Spatial Pattern and Characteristic of Tree-fall Gaps to Approach Ecological Forestry in Northern Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate Professor of Forestry, Faculty of Forestry and wood technology, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran

2 Ms graduate of forestry, Faculty of Forestry and wood technology, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran

3 Associate Professor of Forestry, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran

4 1- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran

Abstract

Gaps created by falling trees (tree-fall gaps) are a natural disturbance in forest ecosystems. Understanding scale, pattern and the effect of gaps on regeneration is important to current and future forest management. The aim of this study was to determine the size, shape and the spatial pattern of tree-fall gaps and of associated regeneration. This study was carried out in three parcels (No.15, 18 and 19) of second District Shastkalateh forest in northern Iran. The size, location and regeneration of all tree-fall gaps were measured in these parcels. One way ANOVA was used to compare gap features and regeneration and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used to test the relationship between gap size and regeneration density. The results showed that the total area of gaps created by tree-fall in three parcels was 13.72 ha, or 7.4% of the total area, and on average there were 1.06 gaps per hectare. Gap size ranged from 49 m2 to 1827m2, with mean gap size being 658.2m2. Most (69.2%) gaps were 200 m2 to 1000 m2. Results of spatial pattern analysis showed both uniform and irregular shapes for gaps in three parcels. ANOVA analysis showed a statistically significant difference between gap size and regeneration density and the Spearman rank correlation showed a direct relationship between gap size and the number of seedlings. These results provide information to enable forests to be managed according to ecological principles.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Administration of natural resources of Golestan province in Iran. 1995. The booklet of forestry plan of district number two of Shastkalateh Forest. Golestan province. 550p (In Persian). 
Bolton, W.N., and D'Amato, W.A. 2011. Regeneration responses to gap size and coarse woody debris within natural disturbance-based silvicultural systems in northeastern Minnesota, USA. Forest Ecology and Management. 262, 1215-1222.
Brockway, D.G., and Outcalt, K.W. 1998. Gap-phase regeneration in longleaf pine wiregrass ecosystems. Forest Ecology and Management. 106, 125-139.
Brokaw, N.V.L. 1996. Treefalls: frequency, timing and consequences. In: Leigh, E.G., Rand, A.S., and Windsor, D.M. (Eds). The ecology of a tropical forest: seasonal rhythms and long-term changes. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C, pp. 101-108.
Brokaw, N., and Busing, R.T. 2000. Niche versus chance and tree diversity in forest gaps. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 15, 183-188.
Clinton, B.D., Boring, L.R., and Swank, W.T. 1994. Regeneration patterns in canopy gaps of mixed-oak forests of the Southern Appalachians: influences of topographic position and evergreen understory. The American Midland Naturalist. 132 (2), 308-319.
60 M.H. Moayeri et al. / Environmental Resources Research 5, 1 (2017) 
Cressie, N.A. 1993. Statistics for Spatial Data (revised edition), John Wiley and Sons. pp. 613-617.
Dale, M.R.T. 1999. Spatial Pattern Analysis in Plant Ecology, Cambridge University Press, 340p.
Davis, L.S., Johnson, K.N., Bettinger, P.S., and Howard, T.E. 2001. Forest management, 4th edition.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 544p.
Delfan-Abazari, B., Sagheb-Talebi, K., and Namiranian, M. 2004. Regeneration gaps and quantitative characteristics of seedlings in different development stages of undisturbed beech stands (Kelardasht, northern Iran). Irananian Journal of Forestry Research. 12, 251-266 (In Persian).
Fortin, M.J., Dale, M.R.T., and Hoef, J.V. 2002. Spatial analysis in ecology. John Wiley and Sons, Ltd, Chichester, pp. 2051-2058.
Foster, D.R., Knight, D.H., and Franklin J.F. 1998. Landscape patterns and legacies resulting from large, infrequent forest disturbances. Ecosystems. 1, 497-510.
Franklin, F.J. 1989. Toward a new forestry. American Foresters. 95, 37-44.
Fries, C., Johansson, O., Pettersson, B., and Simonsson, P. 1997. Silvicultural models to maintain and restore natural stand structures in Swedish boreal forests. Forest Ecology and Management. 94, 89-103.
Gagnon, J.L., Jokela, E.J., Moser, W.K., and Huber, D.A. 2003. Dynamics of artificial regeneration in gaps within a longleaf pine flat woods ecosystem. Forest Ecology and Management. 172, 133-144.
Gagnon, J.L., Eric, J., Jokela, W.K., and Moser, D.A. Huber. 2004. Characteristics of gaps and natural regeneration in mature longleaf pine Flatwoods ecosystems. Forest Ecology and Management. 187, 373-380.
Goldblum, D. 1997. The effects of tree-fall gaps on understory vegetation in New York State. Journal of Vegetation Science. 8, 125-132.
