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Forests
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Analysis and Management of Disturbance Effects on Forest Ecosystems
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Analysis and Management of Disturbance Effects on Forest Ecosystems

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 September 2021) | Viewed by 19370

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Brice B. Hanberry

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Rapid City, SD 57702, USA
Interests: coupled human-environment systems; fire; grasslands; land use and land change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Daniel C. Dey

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
Interests: fire effects; oak; pine; prescribed fire; regeneration; restoration; silviculture; wildlife interactions
Dr. Jacob S. Fraser

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
Interests: climate change; landscape ecology; forest landscape modeling; forest stand dynamics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is focused on the effects of disturbances in forests. Historically, disturbances of fire, climate, weather, herbivory, insects, disease, and land use have affected forests. Disturbance regimes have changed over time, resulting in different outcomes and magnitudes of effects. We invite a wide range of submissions that explore disturbance effects on forest composition and structure for different forest types over time and space. Advancements in analyzing outcomes and modeling predictions of disturbance regimes, both natural and altered, will improve the understanding and management of forest ecosystems. The long life spans of trees may result in a lag phase that slows response to disturbance, and disturbances may be confounded or compounded. Submissions may be stand scale studies, landscape models, conceptual works, synthetic studies, or perspectives.

Dr. Brice B. Hanberry
Dr. Daniel C. Dey
Dr. Jacob S. Fraser
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • climate
  • disease
  • fire
  • herbivory
  • insects
  • land use and land cover
  • management
  • non-native species
  • weather

