Shifts in forest composition in the eastern United States

Knott, Jonathan; Desprez, Johanna M.; Oswalt, Christopher M.; Fei, Songlin

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2018.10.061

Cited by 53 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…S2 for the spatial patterns of the predictor variables). We also tested the effects of genus-level tree dominance changes in 10 most abundant tree genera ( 56 ) in the studied plots on the AM tree dominance change using the same mixed-effects model structure described above. The AM tree genera included Acer , Fraxinus , Prunus , Nyssa , and Ulmus , and the EM tree genera included Quercus , Pinus , Carya , Betula , and Populus .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifts in dominant tree mycorrhizal associations in response to anthropogenic impacts

et al. 2019

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Plant-fungal symbioses play critical roles in vegetation dynamics and nutrient cycling, modulating the impacts of global changes on ecosystem functioning. Here, we used forest inventory data consisting of more than 3 million trees to develop a spatially resolved “mycorrhizal tree map” of the contiguous United States. We show that abundances of the two dominant mycorrhizal tree groups—arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal trees—are associated primarily with climate. Further, we show that anthropogenic influences, primarily nitrogen (N) deposition and fire suppression, in concert with climate change, have increased AM tree dominance during the past three decades in the eastern United States. Given that most AM-dominated forests in this region are underlain by soils with high N availability, our results suggest that the increasing abundance of AM trees has the potential to induce nutrient acceleration, with critical consequences for forest productivity, ecosystem carbon and nutrient retention, and feedbacks to climate change.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifts in dominant tree mycorrhizal associations in response to anthropogenic impacts

et al. 2019

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“…), and elms (Ulmus spp.) [1][2][3]. This shift may be caused by "mesophication" a hypothesized feedback loop by which systematic exclusion of the natural fire regime has allowed fire-sensitive, and often shade-tolerant, species (aka "mesophytes") to establish and create cooler, moister, and darker understory conditions that are unfavorable for oak regeneration and survival [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial and Temporal Variability of Throughfall among Oak and Co-Occurring Non-Oak Tree Species in an Upland Hardwood Forest

2019

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Canopy throughfall comprises the largest portion of net precipitation that is delivered to the forest floor. This water flux is highly variable across space and time and is influenced by species composition, canopy foliage, stand structure, and storm meteorological characteristics. In upland forests throughout the central hardwoods region of the Eastern United States, a compositional shift is occurring from oak-hickory to more mesic, shade-tolerant species such as red maple, sweetgum, and winged elm. To better understand the impacts of this shift on throughfall flux and the hydrologic budget, we monitored throughfall for one year in Northern Mississippi under the crowns of midstory and overstory oak (post oak and southern red oak) and non-oak species (hickory, red maple, and winged elm). In general, oak had more throughfall than co-occurring non-oak species in both canopy levels. In the overstory during the leaf-off canopy phase, white oak had relatively higher throughfall partitioning (standardized z-score = 0.54) compared to all other species (z-score = −0.02) (p = 0.004), while in the leaf-on canopy phase, red maple had relatively lower throughfall (z-score = −0.36) partitioning compared to all other species (z-score = 0.11). In the midstory, red maple was the only species to exhibit a difference in throughfall between canopy phases, with much lower throughfall in the leaf-off compared to the leaf-on canopy phase (z-score = −0.30 vs. 0.202, p = 0.039). Additionally, throughfall under oak crowns was less variable than under non-oak crowns. These results provide evidence that the spatial and temporal distribution of throughfall inputs under oak crowns are different than non-oak species, likely due to differences in crown architecture (i.e., depth and density). As oak dominance diminishes in these forests, it is possible that the portion of rainfall diverted to throughfall may decrease as well. The net impacts to watershed hydrology are still unknown, but these results provide one mechanism by which the distribution of water resources may be affected.

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“…Of these, more than half (12) focus on ecological prediction in a climate change context, three on biological invasions, and a single study each on the consequences of habitat degradation and exploitation. Five studies used traits to predict the outcomes of multiple global change drivers (two marine [Jacob et al 2011, Eklof et al 2015; three terrestrial [Cardillo et al 2004;Dury et al 2018;Knott et al 2019]).…”

Section: Traits-based Global Change Predictionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trait-based approaches to global change ecology: from description to prediction

Green¹,

Hardy²,

Crowder³

2020

Preprint

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As global change forces species' ranges and abundances into novel configurations, traits-based approaches could allow predictions of community re-assembly. We present a quantitative review of traits-based research globally to (1) evaluate the extent to which this approach has been applied, and (2) evaluate moving from description and to prediction. We highlight the application of traits-based frameworks to describe ecological patterns; terrestrial plant morphology comprises >30% of the literature alone. But fewer than 3% of studies predict ecological effects of global change, mostly in the past five years. While organism size is the most common trait, we identified 2,430 other morphological, physiological, behavioural, and life history traits that mediate environmental filters of species' ranges across ecosystems and taxonomy. Global change studies forecast range shifts from a few physiological or life history traits. Though uncommon, spatially-explicit models constructed from correlated multivariate trait assemblages (or 'syndromes') offer the best chance of predicting shifts under global change scenarios. Moving the field towards trait-based prediction requires (1) matching the scale of trait measurement to the ecological processes, (2) increasing the resolution of environmental gradients along which traits are measured, (3) moving from single to multivariate traits, and (4) accounting for intraspecific trait variation.

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Shifts in forest composition in the eastern United States

Cited by 53 publications

References 41 publications

Shifts in dominant tree mycorrhizal associations in response to anthropogenic impacts

Shifts in dominant tree mycorrhizal associations in response to anthropogenic impacts

Spatial and Temporal Variability of Throughfall among Oak and Co-Occurring Non-Oak Tree Species in an Upland Hardwood Forest

Trait-based approaches to global change ecology: from description to prediction

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