these fires to contain substantial variation in environmental conditions (temperature, elevation, other topographic contrasts) and planting timing, while being as consistent as possible in postfire management. At each fire, we surveyed randomly located 400 m2 circular plots in planted and nearby unplanted areas (total 182 plots), counting seedlings by species as well as shrub cover and other environmental variables. Using mixed models to analyze the data, we found that passive natural regeneration is weaker (&lt;50 seedlings/ha) in hotter, drier sites and that active tree planting can provide a boost (up to 200 %) to forest recovery in these sites. We also found that the timing of tree planting matters, but that the importance of timing depends on the level of competition from shrubs. In places where shrub competition is intense, tree planting is much more successful if planting occurs the year immediately following a fire, the soonest that it is usually practical to plant. In contrast, in places where shrub competition is weaker, delaying tree planting until some shrubs establish can facilitate tree seedling survival, perhaps because shrubs provide shelter from harsh conditions. We also found that tree planting was strongly associated with a higher proportion of pine seedlings, although this positive planting effect was weaker when planting happened later after fire, and was cancelled out at higher levels of shrub cover and shrub height.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"575 ","pages":"Article 122346"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142658341","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Long-term soil nutrient and understory plant responses to post-fire rehabilitation in a lodgepole pine forest","authors":"Sophia Kaiser ,&nbsp;Timothy S. Fegel ,&nbsp;David M. Barnard ,&nbsp;Adam L. Mahood ,&nbsp;Kya Sparks ,&nbsp;Kaela K. Amundson ,&nbsp;Michael J. Wilkins ,&nbsp;Charles C. Rhoades","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122359","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122359","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Wildfires and other disturbances play a fundamental role in regenerating lodgepole pine forests. Though severe, stand-replacing fires are typical of this ecosystem, they can have dramatic impacts on soil properties and biogeochemical processes that influence the rate and composition of vegetation recovery. Organic soil amendments are often applied to manage post-fire erosion, but they can also improve soil moisture and nutrient retention and potentially alter the trajectory of post-fire revegetation. We compared change in soil nutrients, microbial communities, and understory plant cover and composition on six burned hillslopes treated with 1) biochar (20 t ha ⁻¹), 2) wood mulch (37 t ha⁻¹), 2) biochar + mulch, and 4) an untreated control a decade after the 2010 Church’s Park fire. Wood mulch increased soil moisture and N retention the first three years following treatment. Mulch and biochar were still visible when we resampled in 2023. Mulch continued to increase soil moisture compared to unamended controls, though it had few lasting effects on soil N or cations. Conversely, biochar added alone increased dissolved organic C in soil leachate, C:N in soil and leachate, and hosted microbial communities distinct from those in mulch and combined biochar and mulch treatments. Biochar also elevated various dissolved and extractable soil N forms but reduced net nitrification. The amendments had no general effect on total graminoid, forb, or shrub cover, but had plant species-specific impacts. For example, biochar doubled cover of the dominant shrub <em>Vaccinium scoparium</em>, and mulch reduced cover of the most common forb (<em>Oreochrysum parryi</em>) by more than 50 %. The combined biochar and mulch treatment had persistent, additive effects on both soil and plant responses that exceeded impacts of the individual treatments. As seen increasingly in western North America, conifer regeneration remains scarce in the Church’s Park burn scar, and these findings suggest that mulch and biochar amendments may improve reforestation success following severe wildfires.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"575 ","pages":"Article 122359"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142658433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Abundance of Taphrorychus bicolor in beech forests: Influence of forest size and optimal conditions","authors":"Jaroslav Holuša ,&nbsp;Ivana Henzlová ,&nbsp;Barbora Dvořáková ,&nbsp;Karolina Resnerová ,&nbsp;Jan Šipoš ,&nbsp;Otakar Holuša ,&nbsp;Jaromír Bláha ,&nbsp;Roman Berčák ,&nbsp;Jiří Procházka ,&nbsp;Jiří Trombik ,&nbsp;Tomáš Fiala","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122362","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122362","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The bark beetle <em>Taphrorychus bicolor</em> primarily inhabits <em>Fagus sylvatica</em> forests. Its populations increase after periods of drought. Due to the limited knowledge of factors affecting its abundance, we conducted a large-scale sampling. Beetles were captured using three Theysohn