Floristic diversity in managed forests: Demography and physiology of understory plants following disturbance in Southern New England Forests

Journal of Sustainable Forestry

Volumn 28, Issue 1-2, 2009, Pages 132-151

  Ellum, David S ^a  

^a WARREN WILSON COLLEGE   (United States)

Author keywords

Canopy; Diversity; Herbaceous; Nonequilibrium models; Oak hickory; Photosynthesis; Plant conservation; Richness; Stand dynamics

Indexed keywords

BIODIVERSITY; DYNAMICS; ECOSYSTEMS; PHOTOSYNTHESIS;

CANOPY; DIVERSITY; HERBACEOUS; NONEQUILIBRIUM MODELS; OAK-HICKORY; PLANT CONSERVATION; RICHNESS; STAND DYNAMICS;

FORESTRY;

BIODIVERSITY; COMMUNITY COMPOSITION; ENVIRONMENTAL DISTURBANCE; FLORISTICS; FOREST MANAGEMENT; PLANT COMMUNITY; UNDERSTORY;

BIODIVERSITY; CONSERVATION; ECOSYSTEMS; FOREST CANOPY; FORESTRY; FORESTS; PHOTOSYNTHESIS; PHYSIOLOGY;

NEW ENGLAND; NORTH AMERICA; UNITED STATES;

CARYA;

EID: 60149099175     PISSN: 10549811     EISSN: 1540756X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10549810802626431     Document Type: Review

References (111)

