Special Issue "Biodiversity and Forest Dynamics and Functions"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Takashi S. Kohyama
Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
Website: http://hosho.ees.hokudai.ac.jp/~kohyama/
E-Mail: kohyama@ees.hokudai.ac.jp
Interests: plant architecture; forest tree community organization; forest ecosystems

Dear Colleagues,

Forests with spatially large and long-lived architecture are dynamically maintained through physiological, and population processes of constituent trees and other life forms. Due to their huge structure and long residence time, forests are most difficult system to be experimentally manipulated to solve linkage between forest biodiversity and functioning. Meantime, for example, we know that there is physiognomic and functional convergence of forest ecosystems under similar climate across isolated regions with unique biota, which allows to define biome types. This biogeographic convergence suggests that different assembly of biological components promotes ecosystem-level adaptation to climatic environments. This special issue focuses on the linkage between functioning of forest ecosystems and underlying biodiversity within and across ecosystems, and aims to enhance the cross-scale view of basic and applied forest science.

Prof. Dr. Takashi S. Kohyama
Guest Editor

Submission

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. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as 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 refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly 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 500 CHF (Swiss Francs). English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

Manuscript ID: diversity-18059
Type of Paper: Article
Title: Species Diversity Linked to Environmental Complexity in the Rocky Mountains, USA
Authors: Antonin Kusbach; Helga Van Miegroet and James N. Long
Affiliation: Department of Wildland Resources, and Ecology Center, Utah State University, 5230 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-5230, USA; E-Mail: tony.kusbach@usu.edu
Abstract: The central Rocky Mountains represent enormous species diversity and environmental complexity. The heterogeneity of vegetation and environmental patterns has not been incorporated well into characterizations of either forest or non-forest ecosystems. Existing characterizations include only general representations of environmental gradients, e.g., elevation, topography-moisture, and similarly very broad representations of vegetation, e.g., zones. We present an alternative framework which captures both species diversity and environmental complexity in an ecologically heterogeneous montane-subalpine area in the northern Wasatch Range, Utah. Within a 20,000-ha area, 163 forest and non-forest ecosystems were described by traditional physiographic features, e.g., elevation, slope aspect, soil physical and chemical properties, and a complete listing of vascular plant species. Multivariate statistics were used to analyze complex datasets of 34 environmental factors and 324 species. We derived ecologically meaningful environmental gradients and were able to associate these with patterns in species composition. This approach results in improved understanding of the complex environment in the central Rocky Mountains as an important driver for the diversity in vegetation distribution and composition.