traps lured with bicolorin at 26 study sites in mature homogeneous beech forests distributed throughout the Czech Republic. The traps were checked, and beetles were sampled weekly or biweekly in 2022. Using Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs), the impact of selected environmental and management variables on the abundance of <em>T. bicolor</em> was analyzed. The species occurs at elevations ranging from 150 m a.s.l. to 1300 m a.s.l. throughout the Czech Republic. This represents its entire host range, e.g., beech, although in the lowest elevations it is also found on other deciduous trees. In 2022, the flight activity lasted from late April to early September, and two generations were recorded, with the filial generation starting to fly in late June. In many study sites, more than 10,000 beetles were captured per trap. The number of females trapped was higher than males, consistent with the species' polygamous strategy, where females move toward increasing concentrations of pheromones. The number of beetles in the traps was influenced by elevation, with the highest abundance observed at around 600 m a.s.l. Abundances were higher in areas with more extensive beech forest complexes. Lower beetle abundances were found in stands where the studied forest bordered with meadows, pastures, or crop fields, indicating the species' reluctance to fly outside the forest habitat. The abundance of the filial generation was higher when there was a larger area of beech forests within a 1000 m radius, suggesting a median dispersal flight distance of approximately 1 km for the filial generation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"575 ","pages":"Article 122362"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142658340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Past disturbances shape present tree size distribution in European temperate primary beech-dominated forests","authors":"Ruffy M. Rodrigo ,&nbsp;Joseph L. Pettit ,&nbsp;Pavel Janda ,&nbsp;Jakob Pavlin ,&nbsp;Dheeraj Ralhan ,&nbsp;Daniel Kozak ,&nbsp;Radim Matula ,&nbsp;William Marchand ,&nbsp;Radek Bače ,&nbsp;Martin Dušátko ,&nbsp;Tomás Kníř ,&nbsp;Michal Frankovič ,&nbsp;Martin Mikoláš ,&nbsp;Jeňýk Hofmeister ,&nbsp;Cătălin-Constantin Roibu ,&nbsp;Melanie Saulnier ,&nbsp;Miroslav Svoboda","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122364","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122364","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Natural disturbances play a crucial role in shaping forest structural dynamics, directly influencing stand structural heterogeneity. In European forests, disturbances occur across varying scales, from small patches to entire landscapes, significantly affecting ecosystem dynamics. However, detailed information on historical disturbances and their specific effects on forest structure, particularly tree size distributions in primary mountain forests, remains limited. With global change altering the severity and frequency of these disturbances, understanding their long-term impact has become increasingly critical for forest management and conservation. We addressed two main questions: (1) Is there variability in tree size distributions at both the plot and stand level? and (2) which specific aspects of disturbance regimes, such as severity and timing, are most influential in shaping these distributions? To address these questions, we analyzed data from 11,755 trees across 23 primary European beech forest stands in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania (139 plots) and Slovakia (99 plots). Using linear mixed-effects models, we assessed how historical disturbances have influenced current tree size distributions. Our results showed that tree size distributions across the Carpathians show variability, with the most common pattern being close to a reverse-J shape, indicative of uneven-aged forest structures. Modelling analyses revealed that disturbance severity and timing are key factors influencing present tree size distribution patterns at small scales in the Carpathian Mountains. High-severity disturbances generally result in unimodal or bimodal distributions, while low-severity disturbances are associated with reverse-J shaped patterns. Specifically, at the plot level (small scale), we observed that last disturbance severity, maximum disturbance severity, and time since the last disturbance all significantly impacted tree size distributions driving them away from a reverse-J shape. Finally, linear mixed-effects modeling revealed that disturbance severity, time since the last disturbance and the interaction between the two were the most influential factors shaping present tree size distributions. Our findings highlight the dynamic nature of forest ecosystems, emphasizing the critical role of historical disturbances in shaping present tree structure and the long-term development of forest stands.