Integrating Forest Health Patterns in Growth and Yield Models

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2019)

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, 1530 Cleveland Ave N, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
Interests: forest ecosystem health; forest modeling; growth and yield models; forest carbon; carbon sequestration

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Disturbances and forest health threats influence the structure and composition of forest ecosystems and will likely increase in frequency and severity under future global change scenarios. In forest modeling scenarios, too often data from disturbed forests are overlooked in favor of quantifying the “average tree” and its growth potential. Disturbances that impact forest health, including insects, diseases, fire, herbivory, and weather damage, can have immediate impacts to forest growth and yield or can persist for long durations. The lack of information regarding the impacts and responses of forests emphasizes the need for quantifying the magnitude and uncertainties associated with forest health agents.

For this Special Issue of Forests, we invite papers that integrate the impacts of forest disturbance and forest health stressors in models that characterize forest growth and yield patterns. We welcome studies from diverse forest types that quantify growth and yield at the scale of the landscape, stand, and/or individual tree. Empirical, process-based, and/or hybrid model designs will be considered for this issue.

Dr. Matthew B. Russell
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • forest ecosystem health
  • forest disturbance
  • insects
  • disease
  • climate change
  • growth and yield
  • forest modeling
  • empirical models
  • process models
  • forest management

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2218 KiB  
Article
Projecting Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata) Populations over Time in the Presence of Various Representations of Pitch Canker Disease, Caused by Fusarium circinatum
by Gregory J. Reynolds, Thomas R. Gordon and Neil McRoberts
Forests 2019, 10(5), 437; https://doi.org/10.3390/f10050437 - 21 May 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3659
Abstract
Monterey pine (Pinus radiata D. Don) is native to California and widely planted in Mediterranean climates around the world. Pitch canker, a disease caused by Fusarium circinatum Nirenberg and O’Donnell, is a serious threat to P. radiata in native forests and in [...] Read more.
Monterey pine (Pinus radiata D. Don) is native to California and widely planted in Mediterranean climates around the world. Pitch canker, a disease caused by Fusarium circinatum Nirenberg and O’Donnell, is a serious threat to P. radiata in native forests and in plantations. Because of its economic importance worldwide, conservation of P. radiata native populations is a high priority. We developed a demographic matrix projection model to simulate dynamics of naturally occurring P. radiata populations in California in the presence of the disease. Tree demography data for the model were collected from seven sites in a native forest on the Monterey Peninsula. Height and stem diameter were recorded for all trees, which were divided into five size classes based on these data. Transition probabilities were calculated for each size class; cone production, seed release, and seed transition probability were estimated using an iterative search process. In the model, pitch canker influences state-specific fecundity and survival probabilities. Five different approaches to include these effects were compared. Populations were projected over 50 decades from three specified initial population sizes. Elasticity analysis indicated that facilitating survival of all size classes is vital to maintaining the structure of the forest. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrating Forest Health Patterns in Growth and Yield Models)
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11 pages, 1912 KiB  
Article
Impacts of Alternative Harvesting and Natural Disturbance Scenarios on Forest Biomass in the Superior National Forest, USA
by Matthew B. Russell, Stephanie R. Patton, David C. Wilson, Grant M. Domke and Katie L. Frerker
Forests 2018, 9(8), 491; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9080491 - 12 Aug 2018
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4262
Abstract
The amount of biomass stored in forest ecosystems is a result of past natural disturbances, forest management activities, and current structure and composition such as age class distributions. Although natural disturbances are projected to increase in their frequency and severity on a global [...] Read more.
The amount of biomass stored in forest ecosystems is a result of past natural disturbances, forest management activities, and current structure and composition such as age class distributions. Although natural disturbances are projected to increase in their frequency and severity on a global scale in the future, forest management and timber harvesting decisions continue to be made at local scales, e.g., the ownership or stand level. This study simulated potential changes in natural disturbance regimes and their interaction with timber harvest goals across the Superior National Forest (SNF) in northeastern Minnesota, USA. Forest biomass stocks and stock changes were simulated for 120 years under three natural disturbance and four harvest scenarios. A volume control approach was used to estimate biomass availability across the SNF and a smaller project area within the SNF (Jeanette Project Area; JPA). Results indicate that under current harvest rates and assuming disturbances were twice that of normal levels resulted in reductions of 2.62 to 10.38% of forest biomass across the four primary forest types in the SNF and JPA, respectively. Under this scenario, total biomass stocks remained consistent after 50 years at current and 50% disturbance rates, but biomass continued to decrease under a 200%-disturbance scenario through 120 years. In comparison, scenarios that assumed both harvest and disturbance were twice that of normal levels and resulted in reductions ranging from 14.18 to 29.85% of forest biomass. These results suggest that both natural disturbances and timber harvesting should be considered to understand their impacts to future forest structure and composition. The implications from simulations like these can provide managers with strategic approaches to determine the economic and ecological outcomes associated with timber harvesting and disturbances. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrating Forest Health Patterns in Growth and Yield Models)
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