Emulating Succession of Boreal Mixedwood Forests in Alberta Using Understory Protection Harvesting
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methods
2.1. Experimental Design and Study Sites
2.2. Plot Cluster Design and Measurements
2.3. Dataset Screening and Processing
2.4. Assessing Growth Response to Treatments
2.5. Yield Projections
3. Results
3.1. Spruce Growth Response to Release
3.2. Growth of Spruce and Aspen Saplings
3.3. Mortality of Spruce and Aspen Trees
3.4. Density of Aspen and Spruce Saplings
3.5. Growth and Yield Implications
4. Discussion
4.1. Spruce Growth Response to Release
4.2. Mortality and Ingress of Aspen and Spruce Trees
4.3. Density of Aspen and Spruce Saplings
4.4. Growth and Yield Implications of Understory Protection
4.5. Study Limitations
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Block ID | No. of Plots | Latitude (°) | Longitude (°) | Elevation (m) | MAT (°C) | MAP (mm y−1) | Climate Moisture Index (cm y−1) | AGEAw (y) | SIAw (m) | SISw (m) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
330 | 2 | 58.6035 | −118.2480 | 387 | −0.3 | 436 | 0.0 | 83 | 18.5 | 15.6 |
572 | 2 | 54.8524 | −118.8800 | 766 | 2.5 | 506 | 3.3 | 87 | 17.7 | 14.6 |
2212 | 2 | 58.6465 | −118.2560 | 362 | −0.3 | 432 | −0.4 | 76 | 19.8 | 17.4 |
7012 | 6 | 55.1263 | −114.1063 | 586 | 2.1 | 464 | 0.5 | 73 | 20.5 | 18.3 |
11911 | 6 | 54.8673 | −113.6920 | 696 | 2.0 | 481 | 2.4 | 76 | 19.7 | 17.3 |
15571 | 6 | 55.1531 | −111.6096 | 663 | 1.4 | 464 | 2.0 | 51 | 26.4 | 26.2 |
16751 | 6 | 55.3228 | −113.3175 | 612 | 1.7 | 472 | 1.8 | 81 | 21.7 | 20.0 |
17781 | 6 | 55.7634 | −110.8947 | 556 | 1.4 | 465 | 2.3 | 59 | 21.0 | 19.1 |
19191 | 6 | 55.3408 | −113.3909 | 611 | 1.7 | 470 | 1.7 | 102 | 21.9 | 20.3 |
20631 | 2 | 55.7694 | −110.8960 | 534 | 1.5 | 463 | 1.7 | 57 | 26.6 | 26.5 |
22361 | 6 | 54.8984 | −113.7372 | 688 | 2.0 | 479 | 2.2 | 59 | 20.2 | 17.9 |
27131 | 6 | 55.3534 | −113.3139 | 632 | 1.6 | 473 | 2.3 | 68 | 19.7 | 17.3 |
27631 | 6 | 55.1750 | −111.6066 | 629 | 1.5 | 462 | 1.1 | 63 | 24.5 | 23.7 |
29691 | 6 | 55.3602 | −113.3488 | 633 | 1.6 | 472 | 2.2 | 82 | 19.2 | 16.6 |
34591 | 6 | 55.7165 | −112.3890 | 664 | 1.3 | 472 | 2.9 | 79 | 26.2 | 26.0 |
36271 | 6 | 55.8938 | −114.3379 | 595 | 1.5 | 465 | 2.9 | 83 | 24.6 | 23.8 |
36381 | 6 | 55.1953 | −113.5648 | 665 | 1.8 | 478 | 2.9 | 80 | 20.5 | 18.4 |
36551 | 6 | 55.1023 | −112.6053 | 590 | 1.8 | 446 | −1.2 | 58 | 19.7 | 17.3 |
Species | Measurement | Subplot (Treatment) | No. Blocks | No. Plots | QMD (cm) | HT (m) | Slenderness | Basal Area (m2⋅ha−1) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean | sd | Mean | sd | Mean | sd | Mean | sd | |||||
Spruce | 1 | buffer | 13 | 49 | 14.1 | 4.8 | 12.7 | 4.4 | 0.94 | 0.13 | 8.00 | 8.17 |
removal | 18 | 69 | 13.6 | 4.7 | 12.1 | 3.7 | 0.95 | 0.18 | 5.67 | 5.51 | ||
2 | buffer | 13 | 47 | 15.6 | 4.9 | 12.0 | 4.1 | 0.81 | 0.14 | 9.32 | 8.19 | |
removal | 18 | 76 | 13.6 | 4.2 | 10.6 | 3.9 | 0.81 | 0.16 | 5.86 | 5.05 | ||
3 | buffer | 13 | 52 | 16.6 | 5.3 | 11.8 | 4.0 | 0.76 | 0.12 | 11.68 | 9.16 | |
removal | 18 | 81 | 14.6 | 4.2 | 10.7 | 3.3 | 0.77 | 0.11 | 7.75 | 5.94 |
Plot Level | Tree Level | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Species | Response Period | Subplot (Treatment) | No. Blocks | No. Plots | Id (cm⋅y−1) | Ih (m⋅y−1) | No. Trees | Id (cm⋅y−1) | Ih (m⋅y−1) | ||||
Mean | sd | Mean | sd | Mean | sd | Mean | sd | ||||||
Spruce | First | buffer | 12 | 44 | 0.47 | 0.30 | 0.07 | 0.22 | 143 | 0.38 | 0.30 | 0.07 | 0.24 |
removal | 18 | 64 | 0.44 | 0.29 | 0.09 | 0.19 | 273 | 0.40 | 0.30 | 0.09 | 0.25 | ||
Second | buffer | 13 | 47 | 0.60 | 0.30 | 0.24 | 0.24 | 195 | 0.54 | 0.31 | 0.25 | 0.33 | |
