Emulating natural disturbance regimes as a basis for forest management: A North American view

Long, James N.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2008.12.019

Cited by 164 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 52 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

106

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Grazing and mowing are used in the restoration and maintenance of native vegetation: examples include chalk grassland (Bobbink and Willems 1993) and tidal marshes in the Netherlands (Bakker 1978), coastal dune grasslands in Wales (Hewett 1985), tall grass prairie in Kansas (Collins et al 1998), and native California grasslands (Menke 1992). Similarly, conservation-oriented forest management emphasizes interventions that seek to replicate natural disturbance processes and outcomes (see for example, Kuuluvainen 2009, Long 2009, Perera and Cui 2010. Such interventions appear distinct from those required under rapid climate change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disturbance and distributions: avoiding exclusion in a warming world

Sheil¹

2016

E&S

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. I highlight how disturbance determines species distributions and the implications for conservation practice. In particular, I describe opportunities to mitigate some of the threats to species resulting from climate change. Ecological theory shows that disturbance processes can often slow or prevent the exclusion of species by competitors and that different disturbance regimes result in different realized niches. There is much evidence of disturbance influencing where species occur. For example, disturbance can lower the high elevation treeline, thus expanding the area for high elevation vegetation that cannot otherwise persist under tree cover. The role of disturbance in influencing interspecific competition and resulting species persistence and distributions appears unjustly neglected. I identify various implications, including opportunities to achieve in situ conservation by expanding plant species ranges and reducing species vulnerability to competitive exclusion. Suitable frequencies, scales, intensities, spatial configurations, and timings of the right forms of disturbance can improve the persistence of targeted species in a wide range of contexts. Such options could reduce the extinctions likely to be associated with climate change. More generally, these mechanisms and the resulting realizable niche also offer novel insights to understanding and manipulating species distributions.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disturbance and distributions: avoiding exclusion in a warming world

Sheil¹

2016

E&S

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Further studies documenting natural disturbance regimes and associated stand structures and dynamics of late successional stages are much needed to refine silvicultural systems meant to develop and maintain old-growth characteristics (Long, 2009). For this reason, it is crucial to develop a network of forest reserves in previously managed forests that have been withdrawn from regular management, in order for natural processes to be allowed 803p7 Ann.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stand and coarse woody debris dynamics in subalpine Norway spruce forests withdrawn from regular management

et al. 2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract• We studied structural characteristics, amount and quality of coarse woody debris (CWD), intensity of competition and mortality in two subalpine Norway spruce stands withdrawn from regular management. The stands, that we measured twice (in 1993 and 2005), have similar age and structure, but a different time has elapsed since the last silvicultural treatments (respectively 22 and about 55 y).• The main purposes were to analyze the current stage of development as compared to the old-growth one and to highlight the legacies of past management.• Although relatively old, the first plot (Valbona 1) was at the end of the pole stage. CWD was low in volume and was mainly of man-made origin (stumps). A recent thinning from below has reduced density-dependent competition and delayed the development of old-growth characteristics. The second plot (Valbona 2a) was at the beginning of the transition stage, with density-dependent and allogenic mortality both active at the same time. CWD volume was higher in plot Valbona 2a than in Valbona 1, but neither was comparable yet to the reference old-growth sites from Central Europe, both in quantity and in quality (e.g., decay rate continuity).• The effects of the past management were: (1) reducing the quality and quantity of the CWD, (2) alleviating competition, (3) increasing resistance to minor disturbances and, as a consequence, (4) delaying the development processes.• In mature or overmature subalpine Norway spruce stands withdrawn from regular management many decades are necessary to develop old-growth characteristics and a longer period of time is necessary to reach a true old-growth stage.

show abstract

“…Timber harvest is one of the most effective ways to create ESHs in managed forest ecosystems [6], serving to enhance connectivity among disturbed sites and altering the abundance of early successional species at the stand level and the relative abundance of open, edge, and closed forest vegetation at the landscape level [23][24][25].…”

Section: Early Successional Habitat and Silviculturementioning

confidence: 99%

An Incremental Economic Analysis of Establishing Early Successional Habitat for Biodiversity

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Early successional habitat (ESH) is an important component of natural landscapes and is crucial to maintaining biodiversity. ESH also impacts endangered species. The extent of forest disturbances resulting in ESH has been diminishing, and foresters have developed timber management regimes using standard silvicultural techniques that enhance ESH. We developed a financial framework to evaluate these ESH-enhancing forest management regimes, driven by differences in timber harvest costs and timber revenue. The economic model was applied to on-the-ground prescriptions in the Nantahala National Forest (NNF) designed to increase biodiversity and foster improved public awareness of the importance of ESH. Bats, a current conservation concern, commonly exploit ESH and were the focus of our prescriptions. The prescriptions were based on shelterwood cuts of varying patch size, spacing between the cuts, and the trail area required to move from patch to patch. The results showed that prescriptions with large patch areas were effective in increasing ESH, with minimal impact on the financial performance of timber harvesting operations. This information can be used to minimize financial losses while catering to wildlife species that prefer ESH, in addition to increasing overall biodiversity.

show abstract

Emulating natural disturbance regimes as a basis for forest management: A North American view

Cited by 164 publications

References 52 publications

Disturbance and distributions: avoiding exclusion in a warming world

Disturbance and distributions: avoiding exclusion in a warming world

Stand and coarse woody debris dynamics in subalpine Norway spruce forests withdrawn from regular management

An Incremental Economic Analysis of Establishing Early Successional Habitat for Biodiversity

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About