Hurricane Katrina impacts the breeding bird community in a bottomland hardwood forest of the Pearl River basin, Louisiana

We monitored breeding bird communities and vegetation both before and after Hurricane Katrina category 2 winds severely damaged extensive bottomland hardwood forest of the Pearl River basin, south Louisiana. Many trees were felled by wind, most others were stripped of leaves and branches, and the canopy opened considerably (57%). Blackberry thickets sprouted and expanded to cover almost all of what was previously a patchily open forest understory. The bird community changed distinctively following the hurricane, driven primarily by increased density of species that prefer dense understory (regenerating) habitat. Individual species that increased significantly in density included one year-round resident, Carolina wren, and five breeding migrants, white-eyed vireo, Swainson's warbler, Kentucky warbler, hooded warbler, and yellow-breasted chat. These patterns were predictable responses to the opened canopy and increased density of understory vegetation. However, over three years following the storm, most species, especially canopy breeders, showed no distinct numerical response to the hurricane, which suggests that the initial bird community was resistant to hurricane disturbance. Only one species, Acadian flycatcher, declined significantly after the hurricane, presumably because of loss of its preferred open understory breeding and feeding habitat. Our results thus document and reinforce the important role hurricanes play along the Gulf coast in structuring forest bird communities by altering understory habitat. We expect habitat changes will continue as invasive plant species further change forest community structure, and as large storms increase in frequency in relation to global climate change. Thus, we also expect continued changes to the bird community, which may include additional future declines.     

Nursery stock quality as an indicator of bottomland hardwood forest restoration success in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley

Abstract

Seedling morphological quality standards are lacking for bottomland hardwood restoration plantings in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, USA, which may contribute toward variable restoration success. We measured initial seedling morphology (shoot height, root collar diameter, number of first order lateral roots, fresh mass, and root volume), second year field heights and diameters, survival, browse, and top dieback of five species – cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh.), Nuttall oak (Q. nuttallii Palmer), sweet pecan (Carya illinoensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch), and water oak (Q. nigra L.). Seedlings were obtained from three regional nurseries (Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi), planted on three sites (Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi), and treated with or without chemical weed control. Site×nursery interaction and weed control (without interactions) usually affected survival, whereas site×weed control interaction and nursery (without interactions) influenced second year heights and diameters. Weed control generally increased survival rates, as well as second year height and diameter. Effects of initial morphological characteristics on field survival and height and diameter growth were generally dependent on the other morphological parameters. Target morphological characteristics were identified as 99, 84, and 82 in height/diameter ratios (equal units) for cherrybark oak, green ash, and Nuttall oak, respectively; mean initial height of 40–43 cm in sweet pecan; and mean initial fresh mass/root volume of 2.7 g ml^?1 in water oak. Seedlings with means above these values may be more susceptible to dieback or mortality after outplanting, likely associated with excessive shoot relative to root biomass.     

阔叶林改建菇木林群落物种多样性恢复与地力维护研究

将次生阔叶林改建为短轮伐期菇木林是解决林茵矛盾的主要途径之一。通过对闽北常绿次生阔叶林改建为短轮伐期菇木林后群落物种多样性恢复与地力维护的定位研究，结果表明：采用择伐或皆伐人促方式，将次生阔叶林改建为短轮伐期菇木林，经7a恢复后，其群落物种丰富度、多样性指数及土壤肥力水平明显高于炼山造林群落，并接近于邻近天然次生阔叶林。     

Stand dynamics and tree quality response to precommercial thinning in a northern hardwood forest of the Acadian forest region: 23 years of intermediate results

In the late 1980s, large forest companies began precommercial thinning (PCT) operations in young northern hardwood cutovers in New Brunswick, Canada. To provide supporting growth and yield information, an industrial experiment was established at residual stand densities of 1300, 1600, 1900, and 2200?stems?ha^?1. Stand responses were examined for measurements recorded at 0 (1987), 5 (1992), 10 (1997), 16 (2003), and 23 (2010) years after establishment. Average diameter at breast height, quadratic mean diameter, stand basal area, and stand total volume growth increased as stem density decreased from PCT. There were significant linear differences for many of these variables between treatments and time periods (year). No significant differences were detected in tree height between treatments. In 2010, the four PCT thinning treatments did not exhibit any differences in potential sawlogs at 2.4?m (8?ft) and 3.6?m (12?ft) lengths. Significant differences were observed for 4.9?m (16?ft) sawlogs that were produced at the least dense spacing (1300?stems?ha^?1). Results from this study and recommendations from the European literature suggest that value-added timber products may be produced from more intense PCT treatments than are currently being practiced on sites dominated by yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.).     

