Can Retention Harvest Maintain Natural Structural Complexity? A Comparison of Post-Harvest and Post-Fire Residual Patches in Boreal Forest

Moussaoui, Louiza; Fenton, Nicole J.; Leduc, Alain; Bergeron, Yves

doi:10.3390/f7100243

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…The harvested area was characterized by early-successional communities and thus plays a valuable role in the forest landscape by providing high plant productivity and spatial complexity (Swanson et al 2011). Meanwhile, aggregated retention promoted maintenance of late-seral species, partly reflecting their ability to maintain the structural complexity (Moussaoui et al 2016) and microclimatic conditions characteristic of unharvested stands (Baker et al 2016).…”

Section: Management Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining aggregated and dispersed tree retention harvesting for conservation of vascular plant communities

Franklin

Macdonald

Nielsen

2018

Ecological Applications

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Retention harvesting (also called tree retention or structural retention), in which live mature trees are selectively retained within harvested stands at different retention levels and in different patterns (aggregated to dispersed), is increasingly being used to mitigate the negative impacts of forest harvesting on biodiversity. However, the effectiveness of combining different patterns of retention harvesting for conservation and recovery of understory vascular plants in the long term is largely unknown. To address this gap, we compared understory vascular plant diversity, abundance, and composition between aggregated retention and five levels of surrounding dispersed retention (0% [clearcut], 10%, 20%, 50%, 75%) 15 yr postharvest. We also investigated the influence of dispersed retention on the ability of embedded retention patches to support plant communities characteristic of unharvested forests, and whether it varies by patch size of aggregated retention (0.20 ha or 0.46 ha) and position within patches (edge or interior). Species richness, diversity, and cover were higher in the dispersed retention than in the patch retention as the harvested areas favored early-seral plant species. Graminoid cover was greater at the edges than in the interior of large patches. Retention patches as small as 0.2 ha more effectively supported shade-tolerant (forest interior) plant communities when they were surrounded by higher levels of dispersed retention (as compared to patches retained within clearcuts). Overall, the combined use of both aggregated and dispersed retention within a given cutblock benefits both late- and early-seral plant species and thus could effectively conserve understory plant assemblages in harvested landscapes. Sustainable forest management should therefore consider using a range of retention patch sizes combined with varying levels of surrounding dispersed retention in harvest designs to achieve objectives for plant conservation.

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Section: Management Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining aggregated and dispersed tree retention harvesting for conservation of vascular plant communities

Franklin

Macdonald

Nielsen

2018

Ecological Applications

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“…Thus, the success of partial harvesting, in terms of stand yield, is closely linked to the survival and growth of residual trees and the recruitment of new stems into the merchantable tree class as additional losses through mortality can affect post-harvesting timber production at the subsequent harvest. However, few studies have attempted to identify the pre-harvest stand characteristics (density, structure, and composition immediately after harvesting) that could modulate these effects, especially in previously unmanaged forests [25,[32][33][34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Success Factors for Experimental Partial Harvesting in Unmanaged Boreal Forest: 10-Year Stand Yield Results

Moussaoui

Leduc

Girona

et al. 2020

Forests

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Over the past two decades, partial harvesting has been increasingly used in boreal forests as an alternative to clearcutting to promote irregular stand structures and maintain a balance between biodiversity preservation and continued timber production. However, relatively little is still known about the silvicultural potential of partial harvesting in Canada’s boreal forest, especially in areas prone to organic matter accumulation (paludification), and most prior research has focused on biodiversity responses. In this study, we assess the effects of partial harvesting on stand development (recruitment, growth, and mortality) ten years after harvesting in previously unmanaged black spruce stands and quantify its effectiveness in reducing the impacts on ecosystem structures. Our analyses revealed that pre-harvest stand structure and site characteristics, especially initial basal area, sapling density, tree diameter, and organic layer thickness (OLT) were major factors involved in stand development ten years following these partial harvesting treatments. Depending on pre-harvest structure and site characteristics, partial harvesting can result in either an increase in post-harvest tree recruitment and growth or a loss of stand volume because of standing tree mortality. To increase the chances of partial harvesting success in ensuring an increase in decennial stand yield after harvest in black spruce forest stands, sites prone to paludification (i.e., where OLT >17 cm) should be left unharvested. This study illustrates the importance of taking into account pre-existing structure and site characteristics in the selection of management strategies to maximize the potential of partial harvesting to achieve sustainable forest management in black spruce stands.

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“…With the implementation of ecosystem-based management, forest managers should aim to limit the simplification of the internal structure of forest stands and the loss of certain types of deadwood [73]. To achieve that, researchers highlighted the importance of leaving a greater variety of post-harvest forest remnants in terms of width, composition and structural attributes [3,24]. Similarly, in black spruce forests, Tremblay, Savard and Ibarzabal [35] recommended the protection of 50-ha patches of old irregular forest stands embedded in at least 30% of remnant productive forests within agglomeration of cut blocks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some silvicultural practices, such as partial harvesting [21] or the retention of riverine and remnant linear forests [22,23], maintain deadwood at the landscape scale [24]. However, the artificial supply of snags could also have positive effects on associated wildlife at the stand level [25][26][27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the Effect of Snag and Cavity Supply on Deadwood-Associated Species in a Managed Boreal Forest

Dufour-Pelletier

Tremblay

Hébert

et al. 2020

Forests

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Standing deadwood is an important attribute of old-growth boreal forests and it provides essential microhabitats for deadwood-associated species. In managed boreal forests, short rotations tend to limit the amount and diversity of standing deadwood. This study evaluates if the anthropogenic supply of deadwood attributes through tree girdling or by providing nest boxes may favor deadwood-associated species. We studied the short-term response of saproxylic beetles, foraging woodpeckers, and secondary cavity users to snag and cavity supply in 50 to 70-year-old black spruce stands. In spring 2015, we girdled 8000 black spruce according to two spatial distributions (uniform and clustered), and we also installed 450 nest boxes of six different sizes at three distances from the forest edge. Using trunk window traps, we captured significantly more beetles in sites with girdled trees than in control sites in both 2015 and 2016. We also recorded a trend of a greater abundance of beetles in clusters of girdled trees than within uniformly distributed girdled trees. Trypodendron lineatum (Oliver) dominated beetle assemblages, representing 88.5% of all species in 2015 and 74.6% in 2016. The number of beetles captured was 7× higher in 2015 than in 2016. In contrast, we observed greater amounts of woodpecker foraging marks in fall 2016 than in either fall 2015 or spring 2016. Woodpeckers foraged significantly more in clusters of girdled trees than within uniformly distributed girdled trees. Woodpeckers' foraging mark presence was positively associated with the proportion of recent cuts at 1 km around the study sites. Five Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus Forster) pairs used nest boxes and occupied smaller box sizes that were located away from the forest edge. Our study showed that structural enrichment can be effective in rapidly attracting deadwood-associated species within managed forest stands.

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Can Retention Harvest Maintain Natural Structural Complexity? A Comparison of Post-Harvest and Post-Fire Residual Patches in Boreal Forest

Cited by 20 publications

References 60 publications

Combining aggregated and dispersed tree retention harvesting for conservation of vascular plant communities

Combining aggregated and dispersed tree retention harvesting for conservation of vascular plant communities

Success Factors for Experimental Partial Harvesting in Unmanaged Boreal Forest: 10-Year Stand Yield Results

Testing the Effect of Snag and Cavity Supply on Deadwood-Associated Species in a Managed Boreal Forest

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