Spatial and temporal patterns in structure,regeneration, and mortality of an old-growth ponderosa pine forest in the Colorado Front Range |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA;2. Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA;3. USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO, USA;1. US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 240 West Prospect Road, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA;2. Department of Ecosystem Sciences and Sustainability, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA;3. Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA;1. College of Forestry, Guangxi University, Daxue East Road 100, Nanning, Guangxi Province 530004, China;2. Key Laboratory of Tree and Breeding and Cultivation, State Forestry Administration, Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Box 1958, Beijing 100091, China;1. INTA, EEA Bariloche, Grupo de Ecología Forestal, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina;2. CONICET, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina;3. INTA, EEA Balcarce – Oficina Tandil, Tandil, Buenos Aires, Argentina;4. INTA, EEA Concordia, Concordia, Entre Ríos, Argentina;5. INRA, UR0588 Unité d’Amélioration Génétique et Physiologie Forestières, Orléans, France;1. Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via delle Brecce Bianche 10, I-60131 Ancona, Italy;2. Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada Reno, 1664 N. Virginia St., Reno, NV 89557, USA;3. State Forestry Service (CFS) Corps – Province Headquarter, Viale Croce Benedetto 47, I-63100 Ascoli Piceno, Italy |
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| Abstract: | Effective management and restoration of ponderosa pine forests requires an understanding of the heterogeneity of contemporary and historical stand structures. We assessed spatial and temporal patterns of tree establishment, mortality and size structure over a 30-year period in an old-growth ponderosa pine stand in the mid-montane zone of the Colorado Front Range. We analyzed spatial patterns and spatial associations using Ripley's K(t) and K12(t) and then modeled the patterns using point process models. Forest age structure was estimated by aging a sub-sample of trees in the stand. Climate appeared to play a significant role in the coarse-scale temporal pattern of regeneration events. Stand structure (distribution of patches, light availability, and seed trees) influenced the spatial and temporal pattern of more recent regeneration events. Patchy regeneration resulted in spatial independence and some segregation of size classes. Older trees in the stand (40–55 cm dbh) exhibited some regularity in their spatial distribution at short distances indicating that patterns of mortality had been historically patchy. Contemporary patterns of mortality were mostly patchy, and mountain pine beetles caused a significant amount of mortality in the 1970s and 1980s. Both establishment and mortality retained spatial patterns that were somewhat consistent with pre-settlement forests, despite changes in driving processes. |
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