Natural stand structures, disturbance regimes and successional dynamics in the Eurasian boreal forests: a review with special reference to Russian studies

Abstract

Keywords:stand dynamics / forest-forming process / tree age structure / succession / nature-based management Abstract• This review summarizes early stand-scale studies of pristine forest structures, disturbance regimes and successional patterns carried out in boreal Eurasia. We attempt to reveal, characterize and classify stand dynamic types that can be used as templates for nature-based forest management.• The studies reviewed demonstrate multiple successional pathways in stand development in all types of pristine forests. All-aged stands driven by small-scale disturbances are formed over successional development of several hundreds of years. This endogenous development can be interrupted by standreplacing or partial disturbances leading to successions with even-aged or cohort-structured stands, respectively. In Western Europe, the most common disturbances are windthrows, surface fires and fluctuations in moisture regime; in Eastern Europe and Siberia, the most common disturbances are crown and surface fires and insect outbreaks. Type, return interval and severity of disturbances are strongly influenced by the site conditions and successional stage of a stand.• Based on characteristics of forest stands and disturbance regime, four main types of pristine boreal forest stand dynamics can be distinguished: (1) even-aged, compositional change dynamics, (2) evenaged, mono-dominant dynamics, (3) cohort dynamics and (4) fine-scale gap dynamics. These types can be mimicked in developing scenarios of ecological sustainable forest management in Eurasian boreal forests. Mots-clés :dynamiques forestières / succession forestière / structure d'âge / sylvigénèse / gestion durable Résumé -Structure des peuplements, régimes de perturbation et dynamiques de succession dans les forêts boréales eurasiennes : une revue basée sur des travaux russes.• Cette revue bibliographique résume les résultats de nombreuses études anciennes sur la structure des peuplements forestiers, sur les régimes de perturbation et sur les dynamiques de succession en forêt boréale eurasienne. Une typologie des modes de succession est proposée pour servir de cadre à une gestion forestière proche de la nature.• Les études analysées montrent l'existence de multiples modes de succession et de développe-ment des peuplements dans tous les types de forêts vierges analysées. Des peuplements mélangés comportant des arbres de tous âges se développent en réponse à des perturbations locales avec des dynamiques de plusieurs siècles. Ce développement endogène peut être interrompu par des renouvellements massifs ou des perturbations partielles qui conduisent à des successions basées sur des peuplements équiennes ou structurés en cohortes, respectivement. En Europe occidentale, les perturbations les plus fréquentes sont les chablis, les incendies de surface et des fluctuations des régimes hydriques ; en Europe oriental et en Sibérie, ce sont les incendies de surface et de canopée, et les attaques massives par des insectes.• En se basant sur les caractéristiques des peuplem...

Neighbor identity and competition influence tree growth in Scots pine, Siberian larch, and silver birch

“…are native to the boreal forest zone of Europe and Russia, where they often belong to the major vegetation types (Shorohova et al, 2009). They form a species group for which information on mutual interactions is likely to benefit management decisions, since they have wide economic use and are species whose relative distributions are expected to change under conditions of changing * Corresponding author: pekka.j.kaitaniemi@helsinki.fi climate (Tchebakova et al, 2003).…”

Surviving the Winter in Northern Forests: An Experimental Study of Fuelwood Consumption and Living Space in a Sami Tent Hut

“…Before the introduction of modern forestry, trees generally died of natural causes, for example forest fires with intervals from 30-100 years (Zackrisson, 1977;Niklasson and Granström, 2000) up to 300 years (Carcaillet et al, 2007;Wallenius et al, 2010). Trees would also die due to old age, pathogen attacks, and windthrow, which occurred at irregular intervals, resulting in varying distributions of downed trees over various spatial scales (Gromtsev, 2002;Shorohova et al, 2009). According to detailed field surveys of tree mortality in old pine-dominated forests in northeast Finland by Ilvessalo (1967), dead pine wood is generally formed at rates ranging from 1.4 to 1.8 m 3 ha ‫1מ‬ yr ‫1מ‬ .…”

Monitoring of post-fire forest recovery under different restoration modes based on time series Landsat data

“…Forest fire is a widespread and common disturbance factor, especially in boreal forests [Asselin et al, 2001;Forkel et al, 2012]. It is a complex regime, which organizes the physical and biological attributes of a boreal biome, as well as influences the flow of energy and biogeochemical cycles, with significant implications for both carbon cycle and forest health [Díaz-Delgado and Pons, 2001;Shorohova et al, 2009;Wotton et al, 2010;Chen et al, 2011;Mari et al, 2012;Marzano et al, 2013]. Serious fires will bring great damage to not only the trees, but the whole forest ecosystem.…”