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Articles containing the keyword 'old-growth forest'

Category : Research article

article id 83, category Research article

Inari Ylläsjärvi, Håkan Berglund, Timo Kuuluvainen. (2011). Relationships between wood-inhabiting fungal species richness and habitat variables in old-growth forest stands in the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park, northern boreal Finland. Silva Fennica vol. 45 no. 5 article id 83. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.83

Keywords: species-area relationship; species richness; old-growth forest; indicators; northern Fennoscandia; polyporaceae; polypores

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Indicators for biodiversity are needed for efficient prioritization of forests selected for conservation. We analyzed the relationships between 86 wood-inhabiting fungal (polypore) species richness and 35 habitat variables in 81 northern boreal old-growth forest stands in Finland. Species richness and the number of red-listed species were analyzed separately using generalized linear models. Most species were infrequent in the studied landscape and no species was encountered in all stands. The species richness increased with 1) the volume of coarse woody debris (CWD), 2) the mean DBH of CWD and 3) the basal area of living trees. The number of red-listed species increased along the same gradients, but the effect of basal area was not significant. Polypore species richness was significantly lower on western slopes than on flat topography. On average, species richness was higher on northern and eastern slopes than on western and southern slopes. The results suggest that a combination of habitat variables used as indicators may be useful in selecting forest stands to be set aside for polypore species conservation.

Ylläsjärvi, Rovaniemi University of Applied Sciences, School of Forestry and Rural Industries, Jokiväylä 11 c, FI-96300 Rovaniemi, Finland E-mail: inari.yllasjarvi@ramk.fi
Berglund, University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Sciences, Helsinki, Finland E-mail: hb@nn.fi
Kuuluvainen, University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Sciences, Helsinki, Finland E-mail: tk@nn.fi

article id 82, category Research article

Nicole J. Fenton, Yves Bergeron. (2011). Dynamic old-growth forests? A case study of boreal black spruce forest bryophytes. Silva Fennica vol. 45 no. 5 article id 82. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.82

Keywords: disturbances; old-growth forest; succession; boreal; bryophytes; climax; gap dynamics

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Old-growth forests have sparked significant interest over the last twenty years and definitions have evolved from structure based to process based, acknowledging the diversity of forests that could be considered old growth. However studies frequently group all forests over a certain age into a single type, negating the dynamic processes that create old growth. In this study we examine a 2350-year chronosequence in boreal black spruce forests in northwestern Quebec to determine whether continued community change can be observed in the bryophyte layer. Bryophytes dominate the understory of boreal forests and influence ecosystem functioning, particularly in paludified forests where production exceeds decomposition in the organic layer. Community composition and richness changed throughout the chronosequence with no evidence of a steady state associated with an old-growth phase. In contrast the bryophyte community continued to evolve with multiple phases being evident. These results suggest that old-growth forests on the Clay Belt of northwestern Quebec and northeastern Ontario, Canada, should be regarded as part of the continuous gradient in forest development rather than a single state. This complicates conservation of these forests as multiple phases should be considered when planning forest reserves.

Fenton, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 Boulevard de l’Université, Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, Canada J9X 4E5 E-mail: nicole.fenton@uqat.ca
Bergeron, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 Boulevard de l’Université, Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, Canada J9X 4E5 E-mail: yb@nn.ca

article id 79, category Research article

Jean-Philippe Légaré, Christian Hébert, Jean-Claude Ruel. (2011). Alternative silvicultural practices in irregular boreal forests: response of beetle assemblages. Silva Fennica vol. 45 no. 5 article id 79. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.79

Keywords: biodiversity; old-growth forest; irregular stands; selection cutting; coarse woody debris; sustainable management

