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Forests
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Long-Term Productivity and Landscape Processes of Mixed Conifer Forests
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Long-Term Productivity and Landscape Processes of Mixed Conifer Forests

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (16 September 2022) | Viewed by 11111

Special Issue Editor

Dr. W. Keith Moser

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Rocky Mountain Research Station, US Forest Service, Flagstaff, AZ 86001-6381, USA
Interests: silviculture; forest stand dynamics; restoration ecology; landscape-level forest health; ecophysiology; rural development; agroforestry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mixed conifer forests are found throughout the temperate zones on a variety of landscapes in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Like most mixed species forests, mixed conifer forests exist because different species coexist in a temporal or spatial pattern. Particularly in mountainous regions, mixed conifer forests are highly heterogeneous and can vary over a short distance. Mixed species assemblages can be either seral or stable, developing under patterns of one or more disturbances or developing under a fairly specific edaphic and climatic regime. Depending on the severity of expected anthropogenic climate change effects, these assemblages may face novel conditions that upset the competitive balances that historically existed.

This Special Issue will present research and operational monitoring results at scales ranging from the level of individual tree group or stand up to landscape processes. We welcome studies on (1) basic physiology and stand dynamics and (2) operational treatments and impacts that provide evidence of influences on forest resiliency and productivity.

Dr. Warren Keith Moser
Guest Editor

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

  • Mixed conifer forests
  • Temperate
  • Boreal
  • Climate variability

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 4938 KiB  
Article
The Influence of the Provenance and Spatial Structure on the Growth of European Silver Fir (Abies alba Mill.) of Autochthonous Origin in a Forest Plantation in the Białowieża Forest
by Aleh Marozau, Uladzimir Kotszan, Justyna Nowakowska, Daria Berezovska, Warren Keith Moser, Tom Hsiang and Tomasz Oszako
Forests 2022, 13(6), 831; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13060831 - 26 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2624
Abstract
Currently, a change in the species composition of the Białowieża Forest, eastern Poland, is occurring. Parallel to the dying of spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.), caused by Ips typographus (L.), there is a spread of deciduous tree species, among which hornbeam ( [...] Read more.
Currently, a change in the species composition of the Białowieża Forest, eastern Poland, is occurring. Parallel to the dying of spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.), caused by Ips typographus (L.), there is a spread of deciduous tree species, among which hornbeam (Carpinus betulus L.) is the most active. Against the background of climate change, it is of interest to consider the possibility of reintroducing relict species in areas occupied until recently by spruce. One of these is silver fir (Abies alba Mill.), which is biologically and ecologically very similar to spruce. The Tisovik tract (the Belarusian part of the Białowieża Forest) is the most northeastern and the only preserved refuge of autochthonous silver fir in the region. Therefore, it is the most suitable source of propagation of this species outside the mountainous part of its range. The target area of our study was a 26-year old artificial stand included in the information system of forest genetic resources conserved in Europe. It was created in 1996 in the Polish part of the Białowieża Forest in the Hajnówka Forest District (Forestry Wilczy Jar) from 10 half-sib families originating from seeds collected in the Tisovik tract. The goal of the study was to assess the influence of provenance factors and spatial structure on productivity and phenotypic variation as measured by diameter (DBH). The study’s initial results showed that the provenance factor’s influence at the pole wood stage manifests itself more clearly than spatial structure. Even within the framework of individual half-sibs, there was a clear differentiation of diameters between investigated trees. Interpretation of the obtained results allowed us to conclude that there is a “threshold value” of the distance between trees in a stand of a given age, which determines the point when its increase no longer contributes to an increase in DBH. The most promising phenotypes were selected for further research and practical actions to reproduce silver fir further. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Long-Term Productivity and Landscape Processes of Mixed Conifer Forests)
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18 pages, 4338 KiB  
Article
Impact of Ice-Storms and Subsequent Salvage Logging on the Productivity of Cunninghamia lanceolata (Chinese Fir) Forests
by Yu Zhu, Shuguang Liu, Wende Yan, Deming Deng, Guangyi Zhou, Meifang Zhao, Fei Gao, Liangjun Zhu, Zhao Wang and Menglu Xie
Forests 2022, 13(2), 296; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13020296 - 12 Feb 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2423
Abstract
The impacts of ice-storms on forests have received growing attention in recent years. Although there is a wide agreement that ice-storms significantly affect forest structure and functions, how frequent ice-storms and subsequent salvage logging impact productivity of subtropical coniferous forests in the future [...] Read more.