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2189 KiB  
Article
Westward Expansion by Juniperus virginiana of the Eastern United States and Intersection with Western Juniperus Species in a Novel Assemblage
by Brice B. Hanberry
Forests 2022, 13(1), 101; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13010101 - 11 Jan 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2214
Abstract
Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) is increasing in density in the eastern United States and expanding in range to the west, while western Juniperus species also are increasing and expanding, creating the potential for a novel assemblage. I estimated range expansion and [...] Read more.
Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) is increasing in density in the eastern United States and expanding in range to the west, while western Juniperus species also are increasing and expanding, creating the potential for a novel assemblage. I estimated range expansion and intersection by comparing recent USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis surveys (mean year = 2009) to the oldest available surveys (mean year = 1981), with adjustments for sampling changes, and predicted climate envelopes during the following year ranges: 1500–1599, 1800–1849, 1850–1899, 1900–1949, and 1960–1989. During approximately 28 years, eastern redcedar range expanded by about 54 million ha (based on ≥0.5% of total stems ≥12.7 cm in diameter in ecological subsections). Combined range of western species of juniper did not expand. Range intersection of eastern redcedar and western Juniperus species totaled 200,000 km2 and increased by 31,600 km2 over time, representing a novel assemblage of eastern and western species. Predicted ranges during the other time intervals were 94% to 98% of predicted area during 1960–1989, suggesting major climate conditions have been suitable for centuries. The southern western Juniperus species and Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum Sarg.) have the greatest potential for intersection with eastern redcedar, whereas eastern redcedar may have concluded westward expansion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis and Management of Disturbance Effects on Forest Ecosystems)
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24 pages, 2248 KiB  
Article
Fire and Mechanical Forest Management Treatments Support Different Portions of the Bird Community in Fire-Suppressed Forests
by Lance Jay Roberts, Ryan Burnett and Alissa Fogg
Forests 2021, 12(2), 150; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12020150 - 28 Jan 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2936
Abstract
Silvicultural treatments, fire, and insect outbreaks are the primary disturbance events currently affecting forests in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, a region where plants and wildlife are highly adapted to a frequent-fire disturbance regime that has been suppressed for decades. Although the [...] Read more.
Silvicultural treatments, fire, and insect outbreaks are the primary disturbance events currently affecting forests in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, a region where plants and wildlife are highly adapted to a frequent-fire disturbance regime that has been suppressed for decades. Although the effects of both fire and silviculture on wildlife have been studied by many, there are few studies that directly compare their long-term effects on wildlife communities. We conducted avian point counts from 2010 to 2019 at 1987 in situ field survey locations across eight national forests and collected fire and silvicultural treatment data from 1987 to 2016, resulting in a 20-year post-disturbance chronosequence. We evaluated two categories of fire severity in comparison to silvicultural management (largely pre-commercial and commercial thinning treatments) as well as undisturbed locations to model their influences on abundances of 71 breeding bird species. More species (48% of the community) reached peak abundance at moderate-high-severity-fire locations than at low-severity fire (8%), silvicultural management (16%), or undisturbed (13%) locations. Total community abundance was highest in undisturbed dense forests as well as in the first few years after silvicultural management and lowest in the first few years after moderate-high-severity fire, then abundance in all types of disturbed habitats was similar by 10 years after disturbance. Even though the total community abundance was relatively low in moderate-high-severity-fire habitats, species diversity was the highest. Moderate-high-severity fire supported a unique portion of the avian community, while low-severity fire and silvicultural management were relatively similar. We conclude that a significant portion of the bird community in the Sierra Nevada region is dependent on moderate-high-severity fire and thus recommend that a prescribed and managed wildfire program that incorporates a variety of fire effects will best maintain biodiversity in this region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis and Management of Disturbance Effects on Forest Ecosystems)
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19 pages, 4502 KiB  
Article
Aboveground Wood Production Is Sustained in the First Growing Season after Phloem-Disrupting Disturbance
by Maxim S. Grigri, Jeff W. Atkins, Christoph Vogel, Ben Bond-Lamberty and Christopher M. Gough
Forests 2020, 11(12), 1306; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11121306 - 5 Dec 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2443
Abstract
Carbon (C) cycling processes are particularly dynamic following disturbance, with initial responses often indicative of longer-term change. In northern Michigan, USA, we initiated the Forest Resilience Threshold Experiment (FoRTE) to identify the processes that sustain or lead to the decline of C cycling [...] Read more.
Carbon (C) cycling processes are particularly dynamic following disturbance, with initial responses often indicative of longer-term change. In northern Michigan, USA, we initiated the Forest Resilience Threshold Experiment (FoRTE) to identify the processes that sustain or lead to the decline of C cycling rates across multiple levels (0, 45, 65 and 85% targeted gross leaf area index loss) of disturbance severity and, in response, to separate disturbance types preferentially targeting large or small diameter trees. Simulating the effects of boring insects, we stem girdled > 3600 trees below diameter at breast height (DBH), immediately and permanently disrupting the phloem. Weekly DBH measurements of girdled and otherwise healthy trees (n > 700) revealed small but significant increases in daily aboveground wood net primary production (ANPPw) in the 65 and 85% disturbance severity treatments that emerged six weeks after girdling. However, we observed minimal change in end-of-season leaf area index and no significant differences in annual ANPPw among disturbance severities or between disturbance types, suggesting continued C fixation by girdled trees sustained stand-scale wood production in the first growing season after disturbance. We hypothesized higher disturbance severities would favor the growth of early successional species but observed no significant difference between early and middle to late successional species’ contributions to ANPPw across the disturbance severity gradient. We conclude that ANPPw stability immediately following phloem disruption is dependent on the continued, but inevitably temporary, growth of phloem-disrupted trees. Our findings provide insight into the tree-to-ecosystem mechanisms supporting stand-scale wood production stability in the first growing season following a phloem-disrupting disturbance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis and Management of Disturbance Effects on Forest Ecosystems)
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20 pages, 2248 KiB  
Article
Discovering Douglas-Fir Woodlands in the Historical Forests of Umatilla National Forest, Eastern Oregon and Washington
by Brice B. Hanberry, Donald C. Justice and David C. Powell