1. Aikens, M. L., Ellum, D. S., McKenna, J. J., Kelty, M. J. and Ashton, M. S. (2007) The effects of disturbance intensity on temporal and spatial patterns of herb colonization in a southern New England mixed-oak forest. Forest Ecology and Management, 252, pp. 144-158.
2. Anderson, M. C. (1964) Studies of the woodland light climate. II. Seasonal variation in the light climate. Journal of Ecology, 52, pp. 643-663.
3. Ashton, P. M. S. and Berlyn, G. P. (1994) A comparison of leaf physiology and anatomy of Quercus (section Erythrobalanus-Fagaceae) species in different light environments. American Journal of Botany, 81, pp. 589-597.
4. Aubert, M., Alard, D. and Bureau, F. (2003) Diversity of plant assemblages in managed forests: A case study in Normandy (France). Forest Ecology and Management, 175, pp. 321-337.
5. Battles, J. J., Shlisky, A., Barrett, R., Heald, R. and Allen-Diaz, B. (2001) The effects of forest management on plant species diversity in a Sierran Conifer Forest. Forest Ecology and Management, 146, pp. 211-222.
6. Bazzaz, F. A. (1979) The physiological ecology of plant succession. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 10, pp. 351-371.
7. Bazzaz, F. A. (1996) Plants in changing environments: Linking physiological, population, and community ecology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom
8. Beatty, S. (1984) Influence of microtopography and canopy species on spatial patterns of forest understory plants. Ecology, 65, pp. 1406-1419.
9. Berger, A. L. and Puettmann, K. (2004) Harvesting impacts on soil and understory vegetation: The influence of season of harvest and within-site disturbance patterns on clear-cut aspen stands in Minnesota. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 43, pp. 2159-2168.
10. Bierzychudek, P. (1982) Life histories and demography of shade-tolerant temperate forest herbs: A review. New Phytologist, 90, pp. 757-776.
11. Blair, R. M. and Brunett, L. (1976) Phytosociological changes after timber harvest in a southern pine ecosystem. Ecology, 57, pp. 18-32.
12. Boardman, N. K. (1977) Comparative photosynthesis of sun and shade leaves. Annual Review of Plant Physiology, 28, pp. 335-357.
13. Bormann, F. H. and Likens, G. (1994) Patterns and process in a forested ecosystem, New Springer-Verlag
14. Bratton, S. P. (1976) Resource division in an understory herb community: Responses to temporal and microtopographic gradients. The American Naturalist, 110, pp. 679-693.
15. Bratton, S. P. (1994) Logging and fragmentation of broadleaved deciduous forests: Are we asking the right questions?. Conservation Biology, 8, pp. 295-297.
16. Braun, E. L. (1950) Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America, Hafner Publishing Co, New York
17. Brokaw, N. V. L. (1985) Gap-phase regeneration in tropical forest. Ecology, 66, pp. 682-687.
18. Brofoske, K. D., Chen, J. and Crow, T. (2001) Understory vegetation and site factors: Implications for a managed Wisconsin landscape. Forest Ecology and Management, 146, pp. 75-87.
19. Bunnell, F. L. and Huggard, D. (1999) Biodiversity across spatial and temporal scales: Problems and opportunities. Forest Ecology and Management, 115, pp. 101-112.
20. Cajander, A. K. (1926) The theory of forest types. Acta Foresta Fennica, 29, pp. 1-108.
21. Caldwell, M. M. and Pearcy, R. (1994) Exploitation of environmental heterogeneity by plants: Ecophysiological processes above- and below-ground, Academic Press, San Diego, CA
22. Canham, C. D. (1988) An index for understory light levels in and around canopy gaps. Ecology, 69, pp. 1634-1638.
23. Canham, C. D., Denslow, J., Platt, W., Runkle, J., Spies, T. and White, P. (1990) Light regimes beneath closed canopies and tree-fall gaps in temperate and tropical forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 20, pp. 620-631.
24. Chastain, R. A., Currie, W. and Townsend, P. (2006) Carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling implications of the evergreen understory layer of Appalachian forests. Forest Ecology and Management, 231, pp. 63-77.
25. Chazdon, R. L. and Fletcher, N. (1984) Photosynthetic light environments in a lowland tropical rain forest in Costa Rica. Journal of Ecology, 72, pp. 553-564.
26. Chazdon, R. L. and Kaufman, S. (1993) Plasticity of leaf anatomy of two rain forest shrubs in relation to photosynthetic light acclimation. Functional Ecology, 7, pp. 385-394.
27. Clearwater, M. J., Susilawaty, R., Effendi, R. and van Gardingen, P. (1999) Rapid photosynthetic acclimation of Shorea johorensis seedling after logging disturbance in Central Kalimantan. Oecologia, 121, pp. 478-488.
28. Collins, B. S., Dunne, K. and Pickett, S. T. A. (1985) Responses of forest herbs to canopy gaps. The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics, pp. 218-234. Academic Press, San Diego, CA
29. Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (2004) Connecticut's endangered, threatened and special concern species, Connecticut DEP-Wildlife Division, Hartford, CT