Dry coniferous forest restoration and understory plant diversity: The importance of community heterogeneity and the scale of observation

Maintaining understory plant species diversity is an important management goal as forest restoration and fuel reduction treatments are applied extensively to dry coniferous forests of western North America. However, understory diversity is a function of both local species richness (number of species in a sample unit) and community heterogeneity (beta diversity) at multiple spatial scales, while studies of restoration treatment effects often only examine local species richness at one or two spatial scales. We studied experimental thinning and prescribed fire treatment effects on understory plant species richness and community heterogeneity at three spatial scales using additive diversity partitioning. We also evaluated treatment effects on understory plant species colonization and extirpation at two spatial scales. There was no evidence that active restoration treatments reduced species richness or increased local extirpation of species. Restoration treatments significantly increased herbaceous species richness at the treatment-unit level primarily by increasing community heterogeneity among sampling points within the units. The combination of thinning and burning produced the greatest increase in community heterogeneity, and increased colonization by species that were not sampled prior to treatment. These results suggest that restoration treatments designed primarily to reduce fire hazard and promote sustainable conditions in these fire-adapted ecosystems can also increase community heterogeneity and facilitate colonization by new understory species without significant local extirpation of extant species.     

Predicting depth translocation of base cations after forest liming: results from long-term experiments

Forest liming is a common measure to counteract soil acidification. In forest practice, lime is applied to the forest floor where it changes the chemical properties. However, little is known about the depth impact of liming and the depth translocation of lime components. To investigate the long-term impact of forest liming, several study plots have been established in the 1980s in Germany in stands with different site conditions. We analysed soil chemical data obtained during the last 28?years from 45 of the study plots. We examined the depth impact of liming and predicted the main factors responsible for the increase in Calcium (Ca) and Magnesium (Mg) stocks after liming in the mineral soil using multiple linear regression analyses (MLR). Stocks of Ca and Mg as well as base saturation (BS) showed a strong depth gradient with significant differences between limed and control plots down to 40?cm of the mineral soil. About 65–70?% of applied Ca and Mg were recovered in the forest floor and the upper 40?cm of the mineral soil. BS in 0–40?cm increased by a mean of 11?%. MLR models could explain 48–74?% of the variation in mean changes of Ca and Mg in 0–10, 10–20 and 20–40?cm soil depth when soil and climate variables, amount of applied lime and years after liming are included in the model. After testing the model robustness with a cross-validating procedure, we concluded that these models might be applied to many regions in Central Europe with comparable soil and climate conditions and thus, have widespread application.     

Floristic and structural recovery of a laurel forest community after clear-cutting: A 60 years chronosequence on La Palma (Canary Islands)

We analyzed a post-clearcut chronosequence (0.5 to 60 years after harvesting) in the laurel forest of La Palma island (Canarian Archipelago) to determine the recovery of the stands with respect to species composition, richness, life strategies and structural parameters of the canopy. Multivariate analysis showed that exotic species, as well as annual ruderal species were confined to early-successional stages, while native perennials, typical of laurel forests, dominated the late-successional stages. Total species richness decreased significantly with time after clear-cutting. The relative fast recovery of understory native species may be due to low forest floor disturbance during harvesting. Shade-intolerant pioneer, pioneer-remnant and shade-tolerant late-successional species were the main life strategies of native tree species. Most structural parameters showed a continuous and monotonic increase (basal area, biomass) or decrease (density, percentage of photosynthetic biomass) during succession. Once clear-cutting, here performed with an interval of 8 years, is abandoned, the recovery of the laurel forest seems possible due to careful logging that protects the soil and a rapid asexual regeneration of native tree species, revealing this to be a sustainable management practice.