Forests 2020, 11(10), 1122; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11101122 - 21 Oct 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3220
Abstract
We discovered unique Douglas-fir open woodlands in the Umatilla National Forest using historical surveys. Historical ponderosa pine forests of the western United States are transitioning to denser forests comprised of a greater proportion of fire-sensitive species, including true firs. We used historical (1879 [...] Read more.
We discovered unique Douglas-fir open woodlands in the Umatilla National Forest using historical surveys. Historical ponderosa pine forests of the western United States are transitioning to denser forests comprised of a greater proportion of fire-sensitive species, including true firs. We used historical (1879 to 1887) surveys to quantify the composition and structure of the Umatilla National Forest in eastern Oregon and Washington and provided contemporary forest information for comparison. We also modeled fir and pine distributions using environmental predictors and the random forests and extreme gradient boosting classifiers. Historically, ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir comprised about 80% of all trees, with western larch relatively abundant at 10% of all trees. Currently, ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir are about 40% of all trees, while grand fir and lodgepole pine increased from rare species to about 40% of all trees. Historical density was about 165 trees/ha (trees > 12.7 cm in diameter). The wetter north unit of steep slopes and predominantly Douglas-fir was about 120 trees/ha, or open woodlands, whereas the drier, flatter south units of predominantly ponderosa pine were about 210 trees/ha, and densities of 160 and 190 trees/ha occurred on flat and gentle slopes, respectively, with predominantly ponderosa pine. Currently, Umatilla National Forest averages about 390 trees/ha; the north unit of grand fir and Douglas-fir tripled in density to 365 trees/ha, whereas the south units of ponderosa and lodgepole pines doubled in density to 410 trees/ha. Douglas-fir woodlands are an unusual combination of a relatively fire-sensitive tree species with an open structure, which may result from surface fires that remove tree regeneration, resulting in one layer of trees over an understory of herbaceous and shrubby vegetation. We interpreted that a spatially and temporally variable fire return interval favored Douglas-fir, but fires were frequent enough to allow herbaceous vegetation and shrubs to out-compete trees, maintaining the balance between trees and other vegetation in woodlands. Fire exclusion has resulted in forest-type transition and also an information deficit about circumstances under which relatively fire-sensitive Douglas-fir instead of fire-tolerant ponderosa pine would establish at low densities over large extents. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis and Management of Disturbance Effects on Forest Ecosystems)
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18 pages, 3747 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Post-Fire Disturbances on a Seasonally Thawed Layer in the Permafrost Larch Forests of Central Siberia
by Evgenii Ponomarev, Oxana Masyagina, Kirill Litvintsev, Tatiana Ponomareva, Evgeny Shvetsov and Konstantin Finnikov
Forests 2020, 11(8), 790; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11080790 - 22 Jul 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3756
Abstract
We examined and simulated the consequences of the degradation of the litter and the moss–lichen layer after fire impact, which could affect the seasonal temperature of the soil and the depth of the seasonally thawed layer (STL) in the permafrost zone. According to [...] Read more.
We examined and simulated the consequences of the degradation of the litter and the moss–lichen layer after fire impact, which could affect the seasonal temperature of the soil and the depth of the seasonally thawed layer (STL) in the permafrost zone. According to the analysis of satellite imagery for 2000 to 2019, the fire-disturbed area in the region of interest amounted to 20%. The main aims of the study included quantitative evaluation of the variation range of summer temperature anomalies at fire-damaged plots, summarizing the statistical norm of the STL depending on natural conditions, and numerical simulation of the response of the STL. Using Terra and Aqua/MODIS imagery, we analyzed surface temperature (in bands of λ = 10.780–11.280 and 11.770–12.270 μm) coupled with the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for non-disturbed and fire-damaged sites under the same natural conditions of larch forests in Central Siberia. Heat transfer, freezing and thawing processes were numerically simulated for two extreme cases of soil conditions: dry soil and water-saturated soil. The model was also applied to soil with non-homogeneous water content. As input parameters, we used data on the properties of cryogenic soils collected in larch forests (Larix gmelinii) in the flat-mountainous taiga region of the Evenkia (Central Siberia). For post-fire plots, surface temperature anomalies observed during summer months remained significant for more than 15–20 years after fire impact, while the NDVI values were restored to the statistical norm within 7–10 years of the fire. According to the results of numerical simulation, the thickness of the STL could show a 30–50% increase compared to the statistical norm. In the first approximation, we showed the annual soil temperature dynamics at various depths in disturbed and non-disturbed plots. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis and Management of Disturbance Effects on Forest Ecosystems)
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22 pages, 2595 KiB  
Article
Ungulate Species and Abundance as well as Environmental Factors Determine the Probability of Terminal Shoot Browsing on Temperate Forest Trees
by Andrea Doris Kupferschmid, Lukas Bütikofer, Torsten Hothorn, Andreas Schwyzer and Peter Brang
Forests 2020, 11(7), 764; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11070764 - 16 Jul 2020
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3693
Abstract
Ungulate browsing is a major factor influencing tree regeneration. However, it is unclear if the observed increase in ungulate abundance in Central Europe implies increased browsing, and which other factors influence the incidence of browsing. We investigated the impact of forty variables (site, [...] Read more.
Ungulate browsing is a major factor influencing tree regeneration. However, it is unclear if the observed increase in ungulate abundance in Central Europe implies increased browsing, and which other factors influence the incidence of browsing. We investigated the impact of forty variables (site, climate, forest and ungulates) on the probability of leader shoot browsing of six tree species which are frequent in Switzerland. The analysis was based on a large dataset including 49 monitoring areas, each containing 25–64 circular plots, in which 10 to 130 cm tall seedlings were repeatedly assessed. Browsing probability was estimated for each plot and year by mixed effects logistic regression and used as a response in random forests to disentangle the influence of the explanatory variables. Browsing probability was positively correlated with ungulate density measures (number culled by hunting or found dead) for all six tree species. Where beyond roe deer, some red deer and/or chamois were present, the browsing probability was higher. Small timber tree stands had less browsing than young growth and thicket stands. Seedlings tended to be more frequently browsed in stands with >80% canopy shading. Browsing increased with increasing understory cover, independent of vegetation category. In conclusion, browsing is a multifactorial phenomenon and ungulate density estimates alone do not explain the whole browsing probability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis and Management of Disturbance Effects on Forest Ecosystems)
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