Utilizing a topographic moisture index to characterize understory vegetation patterns in the boreal forest

Echiverri, Laureen F. I.; Macdonald, S. Ellen

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2019.05.054

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Our results provide information on recovery patterns and the influence of fire and a range of environmental variables on both common boreal plant and lichen species and vegetation community composition in the northwestern boreal forests of North America. They also add support to previous literature describing the influence of fire and moisture on boreal plant community (Day et al, 2020;Echiverri & Macdonald, 2019;Johnstone et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

The influence of postfire recovery and environmental conditions on boreal vegetation

Jorgensen,

Alfaro‐Sánchez,

Cumming

et al. 2023

Ecosphere

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Climate change is increasing the frequency and extent of fires in the boreal biome of North America. These changes can alter the recovery of both canopy and understory vegetation. There is uncertainty about plant and lichen recovery patterns following fire, and how they are mediated by environmental conditions. Here, we aim to address these knowledge gaps by studying patterns of postfire vegetation recovery at the community and individual species level over the first 100+ years following fire. Data from vegetation surveys collected from 581 plots in the Northwest Territories, Canada, ranging from 1 to 275 years postfire, were used to assess the influence of time after fire and local environmental conditions on plant community composition and to model trends in the relative abundance of several common plant and lichen species. Time after fire significantly influenced vegetation community composition and interacted with local environmental conditions, particularly soil moisture. Soil moisture individually (in the absence of interactions) was the most commonly significant variable in plant and lichen recovery models. Patterns of postfire recovery varied greatly among species. Our results provide novel information on plant community recovery after fire and highlight the importance of soil moisture to local vegetation patterns. They will aid northern communities and land managers to anticipate the impacts of increased fire activity on both local vegetation and the wildlife that relies on it.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

The influence of postfire recovery and environmental conditions on boreal vegetation

Jorgensen,

Alfaro‐Sánchez,

Cumming

et al. 2023

Ecosphere

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“…Some studies used TWI as a predictive measure for the presence of wetlands [52]. Others found a negative relationship of TWI with understory vegetation species richness in an Alberta, Canada boreal forest, i.e., drier habitats had greater species richness than wetter ones [53]. Conversely, an assemblage of grassland-inhabiting passerine birds living in the floodplain of the Loire valley, France was positively associated with TWI [54].…”

Section: Relative Importance Of Watershed Variables In Species Richnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plecoptera (Insecta) Diversity in Indiana: A Watershed-Based Analysis

2021

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Plecoptera, an environmentally sensitive order of aquatic insects commonly used in water quality monitoring is experiencing decline across the globe. This study addresses the landscape factors that impact the species richness of stoneflies using the US Geological Survey Hierarchical Unit Code 8 drainage scale (HUC8) in the state of Indiana. Over 6300 specimen records from regional museums, literature, and recent efforts were assigned to HUC8 drainages. A total of 93 species were recorded from the state. The three richest of 38 HUC8s were the Lower East Fork White (66 species), the Blue-Sinking (58), and the Lower White (51) drainages, all concentrated in the southern unglaciated part of the state. Richness was predicted using nine variables, reduced from 116 and subjected to AICc importance and hierarchical partitioning. AICc importance revealed four variables associated with Plecoptera species richness, topographic wetness index, HUC8 area, % soil hydrolgroup C/D, and % historic wetland ecosystem. Hierarchical partitioning indicated topographic wetness index, HUC8 area, and % cherty red clay surface geology as significantly important to predicting species richness. This analysis highlights the importance of hydrology and glacial history in species richness of Plecoptera. The accumulated data are primed to be used for monograph production, niche modeling, and conservation status assessment for an entire assemblage in a large geographic area.

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“…Y. Fang et al: Modeling the topographic influence on aboveground biomass One factor that could play an important role in organizing the spatial distributions of tropical tree species is habitat variability, such as topographic conditions, soil biotic and abiotic characteristics, and soil water levels (Costa et al, 2005;Echiverri and Macdonald, 2019;Grasel et al, 2020;Kinap et al, 2021;Mascaro et al, 2011;Miron et al, 2021;Oliveira et al, 2019;Schietti et al, 2014;Steidinger, 2015;Zuleta et al, 2020). Analyses of the spatial patterns of tropical species have shown that topographic attributes, such as slope and curvature, are a strong driver in controlling AGB variation in tropical forests (Detto et al, 2013;Mascaro et al, 2011;Silveira et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the topographic influence on aboveground biomass using a coupled model of hillslope hydrology and ecosystem dynamics

Fang

Leung²,

Koven³

et al. 2022

Geosci. Model Dev.

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Abstract. Topographic heterogeneity and lateral subsurface flow at the hillslope scale of ≤1 km may have outsized impacts on tropical forest through their impacts on water available to plants under water-stressed conditions. However, vegetation dynamics and finer-scale hydrologic processes are not concurrently represented in Earth system models. In this study, we integrate the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) land model (ELM) that includes the Functionally Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator (FATES), with a three-dimensional hydrology model (ParFlow) to explicitly resolve hillslope topography and subsurface flow and perform numerical experiments to understand how hillslope-scale hydrologic processes modulate vegetation along water availability gradients at Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama. Our simulations show that groundwater table depth (WTD) can play a large role in governing aboveground biomass (AGB) when drought-induced tree mortality is triggered by hydraulic failure. Analyzing the simulations using random forest (RF) models, we find that the domain-wide simulated AGB and WTD can be well predicted by static topographic attributes, including surface elevation, slope, and convexity, and adding soil moisture or groundwater table depth as predictors further improves the RF models. Different model representations of mortality due to hydraulic failure can change the dominant topographic driver for the simulated AGB. Contrary to the simulations, the observed AGB in the well-drained 50 ha forest census plot within BCI cannot be well predicted by the RF models using topographic attributes and observed soil moisture as predictors, suggesting other factors such as nutrient status may have a larger influence on the observed AGB. The new coupled model may be useful for understanding the diverse impact of local heterogeneity by isolating the water availability and nutrient availability from the other external and internal factors in ecosystem modeling.

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Utilizing a topographic moisture index to characterize understory vegetation patterns in the boreal forest

Cited by 14 publications

References 29 publications

The influence of postfire recovery and environmental conditions on boreal vegetation

The influence of postfire recovery and environmental conditions on boreal vegetation

Plecoptera (Insecta) Diversity in Indiana: A Watershed-Based Analysis

Modeling the topographic influence on aboveground biomass using a coupled model of hillslope hydrology and ecosystem dynamics

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