30. Connell, J. H. (1978) Diversity in tropical rainforests and coral reefs. Science, 199, pp. 1302-1310.
31. Davidson, S. E. and Forman, R. (1982) Herb and shrub dynamics in a mature oak forest: A thirty year study. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 109, pp. 64-73.
32. Denslow, J. S. (1985) Disturbance-mediated coexistence of species. The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics, pp. 307-331. Academic Press, San Diego, CA
33. Donohue, K., Foster, D. and Motzkin, G. (2000) Effects of the past and the present on species distribution: Land-use history and demography of wintergreen. Journal of Ecology, 88:2, pp. 303-316.
34. Duffy, C. and Meier, A. (1992) Do Appalachian herbaceous understories ever recover from clearcutting?. Biological Conservation, 6, pp. 196-201.
35. Elliot, K. J. and Knoepp, J. (2005) The effects of three regeneration harvest methods on plant diversity and soil characteristics in the southern Appalachians. Forest Ecology and Management, 211, pp. 296-317.
36. Elliot, K. J. and Loftis, D. (1993) Vegetation diversity after logging in the southern Appalachians. Conservation Biology, 7, pp. 220-221.
37. Ellum, D. S. (2007) Demographic patterns and disturbance responses of understory vegetation in a southern New England forest: Implications for sustainable forestry and biodiversity maintenance, Doctoral dissertation, Yale University, New Haven, CT
38. Ford, W. M., Odom, R., Hale, P. and Chapman, B. (2000) Stand-age, stand characteristics, and landform effects on understory herbaceous communities in southern Appalachian cove-hardwoods. Biological Conservation, 93, pp. 237-246.
39. Foster, D. R. (1992) Land-use history (1730-1990) and vegetation dynamics in central New England, USA. Journal of Ecology, 80, pp. 753-772.
40. Foster, D., Swanson, F., Aber, J., Burke, I., Brokaw, N. Tilman, D. et al. (2003) The importance of land-use legacies to ecology and conservation. BioScience, 53, pp. 77-88.
41. Fountain, M. S. (1980) Relating understory vegetation to site quality in north-central West Virginia. Castanea, 45, pp. 1-9.
42. Fredericksen, T. S., Ross, B., Hoffman, W., Morrison, M., Beyea, J. Johnson, B. et al. (1999) Short-term understory plant community responses to timber-harvesting intensity on non-industrial private forestlands in Pennsylvania. Forest Ecology and Management, 116, pp. 129-139.
43. Gerhardt, F. and Foster, D. (2002) Physiographical and historical effects on forest vegetation in central New England, USA. Journal of Biogeography, 29, pp. 1421-1437.
44. Gilliam, F. S., Turrill, N. and Adams, M. (1995) Herbaceous-layer and overstory species in clearcut and mature central Appalachian hardwood forests. Ecological Applications, 5, pp. 947-955.
45. Givnish, T. J. (1988) Adaptation to sun and shade: A whole-plant perspective. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology, 15, pp. 63-92.
46. Gotelli, N. J. and Colwell, R. (2001) Quantifying biodiversity: Procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness. Ecology Letters, 4, pp. 379-391.
47. Graae, B. J. and Heskjaer, V. (1997) A comparison of understory vegetation between untouched and managed deciduous forest in Denmark. Forest Ecology and Management, 96, pp. 111-123.
48. Grime, J. P. (1977) Evidence for the existence of three primary strategies in plants and its relevance to ecological and evolutionary theory. The American Naturalist, 111, pp. 1169-1194.
49. Halpern, C. B. (1988) Early successional pathways and the resistance and resilience of forest communities. Ecology, 69, pp. 1703-1715.
50. Halpern, C. B. and Spies, T. (1995) Plant species diversity in natural and managed forests of the Pacific Northwest. Ecological Applications, 5, pp. 913-934.
51. Hicks, D. J. and Chabot, B. (1985) Deciduous forests. Physiological ecology of North American plant communities, pp. 257-273. Chapman and Hall, New York
52. Hubert, L., Gagnon, D., Kneeshaw, D. and Messier, C. (2007) A shade tolerance index for common understory species of northeastern North America. Ecological indicators, 791, pp. 195-207.
53. Huebner, C. D., Randolph, J. and Parker, G. (1995) Environmental factors affecting understory diversity in second-growth deciduous forests. The American Midland Naturalist, 134, pp. 155-165.
54. Ito, S., Ishigami, S., Mizoue, N. and Buckley, G. (2006) Maintaining plant species composition and diversity of understory vegetation under strip-clearcutting forestry in conifer plantations in Kyushu, southern Japan. Forest Ecology and Management, 231, pp. 234-241.
55. Jenkins, M. A. and Parker, G. (1999) Composition and diversity of ground-layer vegetation in silvicultural openings of southern Indiana forests. The American Midland Naturalist, 142, pp. 1-16.
56. Johnson, A. S., Ford, W. and Hale, P. (1993) The effects of clearcutting on herbaceous understories are still not fully known. Conservation Biology, 7, pp. 433-435.
