Structure of a pristine Picea abies forest in northeastern Europe

Abstract. The forest structure in a large, relatively homogeneous area of pristine Picea abies taiga in the southern boreal region west of the Ural mountains was studied along four 500‐m long transects. P. abies dominated the forest in association with Abies sibirica and Betula spp. The mean volume...

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Published in:Journal of Vegetation Science
Main Authors: Kuuluvainen, Timo, Syrjänen, Kimmo, Kalliola, Risto
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 1998
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3237272
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spelling crwiley:10.2307/3237272 2024-10-20T14:11:58+00:00 Structure of a pristine Picea abies forest in northeastern Europe Kuuluvainen, Timo Syrjänen, Kimmo Kalliola, Risto 1998 http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3237272 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2307%2F3237272 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2307/3237272 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Journal of Vegetation Science volume 9, issue 4, page 563-574 ISSN 1100-9233 1654-1103 journal-article 1998 crwiley https://doi.org/10.2307/3237272 2024-09-23T04:36:50Z Abstract. The forest structure in a large, relatively homogeneous area of pristine Picea abies taiga in the southern boreal region west of the Ural mountains was studied along four 500‐m long transects. P. abies dominated the forest in association with Abies sibirica and Betula spp. The mean volume of living trees was 216 m 3 /ha. This value varied among the four transects, from 138 ‐ 252 m 3 /ha. Mean density of trees (DBH > 1 cm) (and variation over the transects) was 2 064/ha (1670 ‐ 2710). Living trees classified as dying or seriously damaged made up 2.9 (2.5 ‐ 3.5) % of the living tree volume. Betula was an important canopy component and made up 16% of the living tree volume. The number of dead standing trees varied from 195 ‐ 325/ha, corresponding to a volume of 10.8 ‐ 70.7 m 3 /ha. The density of trees with a broken stem was 90 ‐ 170/ha and their estimated volume 7.6 ‐ 41.3 m 3 /ha. Standing dead trees and trees with broken stems represented 10.4 and 8.9% of the total standing tree volume (living + dead), respectively. The mean volume of decaying logs on the forest floor was 117 (84.4–156.2) m 3 /ha, corresponding to 54 (35 ‐ 113) % of the living tree volume. The canopy‐forming trees were present in the understory as abundant saplings and suppressed individuals. The size distribution of the dominant tree species resembled the inverse J‐shape. Generally, the forest was characterized by a high small‐scale structural variation and a larger‐scale relative homogeneity. This pattern is consistent with forest dynamics where the forest consists of a small‐scale mosaic of patches in different stages of recovery following disturbance. Our results suggest that the ecology and dynamics of extensive areas of natural boreal forests can be driven by small‐scale disturbance. Article in Journal/Newspaper taiga Wiley Online Library Journal of Vegetation Science 9 4 563 574
institution Open Polar
collection Wiley Online Library
op_collection_id crwiley
language English
description Abstract. The forest structure in a large, relatively homogeneous area of pristine Picea abies taiga in the southern boreal region west of the Ural mountains was studied along four 500‐m long transects. P. abies dominated the forest in association with Abies sibirica and Betula spp. The mean volume of living trees was 216 m 3 /ha. This value varied among the four transects, from 138 ‐ 252 m 3 /ha. Mean density of trees (DBH > 1 cm) (and variation over the transects) was 2 064/ha (1670 ‐ 2710). Living trees classified as dying or seriously damaged made up 2.9 (2.5 ‐ 3.5) % of the living tree volume. Betula was an important canopy component and made up 16% of the living tree volume. The number of dead standing trees varied from 195 ‐ 325/ha, corresponding to a volume of 10.8 ‐ 70.7 m 3 /ha. The density of trees with a broken stem was 90 ‐ 170/ha and their estimated volume 7.6 ‐ 41.3 m 3 /ha. Standing dead trees and trees with broken stems represented 10.4 and 8.9% of the total standing tree volume (living + dead), respectively. The mean volume of decaying logs on the forest floor was 117 (84.4–156.2) m 3 /ha, corresponding to 54 (35 ‐ 113) % of the living tree volume. The canopy‐forming trees were present in the understory as abundant saplings and suppressed individuals. The size distribution of the dominant tree species resembled the inverse J‐shape. Generally, the forest was characterized by a high small‐scale structural variation and a larger‐scale relative homogeneity. This pattern is consistent with forest dynamics where the forest consists of a small‐scale mosaic of patches in different stages of recovery following disturbance. Our results suggest that the ecology and dynamics of extensive areas of natural boreal forests can be driven by small‐scale disturbance.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Kuuluvainen, Timo
Syrjänen, Kimmo
Kalliola, Risto
spellingShingle Kuuluvainen, Timo
Syrjänen, Kimmo
Kalliola, Risto
Structure of a pristine Picea abies forest in northeastern Europe
author_facet Kuuluvainen, Timo
Syrjänen, Kimmo
Kalliola, Risto
author_sort Kuuluvainen, Timo
title Structure of a pristine Picea abies forest in northeastern Europe
title_short Structure of a pristine Picea abies forest in northeastern Europe
title_full Structure of a pristine Picea abies forest in northeastern Europe
title_fullStr Structure of a pristine Picea abies forest in northeastern Europe
title_full_unstemmed Structure of a pristine Picea abies forest in northeastern Europe
title_sort structure of a pristine picea abies forest in northeastern europe
publisher Wiley
publishDate 1998
url http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3237272
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2307%2F3237272
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2307/3237272
genre taiga
genre_facet taiga
op_source Journal of Vegetation Science
volume 9, issue 4, page 563-574
ISSN 1100-9233 1654-1103
op_rights http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor
op_doi https://doi.org/10.2307/3237272
container_title Journal of Vegetation Science
container_volume 9
container_issue 4
container_start_page 563
op_container_end_page 574
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