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In the process of implementing sustainable management in the eastern Canadian boreal forest, we tested two selection cutting methods and compared them with two widely used practices in the boreal forest: clearcutting with protection of the advanced growth and soils and irregular shelterwood cutting leaving small merchantable stems. We used old-growth irregular stands as references in comparing the impact of these silvicultural treatments on the diversity and abundance of beetles. Three groups were targeted: saproxylic flying beetles, epigaeic saproxylic beetles and epigaeic non-saproxylic beetles. A sampling design including 320 pitfall traps and 80 multidirectional flight-interception traps was deployed in 2007. A total of 26 906 beetles was captured including 407 taxa distributed among 52 families. We found that clearcutting with protection of the advanced growth and soils and irregular shelterwood cutting leaving small merchantable stems had a greater impact on beetle communities than both selection cuttings. Canopy opening as well as the presence of snags and downed woody debris appear as important attributes for several saproxylic and non-saproxylic species. Beetle communities in selection cuttings remained more similar to those found in controls; these silvicultural treatments are new tools to implement ecosystemic and sustainable management in irregular boreal forests.

Légaré, Université Laval, Faculté de foresterie, de géographie et de géomatique, Pavillon Abitibi-Price, Québec, Canada E-mail: jpl@nn.ca
Hébert, Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, 1055 du P.E.P.S., P.O. Box 10380, Stn. Sainte-Foy, Québec (Québec), G1V 4C7, Canada E-mail: christian.hebert@rncan.gc.ca
Ruel, Université Laval, Faculté de foresterie, de géographie et de géomatique, Pavillon Abitibi-Price, Québec, Canada E-mail: jcr@nn.ca

article id 76, category Research article

Alessandra Bottero, Matteo Garbarino, Vojislav Dukic, Zoran Govedar, Emanuele Lingua, Thomas A. Nagel, Renzo Motta. (2011). Gap-phase dynamics in the old-growth forest of Lom, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Silva Fennica vol. 45 no. 5 article id 76. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.76

Keywords: disturbance regime; Lom; old-growth forest; canopy gaps; beech-spruce-fir; small-scale

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We investigated forest canopy gaps in the mixed beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), silver fir (Abies alba Miller), and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) old-growth forest of Lom in the Dinaric Mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Gap size, age, gap fraction, gapmaker characteristics and the structure and composition of gapfillers were documented to investigate gap dynamics. The percentages of forest area in canopy and expanded gaps were 19% and 41%, respectively. The median canopy gap size was 77 m², and ranged from 11 to 708 m². Although there were many single tree-fall gaps, the majority had multiple gapmakers that were often in different stages of decay, suggesting gap expansion is important at the study site. Of the gapmakers recorded, 14% were uprooted stems, 60% snapped stems, and 26% were standing dead trees. Dendroecological analysis suggests that gap formation varied in time. The density of gapfillers was not correlated to gap size, and the species composition of gapfillers varied between seedling, sapling, and tree life stages. The results suggest that gaps are mainly formed by endogenous senescence of single canopy trees. Exogenous disturbance agents, most likely related to wind and snow, act mainly as secondary agents in breaking weakened trees and in expanding previously established gaps. Although the findings are partially consistent with other studies of gap disturbance processes in similar old-growth forests in central Europe, the observed gap dynamic places the Lom core area at the end of a gradient that ranges from forests controlled by very small-scale processes to those where large, stand replacing disturbances predominate.

Bottero, University of Turin, Department Agroselviter, Via Leonardo da Vinci 44, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy E-mail: alessandra.bottero@unito.it
Garbarino, University of Turin, Department Agroselviter, Via Leonardo da Vinci 44, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy E-mail: mg@nn.it
Dukic, University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Forestry, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina E-mail: vd@nn.ba
Govedar, University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Forestry, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina E-mail: zg@nn.ba
Lingua, University of Padua, Department of TeSAF, Legnaro (PD), Italy E-mail: el@nn.it
Nagel, University of Ljubljana, Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources, Ljubljana, Slovenia E-mail: tan@nn.si
Motta, University of Turin, Department Agroselviter, Via Leonardo da Vinci 44, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy E-mail: rm@nn.it

article id 75, category Research article

Silvia Lamedica, Emanuele Lingua, Ionel Popa, Renzo Motta, Marco Carrer. (2011). Spatial structure in four Norway spruce stands with different management history in the Alps and Carpathians. Silva Fennica vol. 45 no. 5 article id 75. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.75

