Find research datasets worth reusing

North Temperate Lakes site, station Forest County, WI (FIPS 55041), study of population employed at farms (percent of total) in units of percent on a yearly timescale

The EcoTrends project was established in 2004 by Dr. Debra Peters (Jornada Basin LTER, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range) and Dr. Ariel Lugo (Luquillo LTER, USDA-FS Luquillo Experimental Forest) to support the collection and analysis of long-term ecological datasets. The project is a large synthesis effort focused on improving the accessibility and use of long-term data. At present, there are ~50 state and federally funded research sites that are participating and contributing to the EcoTrends project, including all 26 Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and sites funded by the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS), USDA Forest Service, US Department of Energy, US Geological Survey (USGS) and numerous universities. Data from the EcoTrends project are available through an exploratory web portal (http://www.ecotrends.info). This web portal enables the continuation of data compilation and accessibility by users through an interactive web application. Ongoing data compilation is updated through both manual and automatic processing as part of the LTER Provenance Aware Synthesis Tracking Architecture (PASTA). The web portal is a collaboration between the Jornada LTER and the LTER Network Office. The following dataset from North Temperate Lakes (NTL) contains population employed at farms (percent of total) measurements in percent units and were aggregated to a yearly timescale.

North Temperate Lakes site, station Forest County, WI (FIPS 55041), study of population employed in manufacturing (percent of total) in units of percent on a yearly timescale

The EcoTrends project was established in 2004 by Dr. Debra Peters (Jornada Basin LTER, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range) and Dr. Ariel Lugo (Luquillo LTER, USDA-FS Luquillo Experimental Forest) to support the collection and analysis of long-term ecological datasets. The project is a large synthesis effort focused on improving the accessibility and use of long-term data. At present, there are ~50 state and federally funded research sites that are participating and contributing to the EcoTrends project, including all 26 Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and sites funded by the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS), USDA Forest Service, US Department of Energy, US Geological Survey (USGS) and numerous universities. Data from the EcoTrends project are available through an exploratory web portal (http://www.ecotrends.info). This web portal enables the continuation of data compilation and accessibility by users through an interactive web application. Ongoing data compilation is updated through both manual and automatic processing as part of the LTER Provenance Aware Synthesis Tracking Architecture (PASTA). The web portal is a collaboration between the Jornada LTER and the LTER Network Office. The following dataset from North Temperate Lakes (NTL) contains population employed in manufacturing (percent of total) measurements in percent units and were aggregated to a yearly timescale.

North Temperate Lakes site, station Forest County, WI (FIPS 55041), study of population employed in service (percent of total) in units of percent on a yearly timescale

The EcoTrends project was established in 2004 by Dr. Debra Peters (Jornada Basin LTER, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range) and Dr. Ariel Lugo (Luquillo LTER, USDA-FS Luquillo Experimental Forest) to support the collection and analysis of long-term ecological datasets. The project is a large synthesis effort focused on improving the accessibility and use of long-term data. At present, there are ~50 state and federally funded research sites that are participating and contributing to the EcoTrends project, including all 26 Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and sites funded by the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS), USDA Forest Service, US Department of Energy, US Geological Survey (USGS) and numerous universities. Data from the EcoTrends project are available through an exploratory web portal (http://www.ecotrends.info). This web portal enables the continuation of data compilation and accessibility by users through an interactive web application. Ongoing data compilation is updated through both manual and automatic processing as part of the LTER Provenance Aware Synthesis Tracking Architecture (PASTA). The web portal is a collaboration between the Jornada LTER and the LTER Network Office. The following dataset from North Temperate Lakes (NTL) contains population employed in service (percent of total) measurements in percent units and were aggregated to a yearly timescale.

