Influence of harvesting on understory vegetation along a boreal riparian-upland gradient

MacDonald, Rebecca L.; Chen, Han Y. H.; Palik, Brian J.; Prepas, E. E.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2013.10.011

Cited by 26 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…In contrast, MacDonald et al (2014) found that species richness in riparian boreal forests was greatest at the highest level of disturbance (i.e., clearcut with no buffer). However, they also found differences in understory (measured the same as ''ground-layer") vegetation response depending on hillslope position, where Table 3 Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS); Pearson's parametric correlations (R) for the five site variables (DISTANCE = distance from stream; LITE = light transmittance (fractional Qi/Qo); SMC = soil moisture content; TREEBA = tree basal area of stems P 2.5 cm dbh; SHRBDEN = density of stems < 2.5 cm dbh) with the first three ordination axes of ground-layer vegetation in years 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2012.…”

Section: Vegetation Responsesmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…Significant differences are highlighted in bold. (MacDonald et al, 2014). The NMS analyses allowed us to account for variation within and across sites in the ground-layer species composition and associated environmental variables.…”

Section: Vegetation Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies have found that partial overstory removal resulted in ground-layer vegetation responses (Elliott and Knoepp, 2005;D'Souza et al, 2012;Palik et al, 2012;Zenner et al, 2012;MacDonald et al, 2014); while others have found little to no response (Mallik et al, 2013(Mallik et al, , 2014. In a recent meta-analysis, Richardson and Béraud (2014) concluded that the magnitude and direction of responses following riparian forest harvesting were quite variable and that the individual outcomes were partially due to underlying environmental differences among study sites.…”

Section: Vegetation Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, small southern Appalachian streams may not have riparian obligate vegetation communities, or riparian indicator plant species, such as seen in other regions, particularly obligate wetland species or those associated with larger tributaries De Steven et al, 2015). With the increasing emphasis on managing headwater riparian zones (Sanders and McBroom, 2013;MacDonald et al, 2014) and the differences among headwater catchments (Meyer et al, 2007;Hill et al, 2014), setting a standard sized buffer width across geo-physiographic regions becomes problematic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Riparian buffers may also influence vegetation responses in harvested watersheds outside of the buffer area by providing propagules and modifying micro-environmental changes (Dovčiak and Brown, 2014;MacDonald et al, 2014). Therefore, a better understanding of floristic responses to different riparian buffer widths can provide important information for management planning and protection of ecosystem services (Sweeney et al, 2004;Kuglerová et al, 2014;Hill et al, 2014;Sweeney and Newbold, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of riparian zone buffer widths on vegetation diversity in southern Appalachian headwater catchments

Elliott

Vose

2016

Forest Ecology and Management

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a b s t r a c tIn mountainous areas such as the southern Appalachians USA, riparian zones are difficult to define. Vegetation is a commonly used riparian indicator and plays a key role in protecting water resources, but adequate knowledge of floristic responses to riparian disturbances is lacking. Our objective was to quantify changes in stand-level floristic diversity of riparian plant communities before (2004) and two, three, and seven years after shelterwood harvest using highlead cable-yarding and with differing nocut buffer widths of 0 m, 10 m, and 30 m distance from the stream edge. An unharvested reference stand was also studied for comparison. We examined: (1) differences among treatment sites using a mixed linear model with repeated measures; (2) multivariate relationships between ground-layer species composition and environmental variables (soil water content, light transmittance, tree basal area, shrub density, and distance from stream) using nonmetric multidimensional scaling; and (3) changes in species composition over time using a multi-response permutation procedure. We hypothesized that vegetation responses (i.e., changes in density, species composition, and diversity across the hillslope) will be greatest on harvest sites with an intermediate buffer width (10-m buffer) compared to more extreme (0-m buffer) and less extreme (30-m buffer and no-harvest reference) disturbance intensities. Harvesting initially reduced overstory density and basal area by 83% and 65%, respectively, in the 0-m buffer site; reduced by 50% and 74% in the 10-m buffer site; and reduced by 45% and 29% in the 30-m buffer site. Both the 0-m and 10-m buffer sites showed increased incident light variability across the hillslope after harvesting; whereas, there was no change in the 30-m and reference sites over time. We found significant changes in midstory and ground-layer vegetation in response to harvesting with the greatest responses on the 10-m buffer site, supporting our hypotheses that responses will be greatest on sites with intermediate disturbance. Ground-layer species composition differed significantly over time in the 0-m buffer and 10-m buffer sites (both P < 0.0001), but did not change in the 30-m buffer and reference sites (both P > 0.100). Average compositional dissimilarity increased after seven years, indicating greater withinstand heterogeneity (species diversity) after harvesting. These vegetation recovery patterns provide useful information for evaluating management options in riparian zones in the southern Appalachians.Published by Elsevier B.V.

