Impacts of Mastication: Soil Seed Bank Responses to a Forest Thinning Treatment in Three Colorado (USA) Conifer  Forest Types

Faist, Akasha M.; Stone, Heather B.; Tripp, Erin A.

doi:10.3390/f6093060

Cited by 15 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Overall, the percentage of germinated seeds represented by tree species in the seed banks was low (only 5.7%) and was much lower than the percentage represented by herbs and shrubs. In addition to representing only a small percentage of the total seed bank density, tree species represented only a small percentage of the total seed bank species richness, a finding that is consistent with previous reports for forest soil seed banks [52,53]. This result might be explained by the small number of large seeds typically produced by trees species and by the large number of small seeds typically produced by shrubs and herbs [54].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Influence of Simulated Nitrogen Deposition on the Soil Seed Bank of a Subtropical Evergreen Broadleaved Forest

Wang

Huang

Guo

et al. 2021

Forests

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Increased nitrogen (N) deposition may have profound effects on forest ecosystems. However, information on the impacts of elevated N deposition on belowground soil seed bank in forests is lacking. In a field experiment, we added N at 50 and 25 kg N ha−1 year−1 to the canopy (CAN50 and CAN25) and to the understory (UAN50 and UAN25), to determine the effects of N deposition on soil seed bank structure and composition in a subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest. A total of 1545 seedlings belonging to 37 species emerged from the 10 cm-depth soil samples. After 6 years of N addition, soil seed bank density significantly increased at the depth of 0–10 cm under CAN50 treatment relative to the control. N addition did not significantly affect species richness, the Simpson index, Shannon–Wiener index, or Pielou index of the soil seed banks. Seed bank density and species richness were positively correlated with soil organic matter content. For the whole 0–10 cm soil layer, the percentage of total seed abundance and total species richness represented by tree species among the N-addition treatments was ≤9.3% and ≤16.1%, respectively. Soil seed bank composition was similar among UAN25, UAN50, and the control, but canopy N addition and especially CAN50 altered the species composition of the seed bank. Overall, our results indicate that artificial canopy N deposition at 50 kg N ha−1 year−1 but not understory N addition tends to promote seed storage and to change species composition in the soil seed bank. Because of the dominance of shrubs and herbs in the soil seed bank, the potential to regenerate tree species from the soil seed bank is limited in the subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Influence of Simulated Nitrogen Deposition on the Soil Seed Bank of a Subtropical Evergreen Broadleaved Forest

Wang

Huang

Guo

et al. 2021

Forests

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“…While this mechanism explains the robust changes associated with chaining in understory vegetation, including the only significant positive change in sagebrush (i.e., at mountain big sagebrush sites), it had a similar effect on annual grasses, particularly at black and mountain big sagebrush sites [ 79 , 182 , 183 , 184 ]. Mastication is also known to promote annual grass establishment, more so than perennial grasses ([ 98 , 132 , 141 , 185 , 186 , 187 ], but see [ 188 ]) because the production and distribution of mulch favors annual grass growth by reducing soil temperature, increasing soil moisture, and elevating inorganic nitrogen supply to plants [ 39 , 73 , 132 , 189 , 190 ]. These results indicate that annual grasses will likely proliferate in the short-term even when perennial grasses increase following P–J reduction [ 116 , 142 , 187 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mastication is also unique compared to the other treatments due to its production and dispersal of mulched residue that reduces bare ground, erosion and runoff [ 136 , 137 , 138 , 139 , 140 ], increases water infiltration rates, and reduces sediment yields relative to areas lacking the masticated residue [ 137 ]. Studies also indicate that this residue can potentially reduce seedling emergence of seeded species [ 132 , 141 ] and the tracked vehicles used to apply this treatment can decrease soil aggregate stability [ 137 , 142 ]. In contrast to chaining and mastication, cutting maintains understory shrub and herbaceous cover with minimal ground disturbance [ 91 , 102 , 124 , 139 ] and is most appropriate for sites with low tree density that do not require seeding [ 67 , 69 , 139 , 143 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understory Vegetation Change Following Woodland Reduction Varies by Plant Community Type and Seeding Status: A Region-Wide Assessment of Ecological Benefits and Risks

