Plant community responses to mechanical site preparation in northern interior British Columbia

Haeussler, Sybille; Bedford, Lorne; Boateng, Jacob O.; Mackinnon, A. J.

doi:10.1139/cjfr-29-7-1084

Cited by 28 publications

(67 citation statements)

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“…We suppose therefore that repetitive disturbances may be the main factor which results in the change in the understory plant community. Plantation management studies have shown that shrub and herbaceous species were more resistant and recover more easily than tall-tree species (Swindel et al 1986;Haeussler et al 1999;Archibold et al 2000;Battles et al 2001). The current study and previous research (Kanowski et al 2003;Wardell-Johnson et al 2005) showed that plantation management affects change in functional type composition, and tall-tree species seemed to be reduced by short-rotation plantation management.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

The changes of understory plant diversity in continuous cropping system of Eucalyptus plantations, South China

Yan

Fang

et al. 2010

Journal of Forest Research

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The assessment of biodiversity in managed plantations has become an important issue for long-term sustainability of the ecosystem. The continuous cropping system (CCS) is common practice in Eucalyptus plantations in southern China. In order to clarify the effects of such a practice on species compositions, species diversity, and functional type compositions of understory vegetation, a field trial was installed in the first and second rotations of Eucalyptus plantations. The treatments were replicated three times and arranged in a simple completely randomized design. Vegetation surveys were performed in 1998-2005 following the treatments. Although the CCS had no significant effect on the composition structures in terms of life-form, growth-form, seed dispersal strategies and breeding strategies, there were significant differences in percent coverages of shrub (SLC) and herbaceous layer (HLC) between two types of stand. The CCS reduced the species richness and species diversity remarkably, and was also particularly favorable for r-strategy herbaceous species at the expense of k-strategy woody species in understory vegetation. The repeated disturbances to soil and vegetation including clear-cutting followed by prescribed burning and mechanical plowing maybe the main factor which results in the negative change of understory plant diversity. Although more comprehensive studies on disturbance and a long-term monitoring of a broad-scale project will be required, we suggest that alternative silviculture, consisting of practices other than clear-cutting and prescribed burning, should be introduced to conserve species composition and diversity of Eucalyptus plantations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

The changes of understory plant diversity in continuous cropping system of Eucalyptus plantations, South China

Yan

Fang

et al. 2010

Journal of Forest Research

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“…Clearcut harvesting appeared to benefit these species through the disturbance of overstorey canopy structure, supporting our initial hypothesis. As would be expected and previously reported, the exotic species, T. officinale and Trifolium spp., responded favorably to clearcutting and mechanical disturbance (Haeussler et al, 1999;Roberts and Zhu, 2002). Unlike these exotics, however, V. cespitosum, V. membranaceum, and V. vitis-idaea were all more likely to occur in upland forests, suggesting that clearcut harvesting was negatively impacting their occurrence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grizzly bears and forestry

Nielsen

Munro²,

Bainbridge

et al. 2004

Forest Ecology and Management

141

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“…On the other hand, exposure of bare mineral soil provides a good seedbed, and the heterogeneity in micro-habitats created promotes the establishment of a wider range of species (Haeussler et al 1999;Bock and Van Rees 2002). In addition, the burial of logging residues accelerates revegetation and facilitates seeds reaching the ground (Fahey et al 1991;Karlsson et al 2002).…”

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confidence: 99%

Development of ground vegetation biomass and nutrient pools in a clear-cut disc-plowed boreal forest

Palviainen

Finér²,

Laurén³

et al. 2007

Plant Soil

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Nutrient leaching from forest substrate after clear-cutting and subsequent soil preparation is strongly influenced by the capacity of ground vegetation to sequester the released nutrients. We studied the rates and patterns of biomass and nutrient accumulation in ground vegetation growing on ridges, in furrows and on undisturbed surfaces for 2-5 years after disc-plowing in eastern Finland. The biomass of mosses on ridges remained significantly lower than that in furrows and on undisturbed surfaces. Field layer biomass on ridges and in furrows was significantly lower than on undisturbed surfaces throughout the study period. Field layer biomass increased more on ridges than in furrows. Root biomass on ridges and undisturbed surfaces was considerably higher than in furrows. Five years after disc-plowing, total biomass and nutrient pools for ridges (biomass 4,975 kg ha −1 , N 40 kg ha −1 , P 5 kg ha −1 , K 20 kg ha −1 and Ca 18 kg ha −1 ) and undisturbed surfaces (biomass 5,613 kg ha −1 , N 43 kg ha −1 , P 5 kg ha −1 , K 22 kg ha −1 and Ca 18 kg ha −1 ) were similar, but considerably lower for furrows (biomass 1,807 kg ha −1 , N 16 kg ha −1 , P 2 kg ha −1 , K 10 kg ha −1 and Ca 6 kg ha −1 ). Ridges covered 25% of the area, furrows 30 and 45% was undisturbed surfaces. Taking into account the proportion of each type of surface, values for the whole prepared clearcut area were 4,312, 34, 4, 18 and 14 kg ha −1 for biomass, N, P, K and Ca, respectively. Biomass and nutrient pools had not returned to uncut forest levels at the end of the 5-year study period. The results indicate that mosses and field layer vegetation respond differently to soil preparation, that the development of biomass on ridges, in furrows and on undisturbed surfaces proceeds at different rates, and that the biomass and nutrient uptake of ground vegetation remains below pre-site preparation levels for several years. However, ridges, which are known to be the most susceptible to leaching, revegetate rapidly.

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Plant community responses to mechanical site preparation in northern interior British Columbia

Cited by 28 publications

References 0 publications

The changes of understory plant diversity in continuous cropping system of Eucalyptus plantations, South China

The changes of understory plant diversity in continuous cropping system of Eucalyptus plantations, South China

Grizzly bears and forestry

Development of ground vegetation biomass and nutrient pools in a clear-cut disc-plowed boreal forest

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