Post-Fire Habitat Heterogeneity Leads to Black Spruce–Kalmia L. Shrub Savannah Alternate State
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Title: Plant and soil characteristics of black spruce (Picea mariana) island and Kalmia heath 16 years after wildfire and planting: Beginning of shrub savannah alternate vegetation state?
Manuscript Type: Original Article
Comments:
The author studied the post-fire disturbance regeneration pattern of Kalmia-black spruce forest sites and find the post-fire ecological conditions may drive the vegetation succession towards shrub Savannah or spruce stands. Black spruce regeneration and stand development are always a field of knowledge gap in the shrub savannah in eastern Canada. This manuscript provides specific insights on utilizing plant and soil parameters for the community ecology of boreal forests that may benefit the conservation, forestry industry, and reforestation. This will attract multiple audiences including ecologists, provincial foresters, landowners, stakeholders who could use the findings for vegetation research and implementation.
This manuscript can be improved in the following aspects, 1) some key points are necessary to be addressed such as the locations of the island and heath patches relatively within the study site; 2) there is a limitation of statistical power of demonstrating the post-fire characteristics of foliage, macro-, and micro-elements of soil, etc. However, this manuscript is well written with acceptable quality, and such an amount of work deserves publication eventually, but minor revision is needed before acceptance. I recommend the authors have all my comments addressed and revise the manuscript accordingly.
Line 45-47, Keep consistent citation parenthesis.
Line 67, Add the comma after “(Fig. 1b)”.
Line139, Start a new section line.
Line 155, Improve the formatting of the function.
Line 125, Due to the limitation of the number of sites in this study, it would be even more interesting if the author could include any sites/citations that have no fire disturbance and compare them with the current results. Then in Line 139, it is clarified that the results mainly focus on post-fire disturbance.
Please identify those islands and heath sites specifically in the site.
Please further clarify the two locations of Island and Heath at the site. Are those both randomly distributed at the site? Are the 20 quadrats randomly sampled among the patches?
Line 273, How are the quadrats distributed among the three classes of vegetation/tree covers?
Lien 405, The alternation of vegetation cover from the black spruce forest to the shrub savannah will impact the ecosystem services. And the patterns of the fire burn seem to drive the shrub savannah vegetation change. What is the take-home message to the foresters when dealing with the land management of such disturbance?
Author Response
Comments: The author studied the post-fire disturbance regeneration pattern of Kalmia-black spruce forest sites and find the post-fire ecological conditions may drive the vegetation succession towards shrub Savannah or spruce stands. Black spruce regeneration and stand development are always a field of knowledge gap in the shrub savannah in eastern Canada. This manuscript provides specific insights on utilizing plant and soil parameters for the community ecology of boreal forests that may benefit the conservation, forestry industry, and reforestation. This will attract multiple audiences including ecologists, provincial foresters, landowners, stakeholders who could use the findings for vegetation research and implementation.
Response: The author appreciates these positive remarks
Comment: This manuscript can be improved in the following aspects, 1) some key points are necessary to be addressed such as the locations of the island and heath patches relatively within the study site
Response: Location of the islands has been identified in Fig. 1 (line 158-181)
Comment: 2) there is a limitation of statistical power of demonstrating the post-fire characteristics of foliage, macro-, and micro-elements of soil, etc. However, this manuscript is well written with acceptable quality, and such an amount of work deserves publication eventually, but minor revision is needed before acceptance. I recommend the authors have all my comments addressed and revise the manuscript accordingly.
Response: Statistical powers and effect size have been added in revised Table 1 and 2 (lines 343-400) and lines 317-318).
Line 45-47, Keep consistent citation parenthesis. Done. See line 63.
Line 67, Add the comma after “(Fig. 1b)”. Done. See 68.
Response: All minor comments are addressed and typos corrected.
Line139, Start a new section line.
Response: This belongs to the Study site section above
Line 155, Improve the formatting of the function.
Response: The equation is properly formatted (line 214).
Comment: Line 125, Due to the limitation of the number of sites in this study, it would be even more interesting if the author could include any sites/citations that have no fire disturbance and compare them with the current results. Then in Line 139, it is clarified that the results mainly focus on post-fire disturbance.
Response: As the reviewer correctly recognized that this is not a pre- and post-fire habitat and vegetation comparison, rather a study of post-fire revegetation pattern mediated by fire-severity that create habitat heterogeneity, which in turn leads to shrub savannah alternate vegetation state. Pre-fire vegetation is in the general area described in the Study Area description (lines 185-186).
Comment: Please identify those islands and heath sites specifically in the site.
Response: Sampling site locations identified in the revised Fig 1. (see page 4)
Comment: Please further clarify the two locations of Island and Heath at the site. Are those both randomly distributed at the site? Are the 20 quadrats randomly sampled among the patches?
