Fine-scale patch mosaic of developmental stages in Northeast American secondary temperate forests: the European perspective

Král, Kamil; Shue, Jessica; Vrška, Tomáš; Gonzalez‐Akre, Erika; Parker, Geoffrey G.; McShea, William J.; McMahon, Sean M.

doi:10.1007/s10342-016-0988-1

Cited by 20 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Although a rotated sigmoid diameter distribution has been shown to arise from smoothing with increasing spatial scale (Alessandrini et al., ; Janowiak et al., ) by averaging across disparate sub‐stand‐scale distributions (Zenner et al., ), this background matrix structure was observed in the current study at even the smallest spatial scale and changed little with increasing sampling extent. This finding is consistent with previous work demonstrating that some neighborhood structures (such as those reflected in diameter distributions) are persistent across spatial scale (Král et al., ; Paluch et al., ; Zenner et al., ). However, spatial smoothing was also detected in the reduction in distinction among deviation classes with increasing scale (cf.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Specific structural criteria have been used to identify and delineate forest patches belonging to different development stages and phases by experts in the field (Jaworski, Kołodziej, & Porada, ; Korpeľ, ; Leibundgut, ). More recently, attempts have been made to use objective criteria to permit faster and more easily replicable stage assignments, often based on inventory data (Král, Vrška, Hort, Adam, & Šamonil, ; Král et al., ; Podlaski, ; Zenner, Peck, Hobi, & Commarmot, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it is possible that the potential value of sub‐stand structural heterogeneity for better understanding the ecological processes that transcend development stages has been underappreciated. Evidence exists for structures that are common across scales (Feldmann, Glatthorn, Hauck, & Leuschner, ; Král et al., ; Paluch et al., ; Zenner et al., ), including the existence of a “typical” stand‐level rotated sigmoid diameter distribution in natural temperate forests regardless of precise development phase (e.g., Westphal et al., ). What if small‐scale heterogeneity were not viewed as only an obstacle to distinguishing among development stages, but rather as a signature of a common structure of natural forests that unites all development stages?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, development stage assignment schemes can procure different results depending on the precise structural thresholds applied (Winter & Brambach, 2011;Zenner et al, 2016). Further, schemes that assess structural complexity at small spatial scales often assign a theoretically disproportionate amount of forest to the Plenter phase (Král, Valtera, Janík, Šamonil, & Vrška, 2014;Král et al, 2016), which often fails to fit within the sequential development cycle (e.g., the "steady state" phase of Král et al, 2010 ). In addition, as a scaled phenomenon that can become smoothed with increasing spatial scale in ecosystems subject to small-scale disturbance regimes (Alessandrini, Biondi, Di Filippo, Ziaco, & Piovesan, 2011;Janowiak, Nagel, & Webster, 2008;cf.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Common ground among beech forest development stages: Matrix versus stage‐typical live tree structure

Peck

Zenner

2019

J Vegetation Science

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Questions Doubt has recently been shed on the validity of the European patch mosaic‐forest life cycle model involving the assignment of stages of development to natural forests. To partially explain the inconsistency in development stage assignment, we ask: does the high neighborhood‐scale structural heterogeneity inherent to old‐growth beech forests subject to small‐scale gap dynamics transcend development stages? Location Natural Oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) forests in four regions of the Elborz Mountain range in northern Iran. Methods Natural tree neighborhoods at three different scales (ca. 112, 508, and 1,228 m2) were identified within 1.0 ha plots in each of the three main development stages (Initial, Optimum, Decay) in each region using the spatially explicit Delaunay‐triangulation‐based floating neighborhood approach. The diameter distribution across all neighborhoods in all three stages was summarized using Principal Components Analysis. Neighborhoods exhibiting shared structure among stages were identified as those within one standard deviation of the centroid of the 2D ordination space. Results Shared neighborhoods, which were highly heterogeneous with a weakly rotated sigmoid size class structure, were found to consistently occur in ca. 10%–20% of neighborhoods in all three development stages. Only neighborhoods more than one, and particularly more than two, standard deviations from the centroid differed among development stages in size class structure, with stage‐typical distributions observed in each development stage (i.e., negative exponential in the Initial stage, normal in the Optimum, and bimodal in the Decay). Conclusions Regardless of development stage, forested beech stands subject to a small‐scale disturbance regime share a common core of tree neighborhoods with similar, heterogeneous live tree structure. We conjecture that this structure reflects temporal and spatial variation in gap dynamics, with variously aged but relatively newer gap patches with relatively high within‐patch homogeneity nested within a matrix of the highly heterogeneous neighborhoods that develop in the absence of recent disturbance.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Common ground among beech forest development stages: Matrix versus stage‐typical live tree structure