57. Johnson, P. S., Shifley, S. and Rogers, R. (2002) The ecology and silviculture of oaks, CABI Publishing, New York
58. Jones, S. M. and Churchill, L. (1987) The use of vegetation in assessing site potential within the upper coastal plain of South Carolina. Castanea, 52, pp. 1-8.
59. Kern, C. C., Palik, B. and Strong, T. (2006) Ground-layer plant community responses to even-age and uneven-age silviculture treatments in Wisconsin northern hardwood forests. Forest ecology and Management, 230, pp. 162-170.
60. Kusar, T. A. and Coley, P. (1999) Contrasting modes of light acclimation in two species of rainforest understory. Oecologia, 121, pp. 489-498.
61. Landhauser, S. M., Stadt, K. and Lieffers, V. (1997) Photosynthetic strategies of summergreen and evergreen understory herbs of the boreal mixed-wood forest. Oceologia, 112, pp. 173-178.
62. Larcher, W. (1995) Physiological plant ecology, Springer Press, Berlin, Germany
63. Lindenmayer, D. B. (1999) Future directions for biodiversity conservation in managed forests: Indicator species, impact studies, and monitoring. Forest Ecology and Management, 115, pp. 277-288.
64. Lindenmayer, D. B., Franklin, J. and Fischer, J. (2006) General management principles and a checklist of strategies to guide forest biodiversity conservation. Biological Conservation, 131, pp. 433-445.
65. Maguire, D. A. and Forman, R. (1983) Herb cover effects on tree seedling patterns in a mature hemlock-hardwood forest. Ecology, 64, pp. 1367-1380.
66. Magurran, A. E. (1988) Ecological diversity and its measurement, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ
67. Mahall, B. E. and Borman, F. (1978) A quantitative description of the vegetative phenology of herbs in a northern hardwood forest. Botanical Gazette, 139, pp. 467-481.
68. Maschinski, J., Kolb, T. E., Smith, E. and Philips, B. (1997) Potential impacts of timber harvesting on a rare understory plant, Clematis hirsutissima var. arizonica. Biological Conservation, 80, pp. 49-61.
69. Matlack, G. (1994) Plant demography, land-use history, and the commercial use of forests. Conservation Biology, 8, pp. 298-299.
70. Meier, A. J., Bratton, S. and Duffy, D. (1995) Possible ecological mechanisms for loss of vernal-herb diversity in logged eastern deciduous forests. Ecological Applications, 5, pp. 935-946.
71. Metzger, F. and Schultz, J. (1981) Spring groundcover layer vegetation 50 years after harvesting in northern hardwood forests. The American Midland Naturalist, 105, pp. 44-50.
72. Minckler, L. S., Woerheide, J. and Schlesinger, R. (1973) Light, moisture and tree reproduction in hardwood forest openings, U.S. Department of Agriculture, St. Paul, MN
73. Mulkey, S. S. and Pearcy, R. (1992) Interactions between acclimation and photoinhibition of photosynthesis of a tropical forest understory herb, Alocasia macrorrhiza, during simulated canopy gap formation. Functional Ecology, 6, pp. 719-729.
74. Muller, R. N. (2003) Nutrient relations of the herbaceous layer in deciduous forest ecosystems. The herbaceaous layer in forests of Eastern North America, pp. 15-37. Oxford University Press, New York
75. Muraoka, H., Tang, Y., Koizumi, H. and Washitani, I. (2002) Effects of light and soil water availability on leaf photosynthesis and growth of Araesima heterophyllum, a riparian understory plant. Journal of Plant Research, 115, pp. 419-427.
76. Naidu, S. L. and Delucia, E. (1998) Physiological and morphological acclimation of shade-grown tree seedlings to late-season canopy gap formation. Plant Ecology, 138, pp. 27-40.
77. North, M., Chen, J., Smith, G., Krakowiak, L. and Franklin, J. (1996) Initial response of understory plant diversity and overstory tree diameter growth to a green tree retention harvest. Northwest Science, 70, pp. 24-35.
78. Oliver, C. D. (1981) Forest development in North America following major disturbances. Forest Ecology and Management, 3, pp. 153-168.
79. Oliver, C. D. and Larson, B. (1996) Forest stand dynamics, John Wiley and Sons, Inc, New York
80. Pearcy, R. P. and Sims, D. (1994) Photosynthetic acclimation to changing light environments: Scaling from the leaf to the whole plant. Exploitation of environmental heterogeneity by plants: Ecophysiological processes above- and below-ground, pp. 145-170. Academic Press, San Diego, CA
81. Peet, R. K. (1974) The measurement of species diversity. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 5, pp. 285-307.
82. Peet, R. K. and Christensen, N. (1980) Succession: A population process. Vegetatio, 43, pp. 131-140.
83. Peltzer, D. A., Bast, M., Wilson, S. and Gerry, A. (2000) Plant diversity and tree responses following contrasting disturbances in boreal forest. Forest Ecology and Management, 127, pp. 191-203.
84. Petraitis, P. S., Latham, R. and Neisenbaum, R. (1989) The maintenance of species diversity by disturbance. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 64, pp. 393-418.
