Forest Succession

Under the soil of the forest there is a huge layer of redwood roots. Roots from a redwood tree may only grow 3 feet down but they can grow up to 20 feet out away from the trunk of the tree. The roots of many redwood trees are grown together any many times, when a tree starts to lean, the thick layer of roots can hold it up. When redwoods start getting cut down this can ruin the layer of roots that covers almost all of the forest. Then redwood trees would not have much support as they do and would be more inclined to fall over. Cutting down redwoods would also lower the chance of reproduction. Redwood trees only reproduce every so often, this process could take over five years. First the redwood drops acorns that fall to the forest floor. Then after some time, a larger type or acorns is dropped and releases pollen which pollinates the first acorn (Hemmerich 2014). Many of the seeds do not grow at all. Only about one in every 200 seeds will grow and become a full sized redwood tree. Of course this process does not happen overnight, it can take up to 100 years for a seed to grow and become a mature redwood tree (Hemmerich 2014).

B. Retaining individual high value trees--for bear dens, raptor nests or as an example of old growth

Ecological succession is the process where an ecosystem changes through time after some disturbance. Ecological succession is the major cause of ecological change. During this time, the community begins with few pioneering plants and animals and develops until it becomes stable. Also, it continues so that more and different kinds of organisms can be found in the location which leads to a diverse community (MacMillan 38)

There are many factors that account for the changes to the vegetation over time within ecosystems in the British Isles, such as human activity, climate, soil, light availability and intensity and natural disasters. The characteristics of the vegetation that are influenced by these factors are height, distribution, variety of species, adaptations and density of the vegetation. Some of these factors have relatively little influence on the succession development, whereas others have a dramatic influence over a long period of time, such as human activity. These factors, over time, result in the progression of a succession until the climatic climax vegetation is reached. However, sometimes these factors can mean that a plagioclimax is reached,

Every forest has a story to tell. By looking closely at its habitants, that story can be interpreted. Much of this narrative is written in the trees: their age, their tolerance to shade, and the rate at which they grow are all characteristics that can imply a lot about their environment. Exploring these relationships and how they connect with each other can indicate the health and history of the land. Heiberg Forest, located in northern New York, was once used for agricultural purposes in the 1800-1900’s. (Nowak, Lecture Notes) Much of the land once used for farming was left to regrow back into a young forest. The life history of different tree species can be determined by examining the most common species in Heiberg.

Walking into the primary woodlands of the Heiberg forest you immediately notice the immense amount of plant diversity. Along the trees I was able to spot different types of ferns that blanketed the small mounds of dirt, which were also home to enormous sugar maple trees. The bumpy nature of the ground proved that the land I was walking on had not been clear-cut and plowed, but, strangely enough, left alone. As we continued along going deeper into the forest, the slight elevations in ground level began to smooth out, and the amount of plant diversity decreased and changed from sugar maples to spruces. Not only was there a difference in species, but the order in which the trees were planted gave way to the secondary woodlot. The height of trees was noticeably different, which can have effect on the species closer to the surface. Due to the high demand in the northeast for agricultural and logging purposes, the structure and composition of the Heiberg forest has changed considerably. Early colonialism in America resulted in deforestation of the land in order to provide the imperialistic Europe with the resources they desired. This desire most likely stemmed from the overuse of their own land.

"Selective cutting" is the practice by which trees are cut down according to certain ascertainable features. If a tree were so old and large that

To investigate whether Savage’s Wood is an accurate example of the indigenous woodlands of the UK, I will be investigating it’s presents species and stratification compared to that of an ancient, medieval woodland located in Bedfordshire. I believe that King’s Wood in Bedfordshire will be a better example than Savage’s Wood due to it’s older age and therefore wider range of species, however that Savage’s Wood may possibly be an example of a younger indigenous, temperate deciduous woodland to a large extent.

The definition of forest, mostly accepted as a group of trees of determined height, disposed in a determined density and covering some percentage of the soil, can be included in a broader definition of woodlands, often seen as a group of trees with more flexible thresholds for height, density and coverage. So, from now on and arbitrarily, when the word “woodland” is mentioned, “forests” are also included.

The F-test values in canopies (0.031271512) and sub-canopies (0.005008424) are both below 0.05 so we can say with 92% confidence that the canopy structures in burned and unburned areas differ and with 97% confidence that the sub-canopies vary between the burned and unburned areas. Unburned areas tended to have better developed structures of canopy and sub-canopy trees because they were given more time to accumulate compared to recently burned areas which have recently undergone a disturbance. The F-test value for DBH (0.022472008) is also below 0.05 so we also have to assume that there is variance in terms of DBH in burned and unburned sites. Unburned sites have larger trees (larger DBH) because these trees had more time to grow compared to trees in recently burned sites. Since the F-tests values for the logs (0.076083352) and shrubs (0.340469754) were calculated to be above 0.05, we are not able to draw definitive conclusions on this data, therefore we have to assume that the logs and shrub structures did not vary within the burned and unburned sites (Klowden et al. 2015). Succession is evident in this experiment as there is an overall greater percent coverage of grasses, woody plants, and annuals & perennials in burned areas compared to open space. Open space is greatest in unburned areas and there is more open space in unburned areas than burned areas; this is mainly because the woody plants in unburned areas store lots of nutrients within themselves, therefore having less grasses and smaller plants on forest floors (Dickman et al 2014). Five different species of canopy trees were identified in unburned sites compared to only three species of canopy trees identified in burned sites which allows me to conclude that there is more diversity in the species of canopy trees in unburned areas than burned areas. There may have been more types of species found in unburned

The dynamics of the forests changed with the introduction of the Europeans. The frequent grass fires were eliminated after a hundred years of cattle and sheep grazing. This meant that brush was able to accumulate and more seedlings and fire intolerant trees were able to mature. The Europeans also utilized the wood resources that surrounded them. Extensive logging in areas, removed all the best Ponderosa pines leaving the area virtually clear-cut. This opened area allowed more seedlings and saplings to mature because there were no

The most widely accepted theory of forest decline is the chain reaction theory given by Sinclair (1965). According to this theory,

Reforestation is the building up of forests or woodlands that had once existed, but have been subjected to damage or have even been destroyed. Some forests are able to grow back naturally if there are enough trees nearby that can send their seeds out either by animals or wind. Forested areas that have been severely damaged are very unlikely to grow back naturally and need to be replanted and replenished by human influence. Many conservation groups have joined together in an effort to replant trees (www.urbanomnibus.net). Even though reforestation can be done by nature over a long period of time, help from humans also can work, or just a combination of both can also accomplish the task.

The density of trees from 60% to 50% shows a significant change in the percentage burnt as well as ticks. The average percentage burnt for the density 60% was 66.9% whereas for the density 50% the percentage burnt was an average of 1.5%. This

In order to effectively determine the feasibility of the alternate lumber harvesting systems of Shelterwood Systems Group Selection Cutting, long-term observation of forest regeneration is needed. Forest regeneration is key in determining the success of any silvicultural system. This paper will look at forest regeneration