TY - JOUR
T1 - Temporal patterns of forest seedling emergence across different disturbance histories
AU - Bowd, Elle J.
AU - McBurney, Lachlan
AU - Blair, David P.
AU - Lindenmayer, David B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2021/7
Y1 - 2021/7
N2 - Forest ecosystems experience a myriad of natural and anthropogenic disturbances that shape ecological communities. Seedling emergence is a critical, preliminary stage in the recovery of forests post disturbance and is triggered by a series of abiotic and biotic changes. However, the long-term influence of different disturbance histories on patterns of seedling emergence is poorly understood. Here, we address this research gap by using an 11-year dataset gathered between 2009 and 2020 to quantify the influence of different histories of natural (wildfire) and anthropogenic (clearcut and postfire salvage logging) disturbances on emerging seedlings in early-successional Mountain Ash forests in southeastern Australia. We also describe patterns of seedling emergence across older successional forests varying in stand age (stands that regenerated in <1900s, 1939, 1970–90, and 2007–11). Seedling emergence was highest in the first three years post disturbance. Stand age and disturbance history significantly influenced the composition and abundance of plant seedlings. Specifically, in salvage-logged forests, plant seedlings were the most different from similarly aged forests with other disturbance histories. For instance, relative to clearcut and unlogged, burnt forests of the same age, salvage logging had the lowest overall richness, the lowest counts of Acacia seedlings, and an absence of common species including Acacia obliquinervia, Acacia frigescens, Cassinia arcuealta, Olearia argophylla, Pimelea axiflora, Polyscias sambucifolia, and Prosanthera melissifolia over the survey period. Synthesis: Our findings provide important new insights into the influence of different disturbance histories on regenerating forests and can help predict plant community responses to future disturbances, which may influence forest recovery under altered disturbance regimes.
AB - Forest ecosystems experience a myriad of natural and anthropogenic disturbances that shape ecological communities. Seedling emergence is a critical, preliminary stage in the recovery of forests post disturbance and is triggered by a series of abiotic and biotic changes. However, the long-term influence of different disturbance histories on patterns of seedling emergence is poorly understood. Here, we address this research gap by using an 11-year dataset gathered between 2009 and 2020 to quantify the influence of different histories of natural (wildfire) and anthropogenic (clearcut and postfire salvage logging) disturbances on emerging seedlings in early-successional Mountain Ash forests in southeastern Australia. We also describe patterns of seedling emergence across older successional forests varying in stand age (stands that regenerated in <1900s, 1939, 1970–90, and 2007–11). Seedling emergence was highest in the first three years post disturbance. Stand age and disturbance history significantly influenced the composition and abundance of plant seedlings. Specifically, in salvage-logged forests, plant seedlings were the most different from similarly aged forests with other disturbance histories. For instance, relative to clearcut and unlogged, burnt forests of the same age, salvage logging had the lowest overall richness, the lowest counts of Acacia seedlings, and an absence of common species including Acacia obliquinervia, Acacia frigescens, Cassinia arcuealta, Olearia argophylla, Pimelea axiflora, Polyscias sambucifolia, and Prosanthera melissifolia over the survey period. Synthesis: Our findings provide important new insights into the influence of different disturbance histories on regenerating forests and can help predict plant community responses to future disturbances, which may influence forest recovery under altered disturbance regimes.
KW - fire
KW - forests
KW - germination
KW - logging
KW - post-disturbance
KW - recovery
KW - seedling
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108798417&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/ece3.7568
DO - 10.1002/ece3.7568
M3 - Article
SN - 2045-7758
VL - 11
SP - 9254
EP - 9292
JO - Ecology and Evolution
JF - Ecology and Evolution
IS - 14
ER -