North Temperate Lakes site, station Forest County, WI (FIPS 55041), study of percent urban population in units of percent on a yearly timescale

The EcoTrends project was established in 2004 by Dr. Debra Peters (Jornada Basin LTER, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range) and Dr. Ariel Lugo (Luquillo LTER, USDA-FS Luquillo Experimental Forest) to support the collection and analysis of long-term ecological datasets. The project is a large synthesis effort focused on improving the accessibility and use of long-term data. At present, there are ~50 state and federally funded research sites that are participating and contributing to the EcoTrends project, including all 26 Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and sites funded by the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS), USDA Forest Service, US Department of Energy, US Geological Survey (USGS) and numerous universities. Data from the EcoTrends project are available through an exploratory web portal (http://www.ecotrends.info). This web portal enables the continuation of data compilation and accessibility by users through an interactive web application. Ongoing data compilation is updated through both manual and automatic processing as part of the LTER Provenance Aware Synthesis Tracking Architecture (PASTA). The web portal is a collaboration between the Jornada LTER and the LTER Network Office. The following dataset from North Temperate Lakes (NTL) contains percent urban population measurements in percent units and were aggregated to a yearly timescale.

North Temperate Lakes site, station Forest County, WI (FIPS 55041), study of human population (total) in units of number on a yearly timescale

The EcoTrends project was established in 2004 by Dr. Debra Peters (Jornada Basin LTER, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range) and Dr. Ariel Lugo (Luquillo LTER, USDA-FS Luquillo Experimental Forest) to support the collection and analysis of long-term ecological datasets. The project is a large synthesis effort focused on improving the accessibility and use of long-term data. At present, there are ~50 state and federally funded research sites that are participating and contributing to the EcoTrends project, including all 26 Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and sites funded by the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS), USDA Forest Service, US Department of Energy, US Geological Survey (USGS) and numerous universities. Data from the EcoTrends project are available through an exploratory web portal (http://www.ecotrends.info). This web portal enables the continuation of data compilation and accessibility by users through an interactive web application. Ongoing data compilation is updated through both manual and automatic processing as part of the LTER Provenance Aware Synthesis Tracking Architecture (PASTA). The web portal is a collaboration between the Jornada LTER and the LTER Network Office. The following dataset from North Temperate Lakes (NTL) contains human population (total) measurements in number units and were aggregated to a yearly timescale.

North Temperate Lakes site, station Forest County, WI (FIPS 55041), study of population (urban) in units of number on a yearly timescale

The EcoTrends project was established in 2004 by Dr. Debra Peters (Jornada Basin LTER, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range) and Dr. Ariel Lugo (Luquillo LTER, USDA-FS Luquillo Experimental Forest) to support the collection and analysis of long-term ecological datasets. The project is a large synthesis effort focused on improving the accessibility and use of long-term data. At present, there are ~50 state and federally funded research sites that are participating and contributing to the EcoTrends project, including all 26 Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and sites funded by the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS), USDA Forest Service, US Department of Energy, US Geological Survey (USGS) and numerous universities. Data from the EcoTrends project are available through an exploratory web portal (http://www.ecotrends.info). This web portal enables the continuation of data compilation and accessibility by users through an interactive web application. Ongoing data compilation is updated through both manual and automatic processing as part of the LTER Provenance Aware Synthesis Tracking Architecture (PASTA). The web portal is a collaboration between the Jornada LTER and the LTER Network Office. The following dataset from North Temperate Lakes (NTL) contains population (urban) measurements in number units and were aggregated to a yearly timescale.

openCC (other)Jul 2022View details →

Raczka et al. Plant-microbial responses to reduced precipitation depend on tree species in a temperate forest

Given that global change is predicted to increase the frequency and severity of drought in temperate forests, it is critical to understand the degree to which plant belowground responses cascade through the soil system to drive ecosystem responses to water stress. While most research has focused on plant and microbial responses independently of each other, a gap in our understanding lies in the integrated response of plant-microbial interactions to water stress. We investigated the extent to which divergent belowground responses to reduced precipitation between sugar maple trees (Acer saccharum) vs. oak trees (Oak spp.) may influence microbial activity via throughfall exclusion in the field. Evidence that oak trees send carbon belowground to prime microbial activity more than maples under ambient conditions and in response to water stress suggests there is the potential for corresponding impacts of reduced precipitation on microbial activity. As such, we tested the hypothesis that differences in belowground C allocation between oaks and maples would stimulate microbial activity in the oak treatment soils and reduce microbial activity in in the sugar maple treatment soils compared to their respective controls. We found that the treatment led to declines in N mineralization, soil respiration, and oxidative enzyme activity in the sugar maple treatment plot. These declines may be due to sugar maple trees reducing root C transfers to the soil. By contrast, the reduced precipitation treatment enhanced soil respiration, as well as rates of N mineralization and peroxidase activity in the oak rhizosphere. This enhanced activity suggests that oak roots provided optimal rhizosphere conditions during water stress to prime microbial activity to support net primary production. With future changes in precipitation predicted for forests in the Eastern US, we show that the strength of plant-microbial interactions drives the degree to which reduced precipitation impacts soil C and nu

opencc-zeroAug 2020View details →

Do dense layers of invasive plants elevate the foraging intensity of small mammals in temperate deciduous forests? A case study from Pennsylvania, USA

Monospecific stands of invasive plants can dramatically restructure habitat for fauna, thereby elevating population densities or promoting foraging of consumer species who benefit in the altered habitat. For example, dense stands of invasive plants may protect small mammals from predators, which in turn could increase foraging pressure on seeds that small mammals feed upon. We used a before-after, control-impact experimental design to test whether small mammal capture rates were higher and giving-up densities (GUDs) lower beneath dense stands of Berberis thunbergii, an invasive shrub with a rapidly expanding range throughout eastern North America. Our experimental design included three plot categories: 1) plots heavily invaded by B. thunbergii, 2) control plots lacking invasive shrub cover, and 3) invaded plots where we eradicated B. thunbergii midway through the study. Although our overall small mammal capture rate was low, small mammal captures were 65% higher in B. thunbergii invaded habitat relative to control plots and eradication lowered capture rates by 77%. GUDs were also 26% higher within B. thunbergii relative to control plots and eradication decreased GUDs by 65%. Our findings suggest that small mammals perceive dense stands of B. thunbergii as relatively safe foraging habitat. Prior surveys within our study locations revealed dramatically depressed tree seedling densities under B. thunbergii, thus invasive plants may promote intensive foraging by small mammals and reduce recruitment for species with foraged seeds or seedlings.

opencc-zeroSep 2020View details →

Data from: Dietary specialization is conditionally associated with increased ant predation risk in a temperate forest caterpillar community

The enemy-free space hypothesis (EFSH) contends that generalist predators select for dietary specialization in insect herbivores. At a community level, the EFSH predicts that dietary specialization reduces predation risk, and this pattern has been found in several studies addressing the impact of individual predator taxa or guilds. However, predation at a community level is also subject to combinatorial effects of multiple predator types, raising the question of how so-called multiple predator effects relate to dietary specialization in insect herbivores. Here we test the EFSH with a field experiment quantifying ant predation risk to insect herbivores (caterpillars) with and without the combined predation effects of birds. Assessing a community of 20 caterpillar species, we use model selection in a phylogenetic comparative framework to identify the caterpillar traits that best predict the risk of ant predation. A caterpillar species' abundance, dietary specialization, and behavioral defenses were important predictors of its ant predation risk. Abundant caterpillar species had increased its risk of ant predation irrespective of bird predation. Caterpillar species with broad diet breadth and behavioral responsiveness to attack had reduced ant predation risk, but these ant effects only occurred when birds also had access to the caterpillar community. These findings suggest that ant predation of caterpillar species is density- or frequency-dependent, that ants and birds may impose countervailing selection on dietary specialization within the same herbivore community, and that contingent effects of multiple predators may generate behaviorally mediated life history trade-offs associated with herbivore diet breadth.

opencc-zeroOct 2020View details →

Large mammalian herbivores contribute to conspecific negative density dependence in a temperate forest

1. The Janzen-Connell Hypothesis (JCH) predicts that density-responsive and host-specific natural enemies limit the population sizes of abundant species. Importantly, these interactions help to maintain local community diversity through time. While ample evidence exists for the demographic predictions of the JCH, it remains unclear which natural enemies drive these dynamics across different plant communities. 2. While large mammalian herbivores are often assumed to lack the specialized diet needed to drive Janzen-Connell effects, they do show a degree of host-preference that could drive density-dependent plant demography. However, the potential role of large mammalian herbivores in Janzen-Connell interactions has only rarely been investigated. 3. Using 204 seedling transects (1 x 10 m) at 51 sites across a 900-hectare forested reserve in southwestern Pennsylvania (USA), we examined the role that large mammals play in driving conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) in temperate tree seedlings. Individual fences were erected around half of the transects (N=102) to exclude large mammals, and were paired with adjacent unfenced transects. Within transects, a total of ~15,000 individual seedlings were monitored over three growing seasons. 4. Demographic neighborhood models were constructed to examine the influence of neighborhood composition and density on seedling survival and growth. An interaction term between conspecific neighbor density and fencing treatment was included to test the hypothesis that large herbivores cause CNDD. 5. We found that seedling survival was influenced by both conspecific neighbor density and fencing. CNDD was strongest when large mammals were allowed access to seedlings, and these results were driven by two abundant taxa (Prunus serotina and Fraxinus spp). Despite evidence that large mammals mediate CNDD, we found no effect of fencing on rarified species richness or evenness in seedling transects during the study. 6. Synthesis: Debate regarding the role of large herbivores in fostering the diversity and stability of forest communities continues. Our results indicate that large mammalian herbivores can cause CNDD in some temperate tree species, but whether they help to promote community diversity over time remains unclear. Further research is needed to assess the role of large mammalian herbivores in driving conspecific negative density dependence in plant communities.

opencc-zeroNov 2020View details →

Tree mycorrhizal type mediates the strength of negative density dependence in temperate forests

1. Recent plant-soil feedback experiments suggest that arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) tree species experience stronger conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) than ectomycorrhizal (EM) tree species. Yet how these findings inform our understanding of natural systems is limited because the roles of local soil conditions, light environments and tree species abundances in influencing CNDD for AM and EM species are not clear. 2. Here we examined seedling and sapling survival in two temperate old-growth forests (broadleaved pine and spruce-fir forests) in Northeast China, to evaluate the effects of both conspecific and heterospecific neighbour density, as well as the soil and light environments, on the survival of AM and EM-dependent trees at early life stages. 3. While light availability increased the survival of EM seedlings, soil organic resources increased EM sapling survival in the spruce-fir plot. AM seedlings suffered stronger CNDD than did EM seedlings in both plots. In the spruce-fir plot, soil factors and light availability mediated species CNDD but their effects differed for AM and EM species, and also between seedlings and saplings. For seedlings in both plots, we found that AM species exhibited a positive relationship between species abundance and CNDD strength, whereas this relationship was negative for EM species. 4. Synthesis. Our results provide one of the few tests of how fungal symbioses determine species responses to intra- and interspecific interactions and the direct effects of local environmental conditions on seedling and sapling survival. We show that mycorrhizal type mediates the strength of CNDD and its relationship with species abundance. These results suggest that tree mycorrhizal association can determine the strength of CNDD effects on both rare and common species, and these CNDD differences are likely to influence the community composition of temperate forests.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: LiDAR-derived canopy structure supports the more-individuals hypothesis for arthropod diversity in temperate forests

Despite considerable progress in the ability to measure the complex 3-D structure of forests with the improvement of remote-sensing techniques, our mechanistic understanding of how biodiversity is linked to canopy structure is still limited. Here we tested whether the increase in arthropod abundance and richness in beech forest canopies with increasing canopy complexity supports the more-individuals hypothesis or the habitat-heterogeneity hypothesis. We used fogging to collect arthropod samples from 80 standardized plots from canopies of single- to multi-layered mature montane European beech stands. Tree height and an independent measure of vertical heterogeneity — the vertical distribution ratio — on each arthropod sampling plot were derived from high-resolution full-waveform airborne laser scanning data. Mixed-model path analysis based on almost 20,000 specimens of 762 species from 11 orders provided support for the more-individuals hypothesis, with higher arthropod abundance but not higher species richness in stands with a more equal vertical distribution of plant biomass. By contrast, we found no support for the habitat-heterogeneity hypothesis. The increase in the number of individuals with increasing vertical distribution of biomass might be caused either by increasing leaf area, as indicated by higher space filling and productivity in multi-layered stands, or by higher persistence of arthropod populations owing to better shelter, reduced competition and more refuges under harsh conditions, or by both. High-resolution airborne laser scanning, with its ability to penetrate dense canopies under leaf-on conditions, has proved suitable for measuring vertical structures as a predictor for canopy diversity. Expanding combinations of remote-sensing and canopy-biodiversity data opens many avenues for improving our understanding of the link between diversity and forest structures.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Plant and soil microbe responses to light, warming and nitrogen addition in a temperate forest

1. Temperate forests across Europe and eastern North America have become denser since the 1950s due to less intensive forest management and global environmental changes such as nitrogen deposition and climate warming. Denser tree canopies result in lower light availability at the forest floor. This shade may buffer the effects of nitrogen deposition and climate warming on understorey plant communities. 2. We conducted an innovative in-situ field experiment to study the responses of co-occurring soil microbial and understorey plant communities to nitrogen addition, enhanced light availability, and experimental warming in a full-factorial design. 3. We determined the effects of multiple environmental drivers and their interactions on the soil microbial and understorey plant communities, and assessed to what extent the soil microbial and understorey plant communities co-vary. 4. High light led to lower biomass of the soil microbes (analysed by phospholipid fatty acids), but the soil microbial structure, i.e., the ratio of fungal biomass to bacterial biomass, was not affected by light availability. The composition of the soil bacterial community (analysed by high-throughput sequencing) was affected by both light availability and warming (and their interaction), but not by nitrogen addition. Yet, the number of unique operational taxonomic units was high in plots with nitrogen addition, and there were significant interactive effects of light and nitrogen addition. Light availability also determined the composition of the plant community; no effects of nitrogen addition and warming were observed. The soil bacterial and plant communities were co-structured, and light availability explained most variance of this co-structure. 5. We provide robust evidence for the key role of light in affecting both the soil microbial and plant communities in forest understoreys. Our results advocate for more multifactor global-change experiments that investigate the mechanism underlying the (in)direct effects of light on the plant–soil continuum in forests.

opencc-zeroFeb 2020View details →

Above- and below-ground biodiversity jointly regulate temperate forest multifunctionality along a local-scale environmental gradient

1. Tree diversity has been shown to promote a broad range of ecosystem functions in forests. However, how important these effects are in driving ecosystem multifunctionality in natural forests, relative to other drivers, such as below-ground biodiversity (e.g., soil microbial diversity), community-level functional traits and environmental conditions, remains poorly understood. Here, we hypothesise that tree species or phylogenetic diversity, stand structure, functional traits and soil microbial diversity jointly regulate temperate forest multifunctionality along a local-scale environmental gradient. 2. Using repeated census data from a 25-ha old-growth temperate forest, we first quantified eight ecosystem functions and properties related to above- and below-ground nutrient cycling. We then used these to estimate ecosystem multifunctionality using both an averaging and multiple thresholds (50, 75, and 95%) approaches. Finally, we used structural equation models to explore how different facets of tree (tree species, functional and phylogenetic diversity) and soil (bacteria, fungi, and nematode diversity) biodiversity influence ecosystem multifunctionality, as well as how these relationships are modulated by stand structural attributes and environmental conditions (topography and soil nutrients). 3. Forest multifunctionality was positively related to stand structural complexity but negatively related to acquisitive traits (i.e. community-weighted mean of specific leaf area). Plant phylogenetic diversity had no significant direct effect on forest multifunctionality, but it had a significant indirect effect via increased stand structural complexity. The effect of soil microbial diversity on forest multifunctionality increased with increasing threshold levels of forest multifunctionality and outperformed tree diversity and environmental conditions at the highest threshold level (i.e. 95%). Forests on steep slopes had lower levels of ecosystem multifunctionality due to decreased stand structural complexity. Soil nutrients were responsible for regulating forest multifunctionality via plant trait composition and, to a lesser extent, via tree diversity, stand structure and soil microbial diversity. 4. Synthesis: Plant phylogenetic diversity, stand structure and soil microbial diversity jointly regulated forest multifunctionality, and these effects were influenced by local-scale changes in environmental conditions. Soil microbial diversity was a key driver of highly multifunctional forests, whereas conservation of complex stand structure and conservative trait dominance could enhance mean values of multiple functions. 1. Tree diversity has been shown to promote a broad range of ecosystem functions in forests. However, how important these effects are in driving ecosystem multifunctionality in natural forests, relative to other drivers, such as below-ground biodiversity (e.g., soil microbial diversity), community-level functional traits and environmental conditions, remains poorly understood. Here, we hypothesise that tree species or phylogenetic diversity, stand structure, functional traits and soil microbial diversity jointly regulate temperate forest multifunctionality along a local-scale environmental gradient. 2. Using repeated census data from a 25-ha old-growth temperate forest, we first quantified eight ecosystem functions and properties related to above- and below-ground nutrient cycling. We then used these to estimate ecosystem multifunctionality using both an averaging and multiple thresholds (50, 75, and 95%) approaches. Finally, we used structural equation models to explore how different facets of tree (tree species, functional and phylogenetic diversity) and soil (bacteria, fungi, and nematode diversity) biodiversity influence ecosystem multifunctionality, as well as how these relationships are modulated by stand structural attributes and environmental conditions (topography and soil nutrients). 3. Forest multifunctionality was positively related to stand structural complexity but negatively related to acquisitive traits (i.e. community-weighted mean of specific leaf area). Plant phylogenetic diversity had no significant direct effect on forest multifunctionality, but it had a significant indirect effect via increased stand structural complexity. The effect of soil microbial diversity on forest multifunctionality increased with increasing threshold levels of forest multifunctionality and outperformed tree diversity and environmental conditions at the highest threshold level (i.e. 95%). Forests on steep slopes had lower levels of ecosystem multifunctionality due to decreased stand structural complexity. Soil nutrients were responsible for regulating forest multifunctionality via plant trait composition and, to a lesser extent, via tree diversity, stand structure and soil microbial diversity. 4. Synthesis: Plant phylogenetic diversity, stand structure and soil microbial diversity jointly regulated forest multifunctionality, and these effects were influenced by local-scale changes in environmental conditions. Soil microbial diversity was a key driver of highly multifunctional forests, whereas conservation of complex stand structure and conservative trait dominance could enhance mean values of multiple functions. 1. Tree diversity has been shown to promote a broad range of ecosystem functions in forests. However, how important these effects are in driving ecosystem multifunctionality in natural forests, relative to other drivers, such as below-ground biodiversity (e.g., soil microbial diversity), community-level functional traits and environmental conditions, remains poorly understood. Here, we hypothesise that tree species or phylogenetic diversity, stand structure, functional traits and soil microbial diversity jointly regulate temperate forest multifunctionality along a local-scale environmental gradient. 2. Using repeated census data from a 25-ha old-growth temperate forest, we first quantified eight ecosystem functions and properties related to above- and below-ground nutrient cycling. We then used these to estimate ecosystem multifunctionality using both an averaging and multiple thresholds (50, 75, and 95%) approaches. Finally, we used structural equation models to explore how different facets of tree (tree species, functional and phylogenetic diversity) and soil (bacteria, fungi, and nematode diversity) biodiversity influence ecosystem multifunctionality, as well as how these relationships are modulated by stand structural attributes and environmental conditions (topography and soil nutrients). 3. Forest multifunctionality was positively related to stand structural complexity but negatively related to acquisitive traits (i.e. community-weighted mean of specific leaf area). Plant phylogenetic diversity had no significant direct effect on forest multifunctionality, but it had a significant indirect effect via increased stand structural complexity. The effect of soil microbial diversity on forest multifunctionality increased with increasing threshold levels of forest multifunctionality and outperformed tree diversity and environmental conditions at the highest threshold level (i.e. 95%). Forests on steep slopes had lower levels of ecosystem multifunctionality due to decreased stand structural complexity. Soil nutrients were responsible for regulating forest multifunctionality via plant trait composition and, to a lesser extent, via tree diversity, stand structure and soil microbial diversity. 4. Synthesis: Plant phylogenetic diversity, stand structure and soil microbial diversity jointly regulated forest multifunctionality, and these effects were influenced by local-scale changes in environmental conditions. Soil microbial diversity was a key driver of highly multifunctional forests, whereas conservation of complex stand structure and conservative trait dominance could enhance mean values of multiple functions.

opencc-zeroDec 2013View details →

Data from: A conifer–angiosperm divergence in the growth vs shade tolerance trade-off underlies the dynamics of a New Zealand warm-temperate rain forest

1. A central tenet of forest ecology is that succession and regeneration dynamics are driven by an interspecific trade-off between juvenile growth rates in high light and shade tolerance. There is evidence, however, that a single trade-off axis may fail to explain the dynamics of mixed conifer-angiosperm rainforests in the southern hemisphere, especially in New Zealand. 2. We tested for growth vs shade tolerance trade-offs by measuring juvenile growth of five podocarps and five broadleaved canopy angiosperms across a wide range of light environments in a New Zealand warm-temperate rainforest. The light compensation point of growth was used as a measure of species light requirements, which we then compared with height growth in 10% light, approximating the environments encountered beneath small tree-fall gaps. 3. Despite considerable overlap between the ranges of both growth rates and compensation points found in the two lineages, major axis tests showed that the growth vs shade tolerance trade-off differed significantly between podocarp and angiosperm species. At a common compensation point, angiosperms were faster-growing than podocarps in 10% light. However, juveniles of these angiosperm species were notably scarce in the more open environments associated with forest margins. 4. Synthesis. A conifer–angiosperm divergence in the growth vs shade tolerance trade-off may explain long-standing problems of the dynamics of these forests. Although juveniles of most lowland podocarps can tolerate considerable shade, the more vigorous response of broadleaved angiosperms to small canopy openings enables them to out-compete podocarps in old-growth stands. The greater abundance of podocarp juveniles on forest margins cannot be attributed to them outcompeting angiosperm species where light is abundant, and is likely to reflect superior resistance to frost and/or drought. The drivers of the dynamics of New Zealand's podocarp–broadleaved forests therefore differ appreciably from those ascribed to tropical and north-temperate forests.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: The impacts of climate change and disturbance on spatio-temporal trajectories of biodiversity in a temperate forest landscape

The ongoing changes to climate challenge the conservation of forest biodiversity. Yet, in thermally limited systems, such as temperate forests, not all species groups might be affected negatively. Furthermore, simultaneous changes in the disturbance regime have the potential to mitigate climate-related impacts on forest species. Here, we (i) investigated the potential long-term effect of climate change on biodiversity in a mountain forest landscape, (ii) assessed the effects of different disturbance frequencies, severities and sizes and (iii) identified biodiversity hotspots at the landscape scale to facilitate conservation management. We employed the model iLand to dynamically simulate the tree vegetation on 13 865 ha of the Kalkalpen National Park in Austria over 1000 years, and investigated 36 unique combinations of different disturbance and climate scenarios. We used simulated changes in tree cover and composition as well as projected temperature and precipitation to predict changes in the diversity of Araneae, Carabidae, ground vegetation, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Mollusca, saproxylic beetles, Symphyta and Syrphidae, using empirical response functions. Our findings revealed widely varying responses of biodiversity indicators to climate change. Five indicators showed overall negative effects, with Carabidae, saproxylic beetles and tree species diversity projected to decrease by more than 33%. Six indicators responded positively to climate change, with Hymenoptera, Mollusca and Syrphidae diversity projected to increase more than twofold. Disturbances were generally beneficial for the studied indicators of biodiversity. Our results indicated that increasing disturbance frequency and severity have a positive effect on biodiversity, while increasing disturbance size has a moderately negative effect. Spatial hotspots of biodiversity were currently found in low- to mid-elevation areas of the mountainous study landscape, but shifted to higher-elevation zones under changing climate conditions. Synthesis and applications. Our results highlight that intensifying disturbance regimes may alleviate some of the impacts of climate change on forest biodiversity. However, the projected shift in biodiversity hotspots is a challenge for static conservation areas. In this regard, overlapping hotspots under current and expected future conditions highlight priority areas for robust conservation management.

