Canopy cover and understory composition determine abundance of Vaccinium myrtillus L., a key plant for capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), in subalpine forests in the Pyrenees

Background: The dwarf shrub Vaccinium myrtillus – with high cover, height, and fruit production – benefits capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus).

Aims: Our aim was to quantify landscape (e.g. elevation, geographic location, and precipitation), site (e.g. overstorey cover and stoniness) and very fine scale factors (e.g. spatial associations in the understorey) that affect cover, height, and fruit production of V. myrtillus in subalpine forests in thePyrenees, with understorey usually dominated by Rhododendron ferrugineum.

Methods: We sampled 155 plots (0.5 m × 5 m) in six sites. For each plot, in the understorey layer, we assessed species cover, height for R. ferrugineum and V. myrtillus, number of total fruits in V. myrtillus, and spatial associations among V. myrtillus and the remaining cover types.

Results: Overstorey cover negatively influenced V. myrtillus cover, its height, and particularly, the number of fruits, which was also negatively influenced by R. ferrugineum cover. Associations between R. ferrugineum and V. myrtillus were site dependent, while V. myrtillus showed mostly positive associations with grasses and mosses.

Conclusions: Reducing overstorey and R. ferrugineum cover has the strongest positive effect on increasing V. myrtillus fruit production, but with additional positive effects on V. myrtillus cover and height. Increases in grass and moss coverage could favour V. myrtillus.     

Estimating tree and stand sapwood area in spatially heterogeneous southeastern Australian forests

Aims Natural and anthropogenic changes in forests can have important influences on transpiration and water production. Understanding the effects of increasing disturbances, due for example to climate change and forest harvesting, requires detailed information on how forest density and structural attributes relate to transpiration. Mean annual transpiration of eucalypt forest communities is often strongly correlated with total cross-sectional sapwood area. Our aim was to test an efficient method for estimating sapwood area at 1.3 m height (SA 1.3) in a large number of trees to understand the spatial heterogeneity of tree and stand sapwood area within and between forest communities, and develop allometric relationships that predict SA 1.3 with forest inventory data. We also apply tree competition models to determine the degree to which the relationship between SA 1.3 and tree basal area at 1.3 m height (BA 1.3) is influenced by competition.Methods We visited 25 recently harvested southeastern Australian forest sites consisting of 1379 trees and 5 Eucalyptus species to evaluate a new efficient data collection method for estimating SA 1.3 with tree taper and stump dimensions data using mixed effects models. The locations of 784 stumps within one 5-ha site were accurately mapped using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and four distance-dependent tree competition models were applied across the site to explain within-stand variation in the ratio of SA 1.3 to BA 1.3. Data from 24 additional sites, consisting of ten 15 m radial plots per site, were used to analyse within-site variation in R Ha (the ratio of stand sapwood area SA Ha to stand basal area BA Ha). The radial plots were merged within each site to evaluate between-site variations in R Ha across the landscape. For predicting SA Ha with forest inventory data, we computed the relationship between SA Ha and a new index of total stem perimeter per hectare, defined as ? B A H a N T, where N T is tree stocking density.Important findings Our 1379 measured stems represent the most comprehensive measure of sapwood area, surpassing the 757 measured stems in native eucalypt forests published in literature. The species-specific R Ha varied considerably across sites and therefore extrapolating SA Ha with spatially distributed BA Ha maps and a generalized R Ha would introduce local uncertainty. We found that the species-specific stem perimeter index was more effective at capturing variability in SA Ha across the landscape using forest composition, structure and density data (R 2 : 0.72–0.77). The strong correlation between tree SA 1.3 and BA 1.3 improved slightly using tree competition models (R 2 increased from 0.86 to 0.88). Relating SA Ha to routinely measured forest inventory attributes within permanent plots and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data may provide opportunities to map forest water use in time and space across large areas disturbed by wildfire and logging.     

吉林蛟河针阔混交林林层结构对生产力的影响

探讨不同林层物种多样性和林分结构与森林生产力之间的关系,为森林可持续经营管理策略优化提供理论支持。以吉林蛟河30 hm²针阔混交林固定监测样地中的38432株木本植物的野外调查数据为研究对象,利用结构方程模型探讨了不同林层物种多样性和林分结构多样性对森林生产力的作用机制。结果表明：（1）林冠层林分结构多样性和生产力之间呈负相关关系,路径系数为-0.138;林下层林分结构多样性和生产力之间呈正相关关系,路径系数为0.083。（2）林冠层物种多样性和生产力之间呈正相关关系,路径系数为0.099;林下层物种多样性和生产力之间关系不显著,且物种多样性在林冠层和林下层呈正相关关系,路径系数为0.147。物种多样性和林分结构多样性与森林生产力之间不存在唯一的关系,这种关系的大小、方向和潜在机制与林层有关。为此,在森林经营过程中要充分考虑不同林层物种多样性和林分结构多样性与森林生产力之间的关系。     