removal | 18 | 74 | 0.58 | 0.28 | 0.27 | 0.22 | 376 | 0.57 | 0.33 | 0.28 | 0.26 | ||
Overall | buffer | 12 | 44 | 0.54 | 0.30 | 0.14 | 0.19 | 134 | 0.45 | 0.30 | 0.13 | 0.21 | |
removal | 18 | 62 | 0.50 | 0.29 | 0.16 | 0.18 | 250 | 0.46 | 0.29 | 0.16 | 0.20 |
Response Period | Response | Random Effects | Fixed Effects (p-Value) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Treatment | SIsw | Init. Size | R2m | R2c | ||||
Plot level | First | Id | Block | 0.5512 | 0.2839 | 0.0012 | 0.09 | 0.48 |
Ih | Block | 0.7067 | 0.0091 | <0.0001 | 0.27 | 0.36 | ||
Second | Id | Block | 0.4375 | 0.5465 | 0.0651 | 0.02 | 0.58 | |
Ih | Block | 0.1781 | 0.8913 | <0.0001 | 0.30 | 0.47 | ||
Overall | Id | Block | 0.7511 | 0.9984 | 0.0260 | 0.03 | 0.56 | |
Ih | Block | 0.2669 | 0.0213 | <0.0001 | 0.49 | 0.55 | ||
Tree level | First | Id | Block/plot | 0.9308 | 0.9506 | 0.0054 | 0.01 | 0.59 |
Ih | Block/plot | 0.9618 | 0.1107 | <0.0001 | 0.11 | 0.29 | ||
Second | Id | Block/plot | 0.3110 | 0.9095 | <0.0001 | 0.03 | 0.60 | |
Ih | Block/plot | 0.2125 | 0.5310 | 0.0005 | 0.03 | 0.24 | ||
Overall | Id | Block/plot | 0.6647 | 0.9679 | 0.0019 | 0.01 | 0.64 | |
Ih | Block/plot | 0.2285 | 0.1261 | <0.0001 | 0.15 | 0.40 |
Species | Measurement | Subplot (Treatment) | No. Blocks | No. Plots | SPH (# ha−1) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean | sd | |||||
Aspen | 1 | buffer | 13 | 61 | 392 | 418 |
removal | 18 | 91 | 39 | 71 | ||
2 | buffer | 13 | 61 | 309 | 358 | |
removal | 18 | 91 | 31 | 62 | ||
3 | buffer | 13 | 61 | 277 | 315 | |
removal | 18 | 91 | 69 | 124 | ||
Spruce | 1 | buffer | 13 | 61 | 363 | 386 |
removal | 18 | 91 | 268 | 259 | ||
2 | buffer | 13 | 61 | 382 | 382 | |
removal | 18 | 91 | 309 | 256 | ||
3 | buffer | 13 | 61 | 479 | 390 | |
removal | 18 | 91 | 381 | 286 |
Species | Response Period | Subplot (Treatment) | No. Blocks | No. Plots | Ingress (Stems⋅ha−1) | Mortality (Stems⋅ha−1) | Mortality Rate (%) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean | sd | Mean | sd | Mean | sd | |||||
Aspen | First | buffer | 13 | 61 | 10 | 53 | 94 | 141 | 24.4 | 27.2 |
removal | 18 | 91 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 25 | 30.8 | 43.2 | ||
Second | buffer | 13 | 61 | 55 | 224 | 89 | 201 | 27.4 | 35.4 | |
removal | 18 | 91 | 46 | 119 | 8 | 23 | 25.8 | 36.7 | ||
Overall | buffer | 13 | 61 | 61 | 224 | 179 | 275 | 42.5 | 36.0 | |
removal | 18 | 91 | 47 | 119 | 17 | 35 | 47.4 | 43.5 | ||
Spruce | First | buffer | 13 | 61 | 98 | 157 | 77 | 129 | 21.1 | 32.4 |
removal | 18 | 91 | 92 | 117 | 50 | 82 | 23.6 | 31.6 | ||
Second | buffer | 13 | 61 | 116 | 186 | 21 | 54 | 4.7 | 10.3 | |
removal | 18 | 91 | 95 | 122 | 23 | 47 | 9.3 | 20.3 | ||
Overall | buffer | 13 | 61 | 209 | 249 | 92 | 156 | 23.5 | 33.2 | |
removal | 18 | 91 | 183 | 200 | 70 | 98 | 31.5 | 34.5 |
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Bjelanovic, I.; Comeau, P.; Meredith, S.; Roth, B. Emulating Succession of Boreal Mixedwood Forests in Alberta Using Understory Protection Harvesting. Forests 2022, 13, 533. https://doi.org/10.3390/f13040533
Bjelanovic I, Comeau P, Meredith S, Roth B. Emulating Succession of Boreal Mixedwood Forests in Alberta Using Understory Protection Harvesting. Forests. 2022; 13(4):533. https://doi.org/10.3390/f13040533
Chicago/Turabian StyleBjelanovic, Ivan, Phil Comeau, Sharon Meredith, and Brian Roth. 2022. "Emulating Succession of Boreal Mixedwood Forests in Alberta Using Understory Protection Harvesting" Forests 13, no. 4: 533. https://doi.org/10.3390/f13040533
APA StyleBjelanovic, I., Comeau, P., Meredith, S., & Roth, B. (2022). Emulating Succession of Boreal Mixedwood Forests in Alberta Using Understory Protection Harvesting. Forests, 13(4), 533. https://doi.org/10.3390/f13040533