Response: Yes, a new sentence is added to this effect in the Fig. 1 caption “Open area in the foreground shows Kalmiaheath and behind are the three adjacent black spruce (Sb) islands where vegetation and soil sampling was conducted.” (lines 180-181)
Comment: Line 273, How are the quadrats distributed among the three classes of vegetation/tree covers?
Response: Cover of all plants (tree, shrubs, herbs, forbs) was measured by ocular method in 1 x 1 m quadrats placed randomly in Kalmia heath and black spruce islands. A new sentence is added to describe study site selection (see lines 185-186).
Comment: Line 405, The alternation of vegetation cover from the black spruce forest to the shrub savannah will impact the ecosystem services. And the patterns of the fire burn seem to drive the shrub savannah vegetation change. What is the take-home message to the foresters when dealing with the land management of such disturbance?
Response: A sentence is added as take home message for forest momagers in the Conclusion section with a new reference (lines 701-703 and Lines 786787).
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The manuscript entitled "Plant and soil characteristics of black spruce (Picea mariana) island and Kalmia heath 16 years after wildfire and planting: Beginning of shrub savannah alternate vegetation state?" describes The regeneration of black spruce after a fire in heavily burned areas and the poor growth of spruce in the Kalmia heath, where there are no serious burns resulting in alternating shrub savannah vegetation. The main objective of the manuscript is relevant to be considered in programs of conservation of this genus and to be extrapolated it to other forest species. However, several points need to be clarified :
Line 155 the formula needs to be corrected
Lines 212-215: it seems to me that it is written here in the opposite way to that shown in the Figure 3: the height and basal diameter, stem volume were higher in spruce islands(?)
Lines 234-237 it seems to me that the percentages are inaccurate
I would also like higher quality figures
Author Response
Reviewer 2
Comment: The manuscript entitled "Plant and soil characteristics of black spruce (Picea mariana) island and Kalmia heath 16 years after wildfire and planting: Beginning of shrub savannah alternate vegetation state?" describes The regeneration of black spruce after a fire in heavily burned areas and the poor growth of spruce in the Kalmia heath, where there are no serious burns resulting in alternating shrub savannah vegetation. The main objective of the manuscript is relevant to be considered in programs of conservation of this genus and to be extrapolated it to other forest species. However, several points need to be clarified :
Line 155 the formula needs to be corrected
Response: The equation has been corrected, see ln 214.
Lines 212-215: it seems to me that it is written here in the opposite way to that shown in the Figure 3.
Response: Thanks for pointing out this error, it has been corrected, my apology (see line 274).
Comment: Lines 234-237 it seems to me that the percentages are inaccurate
Response: Sorry about the terrible mistakes, these have been corrected (line 337 and line 338)
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
The article deals with reforestation in a specific area of ​​Canada, which is characterized by nutrient-poor soils, covered with continuous stands of Kalmia angustifolia (Kalmia). The forest stands here are mainly black spruce. Spruce was intentionally felled in the monitored areas, with the subsequent artificial regeneration of the forest planned by planting containerized spruce plants. Prior to this restoration, the excavated areas were affected by a Kalmia plant fire, which created a system of "islands" without Kalmia vegetation. Only then was the area planted with containerized black spruce seedlings. The subject of the author's research was the analysis of the growth of black spruce plants in the restored area. Special attention was paid to the evaluation of the possible effect of burning Kalmia plants by fire and the resulting reduction in competition of this plant by black spruce seedlings. The results of the article confirm that the assumption of a favorable effect of burning Kalmia plants on "islands" on the growth of black spruce seedlings has been confirmed. This finding is supported by a number of partial findings, as mentioned below. Therefore, it can be stated that the article has undoubted scientific value, reveals the causes of the condition, but is also of considerable value for operational practice, ie for artificial regeneration of the forest in the area, as it demonstrates the positive impact of site preparation for black spruce seedlings, namely by suppressing the competitive vegetation of Kalmia. There are certainly more alternatives to control Kalmia plants in similar areas, as local foresters are well aware of this, but the mere fact that Kalmia control has benefited from spruce seedlings can increase the success of operations staff's efforts to introduce new reforestation practices. And this has a significant impact on the sustainability of forests and forestry, including its economic efficiency not only in the area of ​​interest.
For more details on some parts of the article:
In Chapter No. 1 Introduction, the author presents an extensive analysis of information and knowledge of other authors on the issue of recovery of black spruce in the conditions of the Kalmia region. Fig. 1 is very illustrative, which clearly shows the alternatives of the development of herbaceous and woody vegetation in the given area. The chapter therefore serves as a solid starting point for the next passages of the article.