Species richness and canopy productivity of Australian plant communities

The species richness (number of vascular plants per hectare) of Australian plant communities (containing a mosaic of gap, regeneration, maturation and senescent phases) is correlated with the annual biomass productivity of the overstorey canopy.The annual production of leaves and stem in the canopy of the plant community is shown to be limited by the requirements of photosynthesis (particularly light and the availability of water) and the length of the growing season.The species richness of Australian plant communities is the product of the blance between the dominance of the overstorey and the response of the understorey to the shading of the overstorey. For all climatic regions and zones the species richness of the overstorey of the plant community is shown to be exponentially related to the annual shoot growth of the overstorey canopy, until the latitudinal or altitudinal tree line is reached. With latitudinal increase outside the tropics, overstorey canopies of forest communities absorb increasingly more of the incident solar radiation. markedly reducing the species richness of the understorey strata. In contrast, in these latitudes the overstorey of plant communities with widely spaced trees or tall shrubs will absorb far less solar radiation, thus enabling the species richness of the understorey to be maintained.     

吉林省蛟河市针阔混交林林层结构与地形的关系

探讨不同林层群落结构动态及其与地形因子之间的关系,为群落结构优化和可持续经营管理提供理论支持。基于吉林蛟河30 hm²针阔混交林固定监测样地的野外调查数据,以2010和2015年胸径（DBH）≥1 cm的木本植物为研究对象,分析了不同林层物种组成、林分密度、群落结构多样性差异及其5年间的动态变化,利用偏相关分析研究了不同林层群落结构特征和地形因子的关系。结果表明：（1）林下层物种丰富度略高于林冠层,林冠层蓄积生产力是整个森林群落蓄积生产力的主要贡献者,林下层的物种多样性和林分结构多样性变化较林冠层明显;（2）林冠层优势树种的重要值在群落演替过程中逐渐扩大,整个样地林冠层树木个体数量减少了175株,林下层树木个体增加了3503株;（3）地形因子中海拔是影响群落结构动态最主要的因子,通过影响土壤和光照等条件从而影响群落结构变化。该林分处于相对稳定状态,不同林层群落结构特征差异显著,正确把握地形因子与不同林层群落结构动态变化的关系对森林的可持续经营具有重要意义。     

Simulation of bracken cover in forested areas in Victoria in response to season,overstorey and fire conditions

Abstract A computer-based model is presented that brings together the existing knowledge about the dynamics of bracken in eucalypt forests in south-eastern Australia. The average length of the growing season, the timing and extent of logging, and the timing and severity of fire are major inputs to the model. The model is predominantly deterministic, but has a stochastic environmental component. The model is validated with four independent sets of data. The model successfully predicts the trends in the data. The interactions between bracken, other understorey species and eucalypt regeneration are explored with the model. The likely effect of different silvicultural and fire management practices on the cover of bracken are investigated using the model. Year to year variation can mask the effects of disturbance if bracken cover is viewed in any one year in isolation. Bracken cover trends can only be seen over a period of 10 years or more. The model reinforces the importance of site productivity as measured by length of growing season and the degree of tree removal on bracken cover.     

Effects of fire and selective logging on the tree species composition of lowland dipterocarp forest in East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Tree species composition (diameter at breast height (dbh) 10 cm) was studied in primary, selectively logged and heavily burnt forests in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The number of trees, tree species, and the Fishers's- diversity index were determined for the first 15 years (burnt forest) and 25 years (selectively logged forest) after disturbance. Additionally the population structure of six common and typical Macaranga pioneer tree species was compared through time between selectively logged, burnt and primary forest. Both selectively logged and burnt forest showed a significant reduction in number of trees and tree species per surface area directly after disturbance. Fire especially affected dominant tree species, while for selective logging the opposite was observed. In selectively logged forest the number of trees, tree species and the Fishers's- index reached pre-disturbance levels within c. 15 years. For burnt forest, only the number of trees recovered to pre-disturbance levels. The number of tree species stayed constant after disturbance, while the Fishers's- index decreased. The six studied Macaranga pioneer tree species seedlings were present in all forest types. Their density seems to be unrelated to light levels in the forest understorey but strongly related to the number of mature parent trees. Their sapling densities were strongly related to light levels in the forest understorey. The studied Macaranga species formed an important part of both under- and over-storey in burnt forest 15 years after disturbance, while they were almost absent in the understorey and only moderately common in the overstorey of selectively logged forest.     

A review of the sub-species carpatica and tortuosa within the species betula pubescens Ehrh.

Summary

The classifications employed during the last decade for defining sub-specific variation within the species B. pubescens Ehrh. have produced a situation in which the terms carpatica and tortuosa, originally and usually applied to separate taxa, could be regarded as synonymous. This has been caused by the association of both terms, at different times, with B. odorata Bechst. Recent research at Merlewood supports the use of the term ssp. tortuosa and its distinction from ssp. carpatica whose presence in the British flora requires further verification.