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"574 ","pages":"Article 122364"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142593936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Making the most of native seeds: Management techniques interact with seed and seedling traits for enhancing direct seeding success","authors":"Maxmiller Cardoso Ferreira ,&nbsp;Daniel Luis Mascia Vieira","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122353","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122353","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Direct seeding offers a cost-effective approach to large-scale restoration, but seedling establishment can vary greatly across species and regions. This study investigates how management techniques used for seed processing, site preparation, seeding, and post-seeding management interact with seed/seedling traits and influence direct seeding success. We conducted a systematic review of Brazilian direct seeding research, encompassing 26 % of global studies. We focused on paired experiments comparing management techniques against control treatments to analyze seedling establishment rates for trees, shrubs, and palms. The techniques included pre-soaking seeds, overcoming seed dormancy, seed burial, mulch application, soil fertilization, intercropping with green manure or agricultural crops, weed control, and sowing in the shade of secondary vegetation. Seed traits were fresh mass, water content, and shape, and seedling traits were functional morphology, successional guild, and vegetation guild, <em>i.e.</em>, forest or savanna. Pre-germination treatments offered no significant benefit. Seed burial doubled establishment, and mulch application only aided unburied seeds. Organic fertilization reduced establishment for savanna species, while intercropping with green manure or crops enhanced establishment for forest species. Weed control effectiveness depended on functional traits. Mowing favored pioneers, while hoeing or herbicide application benefited large-seeded and epigeal-foliaceous-cotyledon seedlings. Pioneer species establishment was 15 % in full sun and 3 % in the shade, while shade-tolerant climax species established at 8 % in full sun and 28 % in the shade. By implementing management techniques, direct seeding success can be increased up to fourfold. This translates to a potential reduction in seed usage, the primary cost of direct seeding, by 25–75 %. These findings pave the way for cost-effective restoration efforts with improved seedling establishment rates.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"574 ","pages":"Article 122353"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142586090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Variations in stand structure, composition, and fuelbeds drive prescribed fire behavior during mountain longleaf pine restoration","authors":"Collin J. Anderson ,&nbsp;Matthew P. Weand ,&nbsp;Heather D. Alexander ,&nbsp;Mario Bretfeld ,&nbsp;Nicholas Green","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122372","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122372","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Across the central and eastern U.S., frequent-fire (∼ 1–5 year interval) dependent savannas, woodlands, and forests have experienced widespread ecological state shifts due to decades of fire exclusion. Without fire, mesophytes (i.e., shade-tolerant, often fire-sensitive and/or opportunistic tree species) are encroaching in the midstory, creating shady, moist understories with low flammability and reduced biodiversity through a process known as “mesophication.” Although prescribed fire is commonly used to reverse mesophication and restore fire-dependent ecosystems, fire behavior during restoration remains difficult to predict because variations in stand structure and composition and associated fuels interact to influence flammability. To better understand the mesophication mechanisms influencing fire behavior and to identify key predictors of fire behavior for the benefit of land managers, we assessed how metrics that describe fire intensity (maximum temperature, rate of spread, and residence time) and severity (fuel consumption) relate to pre-fire stand and leaf litter composition and structure. We focused on the restoration of remnant mountain longleaf pine (<em>Pinus palustris</em> Mill. (LLP)) stands during the dormant prescribed fire season in the Georgia Piedmont region, USA. Using Bayesian path analysis, we compared the effects of either stand or leaf litter composition and structure on fire behavior. Lower stand basal area and higher relative importance of pine and pyrophytic hardwoods (e.g., upland <em>Quercus</em> spp.) and associated leaf litter types were expected to increase fire intensity. Results showed that stand composition and structure significantly influenced fire behavior, but not because of their influence on litter structure (load and bulk density). Rather, leaf litter composition may better explain fire behavior than leaf litter structure. Results also suggest that simple measures of stand composition and structure alone can be used to predict fire behavior, providing a potentially useful tool for assessing restoration potential of fire-dependent ecosystems under threat of mesophication.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"575 ","pages":"Article 122372"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142593659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}