The importance of buried seeds and vegetative propagation in the development of postfire plant communities

Whittle, C.‐A.; Duchesne, L.C.; Needham, Ted

doi:10.1139/a97-003

Cited by 29 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…A potential source of native plant propagules exists in a thin organic horizon of fresh, intact, identifiable litter (L), fragmented and fermenting litter (F), and humus (H) with small amounts of moss in upland forest (Paré et al 1993). The LFH horizon contains abundant propagules for revegetation after natural disturbances, such as fire and tree throw (Whittle et al 1997), which suggests that salvaging this horizon could provide propagules of upland species tolerant of drier conditions that are not commercially available (Leck et al 1989; Qi & Scarratt 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of the Forest Soil Propagule Bank in Assisted Natural Recovery after Oil Sands Mining

MacKenzie

Naeth

2009

Restoration Ecology

118

123

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This study was undertaken to determine if use of stratified organic layers of intact litter, fragmented litter, and humus on the forest floor (LFH) improves establishment of upland native boreal plant species during oil sands reclamation in Alberta, Canada. The abundance and composition of vascular plant species in the soil propagule bank were determined for LFH and peat materials before salvage from donor sites and 18 months after application on the receiver site. Applications of 10 and 20 cm were evaluated. Various soil properties were assessed to determine impacts of donor materials. In the growth chamber, LFH donor material had significantly more plant species emerge (37) from the propagule bank than did peat donor material (19). In the field, LFH treatments had significantly higher species richness (49, 47, 24, and 25 species for LFH 10 cm, LFH 20 cm, peat 10 cm, and peat 20 cm treatments, respectively), plant abundance, and soil nutrients than peat treatments. Application thickness of peat had little effect, but 20 cm of LFH was more beneficial for plant community establishment than 10 cm. LFH treatments had narrower C:N ratios and higher soluble potassium and available phosphorus than peat. Applying 10 versus 20 cm of donor material increased admixing of finetextured subsoil, reducing organic carbon, nitrogen, and potassium; these effects were greater for LFH than peat treatments. Thus, addition of LFH aids in creating diverse ecosystems on reclaimed upland landscapes by providing a source of propagules for revegetating upland boreal forest communities and improving nutrient availability for plants.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of the Forest Soil Propagule Bank in Assisted Natural Recovery after Oil Sands Mining

MacKenzie

Naeth

2009

Restoration Ecology

118

123

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“…The higher diversity of plant species in the FFMM relative to PMM is an example of lifeboating or banking of species from the pre-disturbance forest to the new forest (Vanha-Majamaa and Jalonen, 2001) through the propagules, including seeds, roots, and rhizomes, stored in the forest floor and upper mineral soil horizons (Whittle et al, 1997). The soils and associated propagules were physically salvaged during mining operations and then directly placed on the new reclamation site.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Islands – Soil Patches and Plant Community Dynamics on a New Oil Sands Reclamation Design

Pinno¹,

Sherr²,

Errington³

et al. 2016

JASMR

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The goal of land reclamation after oil sands mining in the boreal forest of northern Alberta, Canada is to re-establish functioning forest ecosystems, including the development of a natural plant community. Reclamation practices include the use of operational reclamation soils derived from upland forest soils (referred to as forest floor-mineral mix (FFMM)), which has higher plant diversity, and lowland based peat-mineral mix (PMM), which has greater tree regeneration. Building from experience in forest harvesting practices and natural landscape patterns, the "Islands" reclamation concept was put into practice in a new reclamation area established in 2015 with patches or islands of differing sizes and shapes of FFMM placed within a matrix of the more abundant PMM. These islands of FFMM are intended to serve as lifeboats and colonization centres for native biota. Initial studies are focusing on determining the optimal size and spacing of the FFMM patches. Plant species area curves were developed and show that patch sizes of at least 671-960 m 2 are recommended to allow initial establishment of native plant species, and in particular woody species, with smaller patch sizes favouring non-native weedy species. Initial spatial patterns indicate no relationship between plant species richness and distance to FFMM-PMM soil boundary with the rate and distance of spread of native plants from the FFMM patches being an important monitoring consideration in future years. This work on the Islands approach will help in the development of more efficient and effective reclamation practices which take advantage of the ecological differences in available reclamation soils.

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“…Serotinous and semi-serotinous conifer tree species have cones that may open in response to and survive some heating, and retain some viable seeds in the canopy following wildfires. Through this mechanism, serotinous species can produce extensive seed rains from aerial seedbanks immediately following fire [1,5]. Wildfire burn severity has important implications for post-fire understory vegetation communities and recruitment of seedlings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Topoedaphic and Forest Controls on Post-Fire Vegetation Assemblies Are Modified by Fire History and Burn Severity in the Northwestern Canadian Boreal Forest

Whitman

Parisien

Thompson

et al. 2018

Forests

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Wildfires, which constitute the most extensive natural disturbance of the boreal biome, produce a broad range of ecological impacts to vegetation and soils that may influence post-fire vegetation assemblies and seedling recruitment. We inventoried post-fire understory vascular plant communities and tree seedling recruitment in the northwestern Canadian boreal forest and characterized the relative importance of fire effects and fire history, as well as non-fire drivers (i.e., the topoedaphic context and climate), to post-fire vegetation assemblies. Topoedaphic context, pre-fire forest structure and composition, and climate primarily controlled the understory plant communities and shifts in the ranked dominance of tree species (***8% and **13% of variance explained, respectively); however, fire and fire-affected soils were significant secondary drivers of post-fire vegetation. Wildfire had a significant indirect effect on understory vegetation communities through post-fire soil properties (**5%), and fire history and burn severity explained the dominance shifts of tree species (*7%). Fire-related variables were important explanatory variables in classification and regression tree models explaining the dominance shifts of four tree species (R 2 = 0.43-0.65). The dominance of jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) increased following fires, whereas that of black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) declined. The overriding importance of site and climate to post-fire vegetation assemblies may confer some resilience to disturbed forests; however, if projected increases in fire activity in the northwestern boreal forest are borne out, secondary pathways of burn severity, fire frequency, and fire effects on soils are likely to accelerate ongoing climate-driven shifts in species compositions.

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The importance of buried seeds and vegetative propagation in the development of postfire plant communities

Cited by 29 publications

References 57 publications

The Role of the Forest Soil Propagule Bank in Assisted Natural Recovery after Oil Sands Mining

The Role of the Forest Soil Propagule Bank in Assisted Natural Recovery after Oil Sands Mining

Islands – Soil Patches and Plant Community Dynamics on a New Oil Sands Reclamation Design

Topoedaphic and Forest Controls on Post-Fire Vegetation Assemblies Are Modified by Fire History and Burn Severity in the Northwestern Canadian Boreal Forest

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