Effects of Linear Disturbances and Fire Severity on Velvet Leaf Blueberry Abundance, Vigor, and Berry Production in Recently Burned Jack Pine Forests
There is limited information on how velvet leaf blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides Michx.) responds to fires and existing small forest gaps associated with narrow linear disturbances. We measured the effects of narrow forest linear gaps from seismic lines used for oil and gas exploration versus adjac...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/1999-4907/8/10/398/ 2023-08-20T04:06:35+02:00 Effects of Linear Disturbances and Fire Severity on Velvet Leaf Blueberry Abundance, Vigor, and Berry Production in Recently Burned Jack Pine Forests Charlotte Dawe Angelo Filicetti Scott Nielsen agris 2017-10-18 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/f8100398 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Forest Ecology and Management https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f8100398 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Forests; Volume 8; Issue 10; Pages: 398 fire severity seismic line disturbance jack pine production vigor abundance presence Ericaceae velvet leaf blueberry Vaccinium myrtilloides Text 2017 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/f8100398 2023-07-31T21:15:20Z There is limited information on how velvet leaf blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides Michx.) responds to fires and existing small forest gaps associated with narrow linear disturbances. We measured the effects of narrow forest linear gaps from seismic lines used for oil and gas exploration versus adjacent (control) forests across a fire severity (% tree mortality) gradient on the presence, abundance (cover), vigor (height), and berry production of Vaccinium myrtilloides in recently (five-year) burned jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) forests near Fort McMurray, Alberta. Presence was greatest in forests that experienced low to moderately-high fire severities with declines at high fire severity. Abundance did not differ among seismic lines or adjacent forest, nor did it differ along a fire severity gradient. In contrast, vigor and berry production were greater on seismic lines compared to adjacent forests with fire severity positively affecting berry production, but not plant vigor. After controlling for changes in plant cover and vigor, berry production still increased with fire severity and within seismic lines compared with adjacent forests. Our findings suggest that narrow gaps from linear disturbances and fire severity interact to affect the fecundity (berry production) and growth (height) of Vaccinium myrtilloides. This has important implications for assessing the ecological effects of fire on linear disturbances associated with energy exploration in the western boreal forest. Text Fort McMurray MDPI Open Access Publishing Fort McMurray Forests 8 10 398 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
fire severity seismic line disturbance jack pine production vigor abundance presence Ericaceae velvet leaf blueberry Vaccinium myrtilloides |
spellingShingle |
fire severity seismic line disturbance jack pine production vigor abundance presence Ericaceae velvet leaf blueberry Vaccinium myrtilloides Charlotte Dawe Angelo Filicetti Scott Nielsen Effects of Linear Disturbances and Fire Severity on Velvet Leaf Blueberry Abundance, Vigor, and Berry Production in Recently Burned Jack Pine Forests |
topic_facet |
fire severity seismic line disturbance jack pine production vigor abundance presence Ericaceae velvet leaf blueberry Vaccinium myrtilloides |
description |
There is limited information on how velvet leaf blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides Michx.) responds to fires and existing small forest gaps associated with narrow linear disturbances. We measured the effects of narrow forest linear gaps from seismic lines used for oil and gas exploration versus adjacent (control) forests across a fire severity (% tree mortality) gradient on the presence, abundance (cover), vigor (height), and berry production of Vaccinium myrtilloides in recently (five-year) burned jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) forests near Fort McMurray, Alberta. Presence was greatest in forests that experienced low to moderately-high fire severities with declines at high fire severity. Abundance did not differ among seismic lines or adjacent forest, nor did it differ along a fire severity gradient. In contrast, vigor and berry production were greater on seismic lines compared to adjacent forests with fire severity positively affecting berry production, but not plant vigor. After controlling for changes in plant cover and vigor, berry production still increased with fire severity and within seismic lines compared with adjacent forests. Our findings suggest that narrow gaps from linear disturbances and fire severity interact to affect the fecundity (berry production) and growth (height) of Vaccinium myrtilloides. This has important implications for assessing the ecological effects of fire on linear disturbances associated with energy exploration in the western boreal forest. |
format |
Text |
author |
Charlotte Dawe Angelo Filicetti Scott Nielsen |
author_facet |
Charlotte Dawe Angelo Filicetti Scott Nielsen |
author_sort |
Charlotte Dawe |
title |
Effects of Linear Disturbances and Fire Severity on Velvet Leaf Blueberry Abundance, Vigor, and Berry Production in Recently Burned Jack Pine Forests |
title_short |
Effects of Linear Disturbances and Fire Severity on Velvet Leaf Blueberry Abundance, Vigor, and Berry Production in Recently Burned Jack Pine Forests |
title_full |
Effects of Linear Disturbances and Fire Severity on Velvet Leaf Blueberry Abundance, Vigor, and Berry Production in Recently Burned Jack Pine Forests |
title_fullStr |
Effects of Linear Disturbances and Fire Severity on Velvet Leaf Blueberry Abundance, Vigor, and Berry Production in Recently Burned Jack Pine Forests |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of Linear Disturbances and Fire Severity on Velvet Leaf Blueberry Abundance, Vigor, and Berry Production in Recently Burned Jack Pine Forests |
title_sort |
effects of linear disturbances and fire severity on velvet leaf blueberry abundance, vigor, and berry production in recently burned jack pine forests |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/f8100398 |
op_coverage |
agris |
geographic |
Fort McMurray |
geographic_facet |
Fort McMurray |
genre |
Fort McMurray |
genre_facet |
Fort McMurray |
op_source |
Forests; Volume 8; Issue 10; Pages: 398 |
op_relation |
Forest Ecology and Management https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f8100398 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/f8100398 |
container_title |
Forests |
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8 |
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10 |
container_start_page |
398 |
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1774717796117118976 |