85. Phillips, D. L. and Shure, D. (1990) Patch-size effects on early succession in southern Appalachian forests. Ecology, 71, pp. 204-212.
86. Quinby, P. A. (2000) First-year impacts of shelterwood logging on understory vegetation in an old-growth pine stand in central Ontario, Canada. Environmental Conservation, 27, pp. 229-241.
87. Reader, R. J. and Bricker, B. (1992) Value of selectively cut deciduous forest for understory herb conservation: An experimental assessment. Forest Ecology and Management, 51, pp. 317-327.
88. Roberts, M. R. and Gilliam, F. (1995) Patterns and mechanisms of plant diversity in forested ecosystems: Implications for forest management. Ecological Applications, 5, pp. 969-977.
89. Rothstein, D. E. and Zak, D. (2001) Photosynthetic adaptation and acclimation to exploit seasonal periods of direct irradiance in three temperate, deciduous herbs. Functional Ecology, 15, pp. 722-731.
90. Ruben, J. A., Bolger, D., Peart, D. and Ayres, M. P. (1999) Understory herb assemblages 25 and 60 years after clearcutting of a northern hardwood forest. Biological Conservation, 90, pp. 203-215.
91. Rubio, A., Gavilan, R. and Escudero, A. (1999) Are soil characteristics and understory composition controlled by forest management?. Forest Ecology and Management, 113, pp. 191-200.
92. Runkle, J. R. (1982) Patterns of disturbance in some old-growth mesic forests of eastern North America. Ecology, 63, pp. 1533-1546.
93. Runkle, J. R. (1985) Disturbance regimes in temperate forests. The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics, pp. 17-33. Academic Press, San Diego, CA
94. Schumann, M. E., White, A. and Whitman, J. (2003) The effects of harvest created gaps on plant species diversity, composition and abundance in a Maine oak-pine forest. Forest Ecology and Management, 176, pp. 543-561.
95. Siccama, T. J., Bormann, F. and Likens, G. (1970) The Hubbard Brook ecosystem study: Pproductivity, nutrients, and phytosociology of the herbaceous layer. Ecological Monographs, 40, pp. 389-403.
96. Sims, D. A. and Pearcy, R. (1992) Response of leaf anatomy and photosynthetic capacity on Alocasia macrorrhiza (Araceae) to a transfer from low to high light. American Journal of Botany, 79, pp. 449-455.
97. Small, J. C. and McCarthy, B. (2002) Spatial and temporal variation in the response of understory vegetation to disturbance in a central Appalachian oak forest. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, 129, pp. 136-153.
98. Small, J. C. and McCarthy, B. (2005) Relationship of understory diversity to soil nitrogen, topographic variation, and stand age in an eastern oak forest, USA. Forest Ecology and Management, 217, pp. 229-243.
99. Smith, D. M., Larson, B., Kelty, M. and Ashton, P. M. S. (1997) The practice of silviculture: Applied forest ecology, John Wiley and Sons, New York
100. Sparling, J. H. (1967) Assimilation rates of some woodland herbs in Ontario. Botanical Gazette, 128, pp. 160-168.
101. Strauss-Debenedetti, S. and Bazzaz, F. (1991) Plasticity and acclimation to light in tropical Moraceae of different successional positions. Oecologia, 87, pp. 377-387.
102. Strauss-Debenedetti, S. and Berlyn, G. P. (1994) Leaf anatomical responses to light in five tropical Moraceae of different successional status. American Journal of Botany, 81, pp. 1582-1591.
103. Strong, W., Pluth, D., La Roi, G. and Corns, I. (1991) Forest understory plants as predictors of lodgepole pine and white spruce site quality in west-central Alberta. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 21, pp. 1675-1683.
104. 2 exchange characteristics of understory plants from a deciduous forest. Canadian Journal of Botany, 54, pp. 1094-1103.
105. Thomas, S. C., Halpern, C., Flak, D., Ligouri, D. and Austin, K. (1999) Plant diversity in managed forests: Understory responses to thinning and fertilization. Ecological Applications, 9, pp. 864-879.
106. Thompson, J., Brokaw, N., Zimmerman, J., Waide, R., Everham, E. Lodge, D. et al. (2002) Land use history, environment, and tree composition in a tropical forest. Ecological Applications, 12, pp. 1344-1363.
107. White, P. S. (1979) Pattern, process, and natural disturbance in vegetation. Botanical Review, 45, pp. 229-299.
108. White, P. S. and Pickett, S. (1985) Natural disturbance and patch dynamics: An introduction. The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics, pp. 3-9. Academic Press, San Diego, CA
109. Whitmore, T. C. (1989) Canopy gaps and the two major groups of forest trees. Ecology, 70, pp. 536-538.
110. Whitney, G. G. and Foster, D. (1988) Overstory composition and age as determinants of the understory flora of woods of central New England. Journal of Ecology, 76, pp. 867-876.
111. Yorks, T. E. and Dabydeen, S. (1999) Seasonal and successional understory vascular plant diversity in second-growth hardwood clearcuts of western Maryland, USA. Forest Ecology and Management, 119, pp. 217-230.