Manuscript ID: diversity-18299.
Type of Paper: Article
Title: The Influence of Forest Age and Structure on Abiotic and Biotic Patterns in Soils and Litter
Authors: David A. Perry ¹, Robert P. Griffiths ¹, Andrew R. Moldenke ² and Stephanie L. Madson ³
Affiliation: ¹ Department of Forest Ecosystems & Society, College of Forestry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
² Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, 2082 Cordley Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331-2902, USA; E-Mail: dave_perry38@msn.com
³ Department of Entomology, Oregon State University, 4017 ALS Bldg Corvallis, OR 97331-7304, USA
Abstract: We compared organic matter (SOM), moisture, available nitrogen, and soil/litter arthropod communities among old growth (OG), unthinned mature (UM), and thinned mature (TM) forests in nine locales distributed among three regions of Oregon. OG had higher percent SOM  than either type of mature stand, however the difference between OG and TM was due solely to a single locale. Because of a strong negative correlation between percent SOM  and soil bulk density, SOM expressed on a per volume basis did not differ among stand types, however we argue that per weight is a more accurate comparison of storage differences than per volume. Early summer soil moisture was strongly and exponentially related to percent SOM both among and within regions. Mean soil moisture was significantly higher in OG than in either mature stand type, especially in the relatively dry Siskiyou Mountains, where OG averaged 218% greater soil moisture than the mature stands. This was not solely an effect of higher SOM but stemmed also from the ability of OG to maintain a constant average moisture per unit SOM across precipitation zones, whereas that ratio declined with declining precipitation in mature stands.  Excluding one locale, OG averaged significantly higher levels of available nitrogen (N) than either mature stand type. Species richness of soil and litter arthropods correlated significantly (+) with percent SOM and litter depth, respectively, while the maximum richness of spring pitfall catches (mostly mobile predators) declined sharply with percent SOM. Numbers of individuals followed the same pattern as species richness for Spring pitfalls but not for litter or soil arthropods, whose numbers correlated most closely with mean annual precipitation. Ordination of soil and litter arthropod communities showed significant regional differences, but differences among stand types only in the relatively dry Siskiyou Mountains, where OG was distinct from both mature stand types.  The primary difference between OG and mature forest arthropods was functional. With the exception of one stand, available N correlated significantly with soil arthropods (primarily fungivores) in OG but not in mature stands, suggesting that fungi played a more important role in the N cycle of OG than of mature stands, perhaps because the latter still reflected the effects of clearcutting and thinning on the N cycle. Patterns of landscape level heterogeneity differed among stand types and regions. In the Cascade Mountains and Coast Range, SOM was highly variable among OG but relatively uniform among mature stands, while in the Siskiyous the opposite was true. We hypothesize that historic disturbance patterns account for a significant proportion of the landscape-level patterns seen in SOM, as well as the idiosyncratic nature of SOM and available N seen in some OG and mature stands. SOM in turn is a master variable that strongly influences soil moisture and the structure of arthropod communities.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: An Ecological Impact on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Cycling by a Functional Fast-Growing Leguminous Tree for Forest Plantations 
Author: Masahiro Inagaki
Affiliation: Forest Ecosystems Research Group, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Kyushu Research Center, 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-8687, Japan
Abstract: Symbiotic nitrogen fixation is one of the major pathways of N input to forest ecosystems enriching N availability particularly in lowland tropics. Recently there is growing concern in the wide areas of fast-growing leguminous plantations that could alter global N2O emissions. Here we introduce substantially different N and phosphorus utilization and cycling at a N2-fixing plantation of Acacia mangium, which is one of the major plantation species in tropical/subtropical Asia. The litterfall, fresh leaf quality and fine-root ingrowth of A. mangium were compared to those of non-N2-fixing Swietenia macrophylla and coniferous Araucaria cunninghamii in wet tropical climates in Borneo, Malaysia. The N and P concentrations of the A. mangium fresh leaves were higher than those of the other two species, whereas the P concentration in the leaf-litterfall of A. mangium was less than half that of the others, in contrast to the higher N concentration. The N:P ratio in the A. mangium leaf was markedly increased from fresh-leaf (29) to leaf-litterfall (81). Although the N flux in the total litterfall at the A. mangium plantation was large, the fine root ingrowth of A. mangium significantly increased by applying both N and P. In conclusion, large quantities of N were accumulated and returned to the forest floor in A. mangium, in contrast to its efficient P resorption. Such large N cycling and restricted P cycling in wide areas of monoculture A. mangium plantations may alter N and P cycling and their balance in the organic layer and soil on a regional level.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Impact of Herbicide Application and Variable Birch Density on Understory Diversity and Tree growth in Sub Boreal Forest
Authors: Christopher D.B. HAWKINS^{1, 2}, Amalesh DHAR¹
Affiliation: ¹ Mixedwood Ecology and Management Program, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada
² Yukon Research Centre, Yukon College, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
Abstract: Conserving biological diversity, maintaining ecological services and restoring the natural forests characteristics are important objectives in sustainable forest management. In British Columbia (BC) broadleaf species and other competing vegetation are routinely removed from stands by manual or chemical brushing to promote conifer crop trees growth. Different birch density were established via mechanical and chemical approaches in young mixedwood stands to test the hypothesis that different birch densities would impact understory diversity and spruce in central BC interior. Results indicate that overall species richness increased from 2002 to 2006 across treatments. Species diversity (α) (Simpson's index and Shannon-Wiener function) indices were similar among treatments. Further, beta diversity (β; Sorensen CN and Morisita - Horn) indices were relatively low indicating little change in diversity among the treatment areas over time. Regression analysis revealed that up to a moderate birch density (1038 stem ha^-1) there was no significant impact on spruce radial growth or height growth. White pine weevil (WPW) (Pissodes strobi Peck) attack was significantly greater in the herbicide treated area than the other density treatments. The results suggest the presence of birch up to a moderate density may have no significant effect on understory diversity but has positive effect on stands yield and controlling WPW attack. However, herbicide application shows minimal impact on understory diversity and tree growth but impact WPW attack.
Keywords: alpha and beta diversity; ecosystem management; species diversity; species richness; White pine weevil (WPW)

Title: Diversity of mat-forming fungi in relation to soil properties, disturbance, and forest type at Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
Author: Trappe, M.J.; Cromack, K.; Caldwell, B.A.; Griffiths, R.P.; Trappe, J.M.
Affiliation: Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, 321 Richardson Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA; E-Mail: Matt.Trappe@oregonstate.edu
Abstract: In forest ecosystems, fungal mats are functionally important in nutrient and water uptake in litter and wood decomposition processes, in carbon resource allocation, soil weathering and in cycling of soil resources. Fungal mats can occur abundantly in forests and are widely distributed globally. We sampled ponderosa pine/white fir and mountain hemlock/noble fir communities at Crater Lake National Park for mat-forming soil fungi. Fungus collections were identified by DNA sequencing. Thirty-eight mat-forming genotypes were identified; members of the five most common genera (/Gautieria/,/Lepiota,/ /Piloderma, Ramaria,/ and /Rhizopogon/) comprised 67% of all collections. The mycorrhizal genera /Alpova/ and /Lactarius/ are newly identified as ectomycorrhizal mat-forming taxa, as are the saprotrophic genera /Flavoscypha, Gastropila/, /Lepiota /and /Xenasmatella/. Twelve typical mat forms, representing both ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi that were found are illustrated. Abundance of fungal mats was correlated with higher soil carbon to nitrogen ratios, fine woody debris and needle litter mass in both forest community types. Definitions of fungal mats are discussed, along with some of the challenges in defining what comprises a fungal 'mat'.