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Section: Vegetation Responsesmentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Vegetation Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Vegetation Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of riparian zone buffer widths on vegetation diversity in southern Appalachian headwater catchments

Elliott

Vose

2016

Forest Ecology and Management

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Response of understory plant species diversity to plant mixture on the Loess Plateau: A case study of Hippophae rhamnoides

Chen,

Ren,

Wei

et al. 2024

Land Degrad Dev

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Afforestation with nature‐based solutions is beneficial for restoring biodiversity. On the Loess Plateau of China, numerous monocultures have been converted to mixed plantations following nature‐based solutions. However, the effect of plant mixture on understory plant species diversity remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated the understory plant species diversity of different Hippophae rhamnoides mixed plantations resulting from nature‐based solutions and assessed the relative importance of associated factors driving their changes. The results showed that the response of understory plant species diversity to plant mixture was nonsignificant, except for Armeniaca sibirica, which significantly reduced the understory plant species diversity. However, mixed plantations had higher variability in plant species diversity and environmental factors among individual plots than monocultures. In mixed plantations, understory plant species diversity was mainly affected by shrub stratum, followed by overstory stratum, soil nutrients, herbaceous stratum, and topography. Specifically, understory plant species diversity was positively associated with stand density and herb biomass but negatively associated with elevation and soil nitrogen. In particular, soil nitrogen also had negative impacts on herb biomass but was beneficial for the growth of trees and shrubs, indicating that trees and shrubs outperformed herbs in exploiting soil nutrients, a consequence of intense interspecific competition. In addition, the impacts of canopy cover and slope aspects on understory plant species diversity were nonsignificant. Overall, in mixed plantations on the Loess Plateau, understory plant species diversity was primarily affected by interspecific competition for preempting soil nitrogen.

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Detecting the imprints of past clear‐cutting on riparian forest plant communities along a Mediterranean river

Angiolini

Simone

Fiaschi

et al. 2023

River Research & Apps

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In riparian forests, clear‐cutting causes long‐lasting changes in both riparian and aquatic biota. In this work, we examined if past clear‐cutting events occurred at different times have imprints on riparian forests in a Mediterranean river in central Italy. We carried out a randomized, plot‐based vegetation survey of riparian forests in systematically sampled 500 m‐long sectors along the whole river, dividing the riparian zone into two internal and two external strips. From historical aerial photos, past clear‐cutting events within plots were detected and classified in age classes: (i) cut in the past 8 years (recent); (ii) cut between 8 and 19 years ago (intermediate); (iii) no signs of clear‐cutting in the last 19 years (distant). We analyzed the responses of vegetation to clear‐cutting and strip position. Alien species richness was higher and woody species richness was lower in recently clear‐cut areas compared to those with a distant clear‐cutting event. Moreover, recently cut woods had more alien and synanthropic species. Intermediate clear‐cut areas had higher levels of invasion by alien species compared to areas with distant cut. Riparian forests of internal strips are impacted by clear‐cutting, but seem to recover in 8–19 years thanks to their natural resilience. Conversely, recent or intermediate clear‐cutting events did not affect any of the investigated vegetation attributes in the external strips since such forests were already invaded by alien and synanthropic species after human disturbance. Our results confirm that clear‐cutting events can have long‐lasting effects on Mediterranean riparian forests, confirming the vulnerability of river ecosystems to clear‐cutting and suggesting the need for more caution in management practices to improve the conservation status of riparian forests.

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Influence of harvesting on understory vegetation along a boreal riparian-upland gradient

Cited by 26 publications

References 48 publications

Effects of riparian zone buffer widths on vegetation diversity in southern Appalachian headwater catchments

Effects of riparian zone buffer widths on vegetation diversity in southern Appalachian headwater catchments

Response of understory plant species diversity to plant mixture on the Loess Plateau: A case study of Hippophae rhamnoides

Detecting the imprints of past clear‐cutting on riparian forest plant communities along a Mediterranean river

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