The Deciduous Forest – Boreal Forest Ecotone

Goldblum, David; Rigg, Lesley S.

doi:10.1111/j.1749-8198.2010.00342.x

Cited by 66 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 143 publications

(294 reference statements)

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“…The upper Great Lakes region in North America contains a broad forest transition zone where temperate and boreal tree species reach their northern and southern limits, respectively (Pastor and Mladenoff 1992;Goldblum and Rigg 2010). Because mixed temperate-boreal forests within this zone include species at or near their temperature and moisture driven range limits, small changes in climate are forecast to have major effects on composition, with tree species shifting their range limits north and east (Iverson and Prasad 1998;Scheller and Mladenoff 2005;Frelich and Reich 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate and interrelated tree regeneration drivers in mixed temperate–boreal forests

Fisichelli

Frelich

2012

Landscape Ecol

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Forest compositional shifts in response to climate change are likely to be initially detectable in the understory tree regeneration layer near species range limits. Because many factors in addition to climate, such as seedbed and soil characteristics, overstory composition, and interactions with other understory biota, drive tree regeneration trends, a thorough understanding of the relative importance of all variables as well as their interrelationships is needed. The range limits of several widespread temperate and boreal tree species overlap in the upper Great Lakes region, USA, thus facilitating an observational study over relatively short regional climate gradients. We used redundancy analysis and variation partitioning to quantify the unique, shared, and total explanatory power of four sets of explanatory variables. The results showed that all four variable sets (climate 9.5 %, understory environment 13.7 %, overstory composition 26.3 %, and understory biota 13.8 %) were significantly associated with tree regeneration compositional variation in mixed temperate-boreal forests. Partitioning also revealed high confounded or shared explanatory power, but also that each set contributed significant unique explanatory power not shared with other sets. Spatial patterning in regeneration composition was strongly related to broad scale environmental patterns, while the large majority of unexplained variation did not have a detectable spatial structure, suggesting factors with local scale variability. Future forest shifts across the landscape will depend not only on the rate and direction of climate change but also on how the strengths and interrelationships among other explanatory variables, such as overstory composition and understory biota, shift with a changing climate.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate and interrelated tree regeneration drivers in mixed temperate–boreal forests

Fisichelli

Frelich

2012

Landscape Ecol

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“…Ecotones around the globe are valuable and vulnerable to the effects of climate change (Smith et al 1997, Goldblum andRigg 2010). The Minnesota landscape is centered closer to the boreal-temperate ecotone while the Michigan landscape is located further into the temperate forest matrix (Albert 1995).…”

Section: Forest Typementioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change effects on northern Great Lake (USA) forests: A case for preserving diversity

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Under business as usual (BAU) management, stresses posed by climate change may exceed the ability of Great Lake forests to adapt. Temperature and precipitation projections in the Great Lakes region are expected to change forest tree species composition and productivity. It is unknown how a change in productivity and/or tree species diversity due to climate change will affect the relationship between diversity and productivity. We assessed how forests in two landscapes (i.e., northern lower Michigan and northeastern Minnesota, USA) would respond to climate change and explored the diversityproductivity relationship under climate change. In addition, we explored how tree species diversity varied across landscapes by soil type, climate, and management. We used a spatially dynamic forest ecosystem model, LANDIS-II, to simulate BAU forest management under three climate scenarios (current climate, low emissions, and high emissions) in each landscape. We found a positive relationship between diversity and productivity only under a high emissions future as productivity declined. Within landscapes, climate change simulations resulted in the highest diversity in the coolest climate regions and lowest diversity in the warmest climate region in Minnesota and Michigan, respectively. Simulated productivity declined in both landscapes under the high emissions climate scenario as species such as balsam fir (Abies balsamea) declined in abundance. In the Great Lakes region, a high emissions future may decrease forest productivity creating a more positive relationship between diversity and productivity. Maintaining a diversity of tree species may become increasingly important to maintain the adaptive capacity of forests.

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“…Within the upper Great Lakes region in North America, temperate and boreal tree species reach their northern and southern range limits, respectively, and can be found growing together over a relatively narrow temperature gradient (Goldblum and Rigg 2010). Th e transition zone is a mosaic of temperate and boreal dominated stands with local ecotones separating these overstory types (Fig.…”

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confidence: 99%

Temperate tree expansion into adjacent boreal forest patches facilitated by warmer temperatures

2013

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Temperate and boreal forests are forecast to change in composition and shift spatially in response to climate change. Local-scale expansions and contractions are most likely observable near species range limits, and as trees are long-lived, initial shifts are likely to be detected in the understory regeneration layers. We examined understory relative abundance patterns of naturally regenerated temperate and boreal tree species in two size classes, seedlings and saplings, and across two spatial scales, local stand-scale ecotones (tens of meters) and the regional temperate -boreal transition zone ( ~ 250 km) in central North America, to explore indications of climate-mediated shifts in regeneration performance. We also tested for the presence of strong environmental gradients across local ecotones that might inhibit species expansion. Results showed that tree regeneration patterns across ecotones varied by species and size class, and varied across the regional summer temperature gradient. Temperate tree species regeneration has established across local ecotones into boreal forest patches and this process was facilitated by warmer temperatures. Conversely, boreal conifer regeneration exhibited negative responses to the regional temperature gradient and only displayed high abundance at the boreal end of local ecotones at cool northern sites. Th e fi ltering eff ects of temperature also increased with individual size for both boreal and temperate understory stems. Observed regeneration patterns and the minor environmental gradients measured across local ecotones failed to support the idea that there were strong barriers to potential temperate tree expansion into boreal forest patches. Detectable responses, consistently in the directions predicted for both temperate and boreal species, indicate that summer temperature is likely an important driver of natural tree regeneration in forests across the temperate -boreal transition zone. Regeneration patterns point toward temperate expansion and reduced but continued boreal presence in the near-future, resulting in local and regional expansions of mixed temperate-boreal forests.

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The Deciduous Forest – Boreal Forest Ecotone

Cited by 66 publications

References 143 publications

Climate and interrelated tree regeneration drivers in mixed temperate–boreal forests

Climate and interrelated tree regeneration drivers in mixed temperate–boreal forests

Climate change effects on northern Great Lake (USA) forests: A case for preserving diversity

Temperate tree expansion into adjacent boreal forest patches facilitated by warmer temperatures

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