Hart, J.L., and Grissino-Mayer, H.D. 2009. Gap-scale disturbance processes in secondary hardwood stands on the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee, USA. Plant Ecology. 201, 131-146.
Hubbell, S.P., Foster, R.B., O'Brian, S.T., Harms, K.E., Condit, R., Wechsler, B., Wright, S.J., and Loo-de-Lao, S. 1999. Light gap Ants in Gaps 477 disturbances, recruitment limitation and tree diversity in a neo tropical forest. Science. 283, 554-557.
Hunter, M.L. 1999 Maintaining Biodiversity in Forest Ecosystems. Cambridge University Press,Cambridge, 698p.
Jonikavičius, D., and Mozgeris, G. 2013. Rapid assessment of wind storm-caused forest damage using satellite images and stand-wise forest inventory data. iForest – Biogeosciences and Forestry. 6, 150-155.
Klenner, W., Arsenault, A., Brockerhoff, E.G., and Vyse, A. 2009. Biodiversity in forest ecosystems and landscapes: a conference to discuss future directions in biodiversity management for sustainable forestry. Forest Ecology and Management. 258, 1-4.
Latty, E.F., Werner, S.M., Mladenoff, D.J., Raffa, K.F., and Sickley T.A. 2006. Response of ground beetle (Carabidae) assemblages to logging history in northern hardwood-hemlock forests. Forest Ecology and Management. 222, 335-347.
Lertzman, K.P., Sutherland, G.D., Inselberg, A., and Saunders, S.C. 1996. Canopy gaps and the landscape mosaic in a coastal temperate rain forest. Ecology. 77, 1254-1270.
Linden, M.D., and McCarthy, M.A. 2002. Congruence between natural and human forest disturbance: a case study from Australian mountain forests. Center for Resource and Environmental Studies, the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
Mataji, A., Kafaki, S.B., Safaee, H., and Kiadaliri, H. 2008. Spatial pattern of regeneration gaps in managed and unmanaged stands in natural beech (Fagus orientalis) forests. Irananian Journal of Forestry Research. 16, 149-157 (In Persian).
McClure, J.W., and Lee, T.D. 1993. Small-scale disturbance in a northern hardwoods forest: effects on tree species abundance and distribution. Canadian Journal of Forestry Research. 23 (7), 1347-1360.
Mesdaghi, M. 2000. Wildlife Ecology and Management. Second edition. Emam Reza Education, Mashhad, 456p (In Persian).
Mihók, B., Gálhidy, L., Kenderes, K., and Standovár, T. 2007. Gap regeneration patterns in a seminatural beech forest stand in Hungary. Acta Silvatica Lignaria Hungarica. 3, 31-45.
Mountford, E.P., Savill, P.S., and Bebber, D.P. 2006. Pattern of regeneration and ground vegetation associated with canopy gaps in a managed beech wood in southern England, Forestry. 79 (4), 389-408.
Palik, B.J., and Pederson, N. 1996. Overstory mortality and canopy disturbances in longleaf pine ecosystems. Canadian Journal Forestry Research. 26, 2035-2047.
Patrick, M., Fowler, D., Dunn, R.R., and Sanders, J.N. 2012. Effects of Treefall Gap Disturbances on Ant Assemblages in a Tropical Mountain Cloud Forest. Biography Journal. 44, 472-478.
Pickett, S.T., and White, P.S. 1985. The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics. Academic Press, New York, 472p.
M.H. Moayeri et al. / Environmental Resources Research 5, 1 (2017) 61
Rahbari Sisakht, S., Majnounian, B., Saravi, M.M., Abdi, E., and Surfleet, C. 2014. Impact of rainfall intensity and cutslope material on sediment concentration from forest roads in northern Iran. iForest –Biogeosciences and Forestry. 7, 48-52.
Schnitzer, S.A., and Carson, W.P. 2001. Tree-fall gaps and the maintenance of species diversity in a tropical forest. Ecology. 82, 913-919.
Sefidi, K., Marvie Mohadjer, M.R., Mosandl, R., and Copenheaver, C.A. 2011. Canopy gaps and regeneration in old-growth Oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) stands, northern Iran. Forest Ecology and Management. 262, 1094-1099.
Seymour, R.S., White, A.S., and DeMaynadier, P.G. 2002. Natural disturbance regimes in northeastern North America – evaluating silvicultural systems using natural scales and frequencies. Forest Ecology and Management. 155, 357-367.
Stoyan, D., and Stoyan, H. 1994. Fractals, Random Shapes and Point Fields (Methods of Geometrical Statistics). John Wiley and Sons.
Strong, D.R. 1977. Epiphyte loads, tree falls and perennial forest disruption: a mechanism for maintaining higher tree species richness in the tropics without animals. Biogeography. 4, 215-218.
Upton, J.G., and Fingleton, B. 1987. Spatial Data Analysis by Example (Point Pattern and Quantitative Data), John Wiley & Sons, pp. 114-116.
Weiskettel, A.R., and Hix, D.M. 2003. Canopy gap characteristics of an oak-beech-maple old-growth forest in northwestern Ohio. Ohio Journal of Science. 103, 111-115.
Yamamoto, S., and Nishimura, N. 1999. Canopy gap formation and replacement pattern of major tree species among developmental stages of beech (Fagus crenata) stands, Japan. Plant Ecology. 140, 167-176.
Zeibig, A., Diaci, J., and Wagner, S. 2005 Gap disturbance patterns of a Fagus sylvatica virgin forest remnant in the mountain vegetation belt of Slovenia. Forest Snow and Landscape Research.79, 69-80.
Environmental Resources Research
Volume 5, Issue 1
January 2017
Pages 51-61

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics