Evaluating the Performance of a Forest Succession Model to Predict the Long-Term Dynamics of Tree Species in Mixed Boreal Forests Using Historical Data in Northern Ontario, Canada
Environmental concerns and economic pressures on forest ecosystems have led to the development of sustainable forest management practices. As a consequence, forest managers must evaluate the long-term effects of their management decisions on potential forest successional pathways. As changes in fore...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Forests |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/9/1181 |
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| author | Guy R. Larocque F. Wayne Bell |
| author_facet | Guy R. Larocque F. Wayne Bell |
| author_sort | Guy R. Larocque |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Environmental concerns and economic pressures on forest ecosystems have led to the development of sustainable forest management practices. As a consequence, forest managers must evaluate the long-term effects of their management decisions on potential forest successional pathways. As changes in forest ecosystems occur very slowly, simulation models are logical and efficient tools to predict the patterns of forest growth and succession. However, as models are an imperfect representation of reality, it is desirable to evaluate them with historical long-term forest data. Using remeasured tree and stand data from three data sets from two ecoregions in northern Ontario, the succession gap model ZELIG-CFS was evaluated for mixed boreal forests composed of black spruce (<i>Picea mariana</i> [Mill.] B.S.P.), balsam fir (<i>Abies balsamea</i> [L.] Mill.), jack pine (<i>Pinus banksiana</i> L.), white spruce (<i>Picea glauca</i> [Moench] Voss), trembling aspen (<i>Populus tremuloides</i> Michx.), white birch (<i>Betula papyrifera</i> Marsh.), northern white cedar (<i>Thuja occidentalis</i> L.), American larch (<i>Larix laricina</i> [Du Roi] K. Koch), and balsam poplar (<i>Populus balsamefera</i> L.). The comparison of observed and predicted basal areas and stand densities indicated that ZELIG-CFS predicted the dynamics of most species consistently for periods varying between 5 and 57 simulation years. The patterns of forest succession observed in this study support gap phase dynamics at the plot scale and shade-tolerance complementarity hypotheses at the regional scale. |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:39:35Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-618650046faf443a8a8c35e255892edb2023-11-22T13:07:17ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072021-08-01129118110.3390/f12091181Evaluating the Performance of a Forest Succession Model to Predict the Long-Term Dynamics of Tree Species in Mixed Boreal Forests Using Historical Data in Northern Ontario, CanadaGuy R. Larocque0F. Wayne Bell1Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, 1055 du P.E.P.S., P.O. Box 10380, Stn. Ste-Foy, Quebec City, QC G1V 4C7, CanadaOntario Forest Research Institute, Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry, 1235 Queen St. E., Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 2E5, CanadaEnvironmental concerns and economic pressures on forest ecosystems have led to the development of sustainable forest management practices. As a consequence, forest managers must evaluate the long-term effects of their management decisions on potential forest successional pathways. As changes in forest ecosystems occur very slowly, simulation models are logical and efficient tools to predict the patterns of forest growth and succession. However, as models are an imperfect representation of reality, it is desirable to evaluate them with historical long-term forest data. Using remeasured tree and stand data from three data sets from two ecoregions in northern Ontario, the succession gap model ZELIG-CFS was evaluated for mixed boreal forests composed of black spruce (<i>Picea mariana</i> [Mill.] B.S.P.), balsam fir (<i>Abies balsamea</i> [L.] Mill.), jack pine (<i>Pinus banksiana</i> L.), white spruce (<i>Picea glauca</i> [Moench] Voss), trembling aspen (<i>Populus tremuloides</i> Michx.), white birch (<i>Betula papyrifera</i> Marsh.), northern white cedar (<i>Thuja occidentalis</i> L.), American larch (<i>Larix laricina</i> [Du Roi] K. Koch), and balsam poplar (<i>Populus balsamefera</i> L.). The comparison of observed and predicted basal areas and stand densities indicated that ZELIG-CFS predicted the dynamics of most species consistently for periods varying between 5 and 57 simulation years. The patterns of forest succession observed in this study support gap phase dynamics at the plot scale and shade-tolerance complementarity hypotheses at the regional scale.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/9/1181succession modellingboreal regionforest successionmixedwood forestsNorthern Ontario |
| spellingShingle | Guy R. Larocque F. Wayne Bell Evaluating the Performance of a Forest Succession Model to Predict the Long-Term Dynamics of Tree Species in Mixed Boreal Forests Using Historical Data in Northern Ontario, Canada Forests succession modelling boreal region forest succession mixedwood forests Northern Ontario |
| title | Evaluating the Performance of a Forest Succession Model to Predict the Long-Term Dynamics of Tree Species in Mixed Boreal Forests Using Historical Data in Northern Ontario, Canada |
| title_full | Evaluating the Performance of a Forest Succession Model to Predict the Long-Term Dynamics of Tree Species in Mixed Boreal Forests Using Historical Data in Northern Ontario, Canada |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating the Performance of a Forest Succession Model to Predict the Long-Term Dynamics of Tree Species in Mixed Boreal Forests Using Historical Data in Northern Ontario, Canada |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating the Performance of a Forest Succession Model to Predict the Long-Term Dynamics of Tree Species in Mixed Boreal Forests Using Historical Data in Northern Ontario, Canada |
| title_short | Evaluating the Performance of a Forest Succession Model to Predict the Long-Term Dynamics of Tree Species in Mixed Boreal Forests Using Historical Data in Northern Ontario, Canada |
| title_sort | evaluating the performance of a forest succession model to predict the long term dynamics of tree species in mixed boreal forests using historical data in northern ontario canada |
| topic | succession modelling boreal region forest succession mixedwood forests Northern Ontario |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/9/1181 |
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