opencc-zeroAug 2019View details →

Data from: Spatio-temporal effects of logging and fire on tall, wet temperate eucalypt forest birds

Forests globally are subject to multiple disturbances such as logging and fire that create complex temporal variation in spatial patterns of forest cover and stand age. However, investigations that quantify temporal changes in biodiversity in response to multiple forms of disturbance in space and time are relatively uncommon. Over a 10-year period, we investigated the response of bird species to spatio-temporal changes in cover associated with logging and wildfire in the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forests of south-eastern Australia. Specifically, we examined how bird occurrence changed with shifts in the proportion of area burnt or logged in a 4.5km radius surrounding each of 87 field survey sites. Overall species richness was greatest in older forest patches. Bird species richness declined as the amount of fire around each site increased. At the individual species level, most species were more likely to be found in old growth than younger forest. Twenty-five of 36 bird species we modeled, exhibited a negative response to the amount of fire in the surrounding landscape (while two species responded positively to fire). Only nine species exhibited signs of post-fire recovery. Ten species were more likely to be recorded as the proportion of logged forest surrounding a site increased, suggesting a possible "concentration effect" with displaced birds moving into unlogged areas following harvesting of adjacent areas. In contrast to predictions from the disturbance-congruence hypothesis, no bird species exhibited similar responses to fire and logging in the landscape surrounding our sites. Similarly, no bird life history traits were associated with burned or logged forest, although insectivorous birds were more likely to be found in old growth forests and increased over time. Birds in Mountain Ash forests are strongly associated with old growth stands and exhibit complex, time-dependent and species-specific responses to landscape disturbance. Despite logging and fire both being high-severity perturbations, species responses to one kind of landscape-scale disturbance are not readily predictable based on an understanding of the responses to another kind of (albeit superficially similar) disturbance.

opencc-zeroDec 2019View details →

Mesophication in temperate Europe: a dendrochronological reconstruction of tree succession and fires in a mixed deciduous stand in Białowieża Forest / supporting data

The attached data was gathered to investigate the successional changes in Bialowieza Forest mixed-deciduous stands by reconstructing the long-term tree population dynamics (tree-ring data). Traces of fires were documented from a 43ha area to explore whether fire was involved in shaping the succession of this habitat.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Genet dynamics of a regenerating dwarf bamboo population across heterogeneous light environments in a temperate forest understorey

Despite the advantage of plant clonality in patchy environments, studies focusing on genet demography in relation to spatially heterogeneous environments remain scarce. Regeneration of bamboos in forest understoreys after synchronous die-off provides an opportunity for assessing how they come to proliferate across heterogeneous light environments. In a Japanese forest, we examined genet demography of a population of Sasa kurilensis over a 7-year period starting 10 years after die-off, shortly after which some genets began spreading horizontally by rhizomes. The aboveground biomass was estimated and genets were discriminated in 9-m2 plots placed under both canopy gaps and closed canopies. Overall, the results suggest that the survival and spread of more productive genets and the spatial expansion of genets into closed canopies underlie the proliferation of S. kurilensis. Compared to canopy gaps, the recovery rate of biomass was much slower under closed canopies for the first 10 years after the die-off, but became accelerated during the next seven years. Genet survival was greater for more productive genets (with greater initial number of culms), and the spaces occupied by genets that died were often colonized afterward by clonal growth of surviving genets. The number of genets decreased under canopy gaps due to greater mortality, but increased under closed canopies where greater number of genets colonized clonally from outside the plots than genets died. The colonizing genets were more productive (having larger culms) than those originally germinated within the plots, and the contribution of colonizing genets to the biomass was greater under closed canopies. Our study emphasizes the importance of investigating genet dynamics over relevant spatio-temporal scales to reveal processes underlying the success of clonal plants in heterogeneous habitats.