Peck

Zenner

2019

J Vegetation Science

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“…Looking at our results, the low increase in the number of patches of encrg-SOA compared to encld-SOA, and their relatively unchanged coverage overtime, might be related to the progressive slowdown of forest expansion processes in Italy during the most recent years [65]. Considering the origin of encrg-SOA (usually associated with recent secondary forests; [79]), future active forest management should be considered as a valuable option towards the long-term maintenance of their functionality and stability [80]. Results also suggest that recently formed encld-SOA are mainly represented by residual canopy gaps in the successional phases.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Evaluating the Contribution of Trees outside Forests and Small Open Areas to the Italian Landscape Diversification during the Last Decades

Sallustio

Cristofaro

Hashmi

et al. 2018

Forests

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Land use by humans strongly alters the landscape mosaic, either by reducing or increasing its heterogeneity. One of the most recent and widespread land use changes in Europe has been the spontaneous reforestation of marginal agricultural lands. These primarily affected small landscape patches, such as trees outside forests (TOF) and small open areas (SOA), often represent the most diversifying features of landscape' structures. Nevertheless, only small-scale studies can be found in the literature and thus it remains a relatively unexplored issue. Integrating inventory and cartographic approaches, this work assesses changes in abundance, coverage, and average size of small patches in Italy between 1990 and 2013. Main results showed an overall increase in number and coverage of small patches during the reference period. The average patch size remains unaltered for TOF but decreases significantly for SOA, due to trees encroachment and canopy cover increasing in forests. Our findings confirm the important changes in Mediterranean land mosaics and contribute to a better understanding of current conditions and recent trends regarding TOF and SOA. The integrated approach has proven to be helpful for the large-scale assessment of small patches dynamics, representing a viable monitoring tool to encourage the inclusion of small patches in landscape policy and planning.Forests 2018, 9, 701 2 of 13 within the land mosaic have a strong impact on ecological processes and, in turn, on the functioning of socio-economic and ecological systems [5,6].Recently, humans have driven landscape dynamics much more than natural evolution [7,8]. Since the Industrial Revolution, intensive farming systems and urban land expansion at a global scale have increasingly altered the structures and functions of the existing landscapes at an unprecedented rate [9]. The anthropogenic influence is even more marked in landscapes characterized by higher levels of heterogeneity and built by centuries of human activities and modifications, such as those in the Mediterranean area [10][11][12]. During the last decades, the Mediterranean landscapes have indeed experienced a general decrease of agricultural lands, mainly due to their abandonment, followed by tree encroachment and subsequent woodland expansion [13,14], particularly in mountain and less profitable marginal lands [15][16][17]. Oppositely, the agricultural intensification and the expansion of urban areas, which usually follow a high scattered and fragmented spatial pattern, urban sprawl, and urban sprinkling [18,19], are occurring in lowlands and plains [20][21][22]. These phenomena are strictly interlinked and can alter the sustainability of such systems, especially in the medium-long term [22].Tree encroachment can have both positive and negative implications in terms of ecosystems' functionality and their capacity to provide ecosystem services (e.g., [23][24][25][26][27][28][29]). The risk associated with landscape homogenization [30] is particularly relevant if combined with urban expansion, ...

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Kernfragen, Begriffe und Methoden der funktionellen Biodiversitätsforschung

Härdtle

2024

Biodiversität, Ökosystemfunktionen Und Naturschutz

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Fine-scale patch mosaic of developmental stages in Northeast American secondary temperate forests: the European perspective

Cited by 20 publications

References 47 publications

Common ground among beech forest development stages: Matrix versus stage‐typical live tree structure

Common ground among beech forest development stages: Matrix versus stage‐typical live tree structure

Evaluating the Contribution of Trees outside Forests and Small Open Areas to the Italian Landscape Diversification during the Last Decades

Kernfragen, Begriffe und Methoden der funktionellen Biodiversitätsforschung

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