Lee Frelich provides a major contribution to the study of temperate-zone forest dynamics by considering three important themes: the combined influence of wind, fire, and herbivory on the successional trajectories and structural characteristics of forests; the interaction of deciduous and evergreen tree species to form mosiacs; and the significance of temporal and spatial scale with regard to the overall impact of disturbances. These themes are explored via case studies from the forests in the Lake States of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, where the presence of large primary forest remnants provides a unique opportunity to study the long-term dynamics of near-boreal, pine, and hardwood-hemlock forests.
Author(s): Lee E. Frelich
Series: Cambridge Studies in Ecology
Edition: 1
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 280
Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 4
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Preface......Page 9
Acknowledgments......Page 11
Introduction: disturbance in temperate conifer–hardwood forests......Page 13
The forest at the time of European settlement and today......Page 14
Extent and composition of forests......Page 15
Climate......Page 19
Hemlock–hardwood forests of Upper Michigan......Page 23
Near-boreal forests of northeastern Minnesota......Page 24
'Bigwoods’ forests of southeastern Minnesota......Page 25
Summary......Page 26
A definition and key concepts......Page 27
Disturbance intensity versus severity......Page 28
The phenomenon of windstorms......Page 29
Straight-line thunderstorm winds......Page 31
Tornadoes......Page 34
Cyclonic winds (gales)......Page 35
The phenomenon of fire......Page 36
Deer and moose in the Lake States......Page 39
Fire, wind and tree mortality......Page 41
Optimum fire rotation periods for tree species......Page 44
Disturbance and succession......Page 45
Fire......Page 48
Herbivores......Page 49
A classification of forest disturbance regimes......Page 50
Disturbance regimes on the landscape......Page 52
Summary......Page 53
Use of stand data for interpretation of stand history......Page 56
Fossil evidence......Page 58
Physical......Page 59
Compositional......Page 60
Structural......Page 61
Tree age data......Page 62
Radial increment pattern analysis......Page 64
Interpretation of releases......Page 65
Analysis of early growth rates......Page 68
Other radial increment patterns......Page 72
Summary of guidelines for interpretation of radial-growth patterns......Page 75
Area-based age structure......Page 76
Interpretation of the two sampling strategies......Page 77
Comparison of sampling strategies......Page 78
Conversion between tree-population and area samples......Page 81
How to handle trees without complete cores......Page 83
How fast does cohort area shrink over time?......Page 86
Crown expansion......Page 87
How many trees to core?......Page 93
Independence of sample trees......Page 95
The stand structural chronology......Page 96
Calculation of canopy turnover rates and residence times......Page 98
Summary......Page 100
Basic stand development sequence......Page 102
Cyclic model......Page 107
Convergent model......Page 108
Predicting successional direction......Page 109
Stand development after severe fire......Page 111
A pattern of cyclic succession......Page 115
Succession, stand development and wind in the hemlock–hardwood forest......Page 117
Basic development sequence......Page 120
All directions of succession occur in this forest......Page 122
Near-boreal forest summary......Page 129
Case study 3: The near-boreal birch, spruce–fir successional system......Page 130
Case study 4: The near-boreal birch–white and red pine, spruce–fir successional system......Page 131
Summary: general trends of succession and time lines of stand development......Page 133
Stand age distribution across the landscape......Page 136
The uniform stand-age distribution......Page 138
The negative exponential stand-age distribution......Page 139
The combination stand age distribution......Page 140
Variability in rotation periods......Page 141
Estimating rotation periods without stand age distributions......Page 142
Examples of the proportion method in use......Page 143
Confidence limits for proportion-based estimates of rotation period......Page 144
Ecosystem types, disturbance regimes, and landscape patterns......Page 147
What is a vegetation growth stage?......Page 148
Simulation structure......Page 149
Preparing for the simulation......Page 150
Two words of caution about the simulation......Page 151
Simulation set-up......Page 152
Simulation results......Page 153
Old growth on the landscape......Page 155
A taxonomy of old forests......Page 156
The dynamic interactions among old forest types......Page 157
Summary......Page 160
Wind regimes and landscape structure......Page 162
Simulation structure......Page 163
Sensitivity of the hemlock–hardwood landscape to differing wind regimes......Page 164
Fire in the hemlock–hardwood forest......Page 169
Fire in the near-boreal jack pine forest......Page 171
Complex disturbance regimes and landscape structure......Page 174
General concepts......Page 179
Application of the concepts......Page 180
Some case studies of disturbance size and successional response......Page 182
Causes of mosaics......Page 184
Measuring neighborhood effects in the field......Page 188
Characterizing patches caused by neighborhood effects......Page 189
Sylvania Case study......Page 191
Summary......Page 196
7 Disturbance in fragmented landscapes......Page 199
Development of alternative communities caused by herbivory......Page 200
The habitat-island effect and deer: hemlock in Upper Michigan......Page 203
Loss of old-growth remnants to wind: risk analysis......Page 205
The disturbance-dilution effect of fragmentation......Page 206
Summary......Page 208
8 Forest stability over time and space......Page 211
The quasi-equilibrium concept......Page 212
Stability of age structure and spatial scale......Page 215
A hierarchy of forest change......Page 218
Different stand types within a successional system......Page 219
The hierarchy and stand and landscape dynamics......Page 220
Disturbance severity revisited: cumulative disturbance severity......Page 221
Conceptual models of stand response......Page 222
How to determine which model fits......Page 225
Neighborhood effects: linking the three response models......Page 229
Application of the cusp-catastrophe model......Page 231
Near-boreal successional system......Page 233
Birch, white pine, hemlock–hardwood successional system......Page 236
Spruce–fir–birch successional system......Page 237
Aspen–maple–oak (Big Woods) successional system......Page 238
A classification of forest landscape dynamics......Page 239
Properties of the landscape dynamic categories......Page 241
Relationship of the landscape dynamic categories to previous forest concepts......Page 243
Occurrence of the landscape dynamic categories......Page 244
Categories of landscape dynamics and ecosystem type......Page 246
Disturbance, neighborhood effects, herbivory and alternate stable states......Page 247
Conclusions......Page 253
References......Page 256
Appendix 1......Page 272
Index......Page 275