The impacts of ice-storms on forests have received growing attention in recent years. Although there is a wide agreement that ice-storms significantly affect forest structure and functions, how frequent ice-storms and subsequent salvage logging impact productivity of subtropical coniferous forests in the future still remains poorly understood. In this study, we used the Ecosystem Demography model, Version 2.2 (ED-2.2), to project the impact of salvage logging of ice-storm-damaged trees on the productivity of Cunninghamia lanceolata-dominated coniferous forest and C. lanceolata-dominated mixed coniferous and broadleaved forests. The results show that forest productivity recovery is delayed in coniferous forests when there is no shade-tolerant broadleaved species invasion after ice-storms, and C. lanceolata could continue to dominate the canopy in the mixed coniferous and broadleaved forests under high-frequency ice-storms and subsequent salvage logging. The resistance and resilience of the mixed coniferous and broadleaved forests to high-frequency ice-storms and subsequent salvage logging were stronger compared to coniferous forests. Although conifers could continue to dominate the canopy under shade-tolerant broadleaved species invasion, we could not rule out the possibility of a future forest community dominated by shade-tolerant broadleaf trees because there were few coniferous saplings and shade-tolerant broadleaf species dominated the understory. Our results highlight that post-disaster forest management should be continued after high-frequency ice-storms and subsequent salvage logging in C. lanceolata forests to prevent possible shade-tolerant, late successional broadleaf trees from dominating the canopy in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Long-Term Productivity and Landscape Processes of Mixed Conifer Forests)
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16 pages, 3446 KiB  
Article
Climate-Growth Relations of Abies georgei along an Altitudinal Gradient in Haba Snow Mountain, Southwestern China
by Mei Sun, Jianing Li, Renjie Cao, Kun Tian, Weiguo Zhang, Dingcai Yin and Yun Zhang
Forests 2021, 12(11), 1569; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12111569 - 15 Nov 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 1959
Abstract
Climate warming has been detected and tree growth is sensitive to climate change in Northwestern Yunnan Plateau. Abies georgei is the main component of subalpine forest in the area. In this study, A. georgei ring width chronologies were constructed at four sites ranging [...] Read more.
Climate warming has been detected and tree growth is sensitive to climate change in Northwestern Yunnan Plateau. Abies georgei is the main component of subalpine forest in the area. In this study, A. georgei ring width chronologies were constructed at four sites ranging from 3300 to 4150 m a.s.l. in Haba Snow Mountain, Southeastern edge of Tibetan Plateau. We analyzed the relationship between four constructed chronologies and climatic variables (monthly minimum temperature, monthly mean temperature, monthly maximum temperature, monthly total precipitation, the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index, and monthly relative humidity) by using response function analysis, moving interval analysis, and redundancy analysis. Overall, the growth of A. georgei was positively affected by common climatic factors (winter moisture conditions, autumn temperature, and previous autumn precipitation). At low and middle-low sites, May moisture condition and previous December precipitation controlled its radial growth with positive correlations. At middle-high and high sites, previous November temperature was the key factor affecting tree growth. The result of moving interval analysis was consistent with correlation analyses, particularly for May moisture at low altitudes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Long-Term Productivity and Landscape Processes of Mixed Conifer Forests)
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16 pages, 2563 KiB  
Article
Modeling the Diameter Distribution of Mixed Uneven-Aged Stands in the South Western Carpathians in Romania
by Albert Ciceu, Diana Pitar and Ovidiu Badea
Forests 2021, 12(7), 958; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12070958 - 20 Jul 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2666
Abstract
Tree diameter measurements are repetitive, time-consuming, and laborious but necessary to obtain the diameter distribution of the stands. Tree diameter distribution provides much of the information necessary for sustainable management and can be predicted with high accuracy, thus saving time and financial resources. [...] Read more.
Tree diameter measurements are repetitive, time-consuming, and laborious but necessary to obtain the diameter distribution of the stands. Tree diameter distribution provides much of the information necessary for sustainable management and can be predicted with high accuracy, thus saving time and financial resources. Permanent sample plots that belong to a permanent sampling network located in a protected area in the South Western Carpathians in Romania were used in this study. We compared two theoretical distribution functions and predicted or recovered their parameters using parameter prediction and parameter recovery methods. Five modeling approaches based on maximum likelihood and the method of moments were used to predict the diameter distribution of unmanaged mixed uneven-aged stands. Parameter recovery methods outperformed parameter prediction methods while the left-truncated Weibull distribution outperformed the complete Weibull distribution. The accuracy obtained by the best modeling approach measured by the relative root mean squared error (%RMSE) reaches up to 12.6% when the sums of the diameters are raised to the third power and only 0.02% and 4.8% for the sums of the second powers and the sum of the diameters respectively. This research is the first of this kind in Romania and can serve as an example of alternative solutions to the yield tables in estimating the volume of mixed uneven-aged stands and can be easily implemented into forest growth models to predict the diameter distribution in the absence of tree lists. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Long-Term Productivity and Landscape Processes of Mixed Conifer Forests)
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