Monaco

Gunnell²

2020

Plants

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Woodland encroachment is a global issue linked to diminished ecosystem services, prompting the need for restoration efforts. However, restoration outcomes can be highly variable, making it difficult to interpret the ecological benefits and risks associated with woodland-reduction treatments within semiarid ecosystems. We addressed this uncertainty by assessing the magnitude and direction of vegetation change over a 15-year period at 129 sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) sites following pinyon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) (P–J) reduction. Pretreatment vegetation indicated strong negative relationships between P–J cover and the abundance of understory plants (i.e., perennial grass and sagebrush cover) in most situations and all three components differed significantly among planned treatment types. Thus, to avoid confounding pretreatment vegetation and treatment type, we quantified overall treatment effects and tested whether distinct response patterns would be present among three dominant plant community types that vary in edaphic properties and occur within distinct temperature/precipitation regimes using meta-analysis (effect size = lnRR = ln[posttreatment cover/pretreatment cover]). We also quantified how restoration seedings contributed to overall changes in key understory vegetation components. Meta-analyses indicated that while P–J reduction caused significant positive overall effects on all shrub and herbaceous components (including invasive cheatgrass [Bromus tectorum] and exotic annual forbs), responses were contingent on treatment- and plant community-type combinations. Restoration seedings also had strong positive effects on understory vegetation by augmenting changes in perennial grass and perennial forb components, which similarly varied by plant community type. Collectively, our results identified specific situations where broad-scale efforts to reverse woodland encroachment substantially met short-term management goals of restoring valuable ecosystem services and where P–J reduction disposed certain plant community types to ecological risks, such as increasing the probability of native species displacement and stimulating an annual grass-fire cycle. Resource managers should carefully weigh these benefits and risks and incorporate additional, appropriate treatments and/or conservation measures for the unique preconditions of a given plant community in order to minimize exotic species responses and/or enhance desirable outcomes.

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“…Aboveground vegetation and seed bank sampling took place between June and October of 2018, with the goal of sampling each desert when most species had emerged from the seed bank but before current year seeds had dropped (Barga & Leger, 2018; Faist et al, 2015; Haight et al, 2019). This targeted approach of “peak biomass” allowed us to meet our objective of comparing aboveground vegetation to the seed bank community across desert types, while accounting for the temporal and phenological variability among deserts.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term relationships between seed bank communities and wildfire across four North American desert sites

2023

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It is well documented that the recovery of dryland plant communities following wildfire can be variable, and that legacies of fire can have long‐lasting effects on aboveground plant communities. However, our understanding of the degree to which dryland soil seed banks, or the viable seeds in situ, are impacted by fire and their subsequent postfire succession remains extremely poor. To address this important knowledge gap, we used a time‐since‐fire approach to investigate soil seed bank community changes approximately 15 and 30 years after wildfire and to determine the influence of microsites (e.g., shrub vs. interspace) on seed bank composition. We assessed soil seed bank metrics across four North American deserts, including two cold desert sites (Colorado Plateau and Great Basin) and two warm desert sites (Chihuahuan and Sonoran). In greenhouse emergence trials, we found that seed bank characteristics diverged between warm and cold desert sites, such that warm desert sites had seed banks dominated by annual plants while our cold desert sites had seed banks with greater proportions of perennial species, regardless of fire history. In cold desert sites, fire significantly altered seed bank species composition even 30 years after fire. Shrub versus interspace microsites had no observed influence on seed bank composition in any desert. However, seed bank species richness was greater under shrubs in both warm deserts. Non‐native species were present in the seed banks of all deserts and some were particularly abundant in the burned sites. Despite the presence of native species in both burned and unburned seed banks, the presence of non‐native species suggests some degree of vulnerability to future disturbances because fire can create amplifying feedback with many non‐native plants. Our results highlight strong differences in fires' relationship with seed banks for warm and cold desert sites and lend insight into how fire relates to the composition and diversity of the seeds that play a fundamental role in future plant communities.

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Impacts of Mastication: Soil Seed Bank Responses to a Forest Thinning Treatment in Three Colorado (USA) Conifer Forest Types

Cited by 15 publications

References 47 publications

Influence of Simulated Nitrogen Deposition on the Soil Seed Bank of a Subtropical Evergreen Broadleaved Forest

Influence of Simulated Nitrogen Deposition on the Soil Seed Bank of a Subtropical Evergreen Broadleaved Forest

Understory Vegetation Change Following Woodland Reduction Varies by Plant Community Type and Seeding Status: A Region-Wide Assessment of Ecological Benefits and Risks

Long‐term relationships between seed bank communities and wildfire across four North American desert sites

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