Keywords: Picea abies; LISA; old-growth forests; point pattern analyses; random mortality; spatial structure

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In Europe most Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) mountain forests have been altered by human activities, leading to a lack of reference condition concerning their original structure. Nonetheless, remnants of Norway spruce primeval forests still exist in the Carpathians. Our objective was to assess the differences in structure between managed and unmanaged stands, concerning diameter distributions, amount of standing deadwood, spatial distributions and spatial structure of trees. We established four permanent plots: one in a virgin forest in the Eastern Carpathians and three in a previously managed forest in the Alps. In each plot, species, DBH, and position of the live and dead standing trees were collected. Spatial distribution and structure of all the trees was analysed through several indices. In the Carpathians forest there are clear signs of natural density-dependent mortality processes whereas in the Alpine plots such dynamics are less evident. In these latter plots, the lower snags volume and the random trees spatial distribution can be considered the legacies of past management. Nonetheless, despite the different history of the four stands, they all seem to converge towards a similar spatial structure with the presence of groups (30–40 m) of trees of similar size.

Lamedica, Forest Ecology Research Unit, Dept TeSAF, University of Padova, Legnaro (PD), Italy E-mail: sl@nn.it
Lingua, Forest Ecology Research Unit, Dept TeSAF, University of Padova, Legnaro (PD), Italy E-mail: el@nn.it
Popa, Forest Research and Management Institute, Research Station for Norway Spruce Silviculture, Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Romania E-mail: ip@nn.ro
Motta, Department AGROSELVITER, University of Torino, Grugliasco (TO), Italy E-mail: rm@nn.it
Carrer, Forest Ecology Research Unit, Dept TeSAF, University of Padova, Legnaro (PD), Italy E-mail: marco.carrer@unipd.it

article id 339, category Research article

John W. McCarthy, Gordon Weetman. (2006). Age and size structure of gap-dynamic, old-growth boreal forest stands in Newfoundland. Silva Fennica vol. 40 no. 2 article id 339. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.339

Keywords: boreal forests; old-growth forests; gap dynamics; age and size structure; rotated sigmoid; Newfoundland

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The age and size structure of trees in old Abies-Picea-Betula forests on Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula were examined. It was hypothesized that the size and age structure of both the tree and regeneration “strata” of these stands display the complex structural heterogeneity characteristic of classic, self-regenerating, uneven-aged old-growth stands, and that the development and dynamics of such structures occur over long periods of time. With all tree species combined, dbh (diameter at breast height) and height distributions exhibited a strong reverse-J character, with well-defined, semi-logarithmic rotated sigmoid height and size frequencies. Seedling height and basal diameter frequency distributions were reverse-J in character. Live tree ages for all species, except white birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh), ranged from 25 to 269 years, and were characterized by all-age frequency distributions. Tree age and size were poorly correlated. On average, balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) required 62 years to reach breast height (1.3 m), with black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) requiring 40 and 48 years, respectively. Total age of dead standing trees ranged from 45 to 232 years. Reverse-J age frequencies characterized the seedling bank, with balsam fir seedlings present in nearly all age classes up to 110, 120 and 85 years in three sample stands. Seedling size (height and basal diameter)-age relationships were characteristic of decades-long suppression. The combination of tree and seedling bank size and age structure provide strong evidence of quasi-equilibrium, small-scale, gap dynamic old-growth boreal forest stands.

McCarthy, University of British Columbia, Forest Sciences Department, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1Z4 E-mail: jmccarthy@jesuits.ca
Weetman, University of British Columbia, Forest Sciences Department, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1Z4 E-mail: gw@n.ca

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