Impact of a major ice storm on an old-growth hardwood forest

Hooper, Michael; Arii, Ken; Lechowicz, Martin J.

doi:10.1139/b00-148

Cited by 43 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The storm affected nearly 11 million acres in Maine that included BBWM, and it was estimated that average crown loss due to branch breakage was 22% in the region of this study from the storm (Miller-Weeks and Eager 1999). In nearby Quebec, Hooper et al (2001) found that the ice storm resulted in litterfall 10-20 times greater than that normally recorded for deciduous temperate forests on an annual basis. Forest damage from the ice storm in 1998 was not quantified at BBWM, but field observations suggested some canopy damage, with slightly more on EB than WB.…”

Section: Differences In Bbwm Soil Chemistry Between 1998 and 2006mentioning

confidence: 74%

Soil chemical and physical properties at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, USA

SanClements

Fernandez

Norton

2010

Environ Monit Assess

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Acidic deposition leads to the acidification of waters and accelerated leaching and depletion of soil base cations. The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine has used whole-watershed chemical manipulations to study the effects of elevated N and S on forest ecosystem function on a decadal time scale. The objectives of this study were to define the chemical and physical characteristics of soils in both the reference and treated watersheds after 17 years of treatment and assess evidence of change in soil chemistry by comparing soil studies in 1998 and 2006. Results from 1998 confirmed depletion of soil base cation pools and decreased pH due to elevated N and S within the treated watershed. However, between 1998 and 2006, during a period of declining SO4(2-) deposition and continued whole-watershed experimental acidification on the treated watershed, there was little evidence of continued soil exchangeable base cation concentration depletion or recovery. The addition of a pulse of litterfall and accelerating mineralization from a severe ice storm in 1998 may have had significant effects on forest floor nutrient pools and cycling between 1998 and 2006. Our findings suggest that mineralization of additional litter inputs from the ice storm may have obscured temporal trends in soil chemistry. The physical data presented also demonstrate the importance of coarse fragments in the architecture of these soils. This study underscores the importance of long-term, quantitative soil monitoring in determining the trajectories of change in forest soils and ecosystem processes over time.

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Section: Differences In Bbwm Soil Chemistry Between 1998 and 2006mentioning

confidence: 74%

Soil chemical and physical properties at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, USA

SanClements

Fernandez

Norton

2010

Environ Monit Assess

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“…Another important factor that can contribute to rapid gap closure is the way in which ice storms damage trees. Although an ice storm with a magnitude of the 1998 storm may occasionally remove an entire crown (Duguay et al 2001), most gaps arise from loss of branches <10 cm in diameter (Melancon and Lechowicz 1987;Seischab et al 1993;Hooper 1999). Thus, gaps created by ice storms may be relatively small compared with single treefall gaps and can be occupied readily by the lateral extension of intact branches.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in understory light regime in a beech–maple forest after a severe ice storm

Arii

Lechowicz

2007

Can. J. For. Res.

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We assessed canopy openness (%) in an old-growth beech-maple forest immediately before and in the 3 years following a severe ice storm. We estimated canopy openness using hemispherical photographs taken at a height of 0.6 m above the soil surface in 101 permanent plots. Mean canopy openness increased from a prestorm value of 7.7% to 16.6% in the summer immediately following the storm. However, the mean canopy openness returned to prestorm levels within 3 years. The changes in canopy openness immediately after the storm were significantly influenced by canopy openness prior to the storm and also by species composition; plots with lower canopy openness prior to the storm and plots that consisted of more shade-tolerant species had greater canopy damage. While canopy gaps are often considered to promote the establishment of shade-intolerant species in the deciduous forests of eastern North America, gaps created by ice storms at our study site may not persist long enough to promote the establishment of these species.Résumé : Nous avons évalué l'ouverture de la canopée (%) dans une vieille forêt d'érable et de hêtre immédiatement avant et durant les trois années qui ont suivi un verglas sévère. Nous avons estimé l'ouverture de la canopée à l'aide de photographies hémisphériques prises à une hauteur de 0,6 m au-dessus de la surface du sol dans 101 places-échantillons permanentes. L'ouverture moyenne de la canopée est passée de 7,7 % avant le verglas à 16,6 % à l'été qui a immédiate-ment suivi le verglas. Cependant, l'ouverture moyenne de la canopée est revenue à son niveau d'avant le verglas en 3 ans. Les changements dans l'ouverture de la canopée ont été significativement influencés par l'ouverture de la canopée avant le verglas et également par la composition en espèces. Les places-échantillons où l'ouverture avant le verglas était plus faible et qui étaient constituées de plus d'espèces tolérantes à l'ombre ont subi plus de dommages à la canopée. Bien que les trouées dans la canopée soient souvent considérées comme étant favorables à l'établissement d'espèces intolérantes à l'ombre dans les forêts feuillues de l'est de l'Amérique du Nord, les trouées créées par le verglas dans le site où a eu lieu notre étude pourraient ne pas persister assez longtemps pour promouvoir l'établissement de ces espèces.[Traduit par la Rédaction]

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“…Hence, frequent and large gaps should promote recruitment of Acer, but this is not always true (Takahashi and Lechowicz 2008). An icestorm that badly damaged the canopy in old-growth AcerFagus forests (Duguay et al 2001;Hooper et al 2001) did not alter the relative dominance of the two species several years after the storm (Takahashi et al 2007;Beaudet et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Codominance of Acer saccharum and Fagus grandifolia: the role of Fagus root sprouts along a slope gradient in an old-growth forest

2010

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We studied how the unusual capacity of mature Fagus grandifolia to form clumps of clonal stems from root sprouts can contribute to its frequent codominance with Acer saccharum in southern Quebec, Canada. In an old-growth forest, the degree of dominance by the two species shifted along topographic gradients spanning a few hundreds of meters, with Fagus more frequent on lower slopes and Acer on upper slopes. The frequency distribution of Fagus stem diameter had an inverse J distribution at all slope positions, which is indicative of continuous recruitment. Acer stem diameter also had an inverse J pattern, except at lower slope positions where size structure was discontinuous. For stems <2 m tall, Fagus regenerated mainly by sprouts at the upper and mid-slopes, while regeneration from seed was more pronounced on the lower slope. This change of regeneration mode affected the spatial pattern of Fagus stems. Understory trees of Fagus were positively correlated with conspecific canopy trees on upper and mid-slopes, but not on lower slopes where Fagus regenerated mainly by seedlings. Understory trees of Acer were positively correlated with conspecific canopy trees only on the mid-slope. There were many Fagus seedlings around Acer canopy trees at the lower slope, suggesting the potential replacement of Acer canopy trees by Fagus. This study suggests that the regeneration traits of the two species changed with slope position and that Fagus patches originating from root sprouts can contribute to the maintenance of Acer-Fagus codominance at the scale of local landscapes.

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Impact of a major ice storm on an old-growth hardwood forest

Cited by 43 publications

References 30 publications

Soil chemical and physical properties at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, USA

Soil chemical and physical properties at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, USA

Changes in understory light regime in a beech–maple forest after a severe ice storm

Codominance of Acer saccharum and Fagus grandifolia: the role of Fagus root sprouts along a slope gradient in an old-growth forest

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