Chapter No. 2 Materials and Methods provides sufficient information for the complete characteristics of the monitored area of ​​Kalmia and the selected test plots. Fig. 2 clearly shows the actual development of the islet restoration of black spruce in the area affected by the fire. There are also mentioned methods of foliar analysis of nutrients in black spruce needles, analysis of soil characteristics and other topics of research.
Chapter 3 Results is a key part of the article. Based on an extensive set of various data and their analysis, the author formulates his fundamental findings, ie that the assumption of a favorable effect of burning Kalmia plants on "islands" on the growth of black spruce seedlings has been confirmed.
In Chapter 4 of the Discussion, the author considers the provability of his findings and presents reflections on the further development of the restoration of black spruce in the area. Everything properly substantiates the links to the results created by other renowned authors. However, perhaps a clearer recommendation for the implementation of appropriate technological measures in forestry practice in reforestation under similar conditions as in the "Kalmia" area could have been made here.
In chap. 5 Conclusions, the most important findings are processed into a dense text, emphasizing, among other things, strong feedbacks between plants and soil and anticipating the future continuation of the transformation of shrubby savannah into a boreal forest.
Reminders:
Correct typos and other imperfections of the text: eg on line 385 "Kamia" instead of "Kalmia", formula on lines 153 to 156, redundant word "keyword" on line 30.
Author Response
Comments: The article deals with reforestation in a specific area of ​​Canada, which is characterized by nutrient-poor soils, covered with continuous stands of Kalmia angustifolia (Kalmia). The forest stands here are mainly black spruce. Spruce was intentionally felled in the monitored areas, with the subsequent artificial regeneration of the forest planned by planting containerized spruce plants. Prior to this restoration, the excavated areas were affected by a Kalmia plant fire, which created a system of "islands" without Kalmia vegetation. Only then was the area planted with containerized black spruce seedlings. The subject of the author's research was the analysis of the growth of black spruce plants in the restored area. Special attention was paid to the evaluation of the possible effect of burning Kalmia plants by fire and the resulting reduction in competition of this plant by black spruce seedlings. The results of the article confirm that the assumption of a favorable effect of burning Kalmia plants on "islands" on the growth of black spruce seedlings has been confirmed. This finding is supported by a number of partial findings, as mentioned below. Therefore, it can be stated that the article has undoubted scientific value, reveals the causes of the condition, but is also of considerable value for operational practice, ie for artificial regeneration of the forest in the area, as it demonstrates the positive impact of site preparation for black spruce seedlings, namely by suppressing the competitive vegetation of Kalmia. There are certainly more alternatives to control Kalmia plants in similar areas, as local foresters are well aware of this, but the mere fact that Kalmia control has benefited from spruce seedlings can increase the success of operations staff's efforts to introduce new reforestation practices. And this has a significant impact on the sustainability of forests and forestry, including its economic efficiency not only in the area of ​​interest.
Comment:
For more details on some parts of the article:
In Chapter No. 1 Introduction, the author presents an extensive analysis of information and knowledge of other authors on the issue of recovery of black spruce in the conditions of the Kalmia region. Fig. 1 is very illustrative, which clearly shows the alternatives of the development of herbaceous and woody vegetation in the given area. The chapter therefore serves as a solid starting point for the next passages of the article.
Chapter No. 2 Materials and Methods provides sufficient information for the complete characteristics of the monitored area of ​​Kalmia and the selected test plots. Fig. 2 clearly shows the actual development of the islet restoration of black spruce in the area affected by the fire. There are also mentioned methods of foliar analysis of nutrients in black spruce needles, analysis of soil characteristics and other topics of research.
Chapter 3 Results is a key part of the article. Based on an extensive set of various data and their analysis, the author formulates his fundamental findings, ie that the assumption of a favorable effect of burning Kalmia plants on "islands" on the growth of black spruce seedlings has been confirmed.
In Chapter 4 of the Discussion, the author considers the provability of his findings and presents reflections on the further development of the restoration of black spruce in the area. Everything properly substantiates the links to the results created by other renowned authors. However, perhaps a clearer recommendation for the implementation of appropriate technological measures in forestry practice in reforestation under similar conditions as in the "Kalmia" area could have been made here.
In chap. 5 Conclusions, the most important findings are processed into a dense text, emphasizing, among other things, strong feedbacks between plants and soil and anticipating the future continuation of the transformation of shrubby savannah into a boreal forest.
Response: The positive remarks of this reviewer are much appreciated.
Comment: Correct typos and other imperfections of the text: eg on line 385 "Kamia" instead of "Kalmia", formula on lines 214, redundant word "keyword" on line 20.
Response: My apology, all typos are corrected in the revised version.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
