Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
10,891
result(s) for
"Old growth"
Sort by:
The power of trees : how ancient forests can save us if we let them
\"From the international bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees. An illuminating manifesto on ancient forests: how they adapt to climate change by passing their wisdom through generations, and why our future lies in protecting them. In his beloved book The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben revealed astonishing discoveries about the social networks of trees and how they communicate. Now, in The Power of Trees, he turns to their future, with a searing critique of forestry management, tree planting, and the exploitation of old growth forests. As human-caused climate change devastates the planet, forests play a critical role in keeping it habitable. While politicians and business leaders would have us believe that cutting down forests can be offset by mass tree planting, Wohlleben offers a warning: many tree planting campaigns lead to ecological disaster. Not only are these trees more susceptible to disease, flooding, fires, and landslides, we need to understand that forests are more than simply a collection of trees. Instead, they are ecosystems that consist of thousands of species, from animals to fungi and bacteria. The way to save trees, and ourselves? Step aside and let forests--which are naturally better equipped to face environmental challenges--heal themselves. With the warmth and wonder familiar to readers from his previous books, Wohlleben also shares emerging scientific research about how forests shape climates both locally and across continents; that trees adapt to changing environmental conditions through passing knowledge down to their offspring; and how old growth may in fact have the most survival strategies for climate change. At the heart of The Power of Trees lies Wohlleben's passionate plea: that our survival is dependent on trusting ancient forests, and allowing them to thrive.\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Plant responses to fertilization experiments in lowland, species-rich, tropical forests
We present a meta-analysis of plant responses to fertilization experiments conducted in lowland, species-rich, tropical forests. We also update a key result and present the first species-level analyses of tree growth rates for a 15-yr factorial nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) experiment conducted in central Panama. The update concerns community-level tree growth rates, which responded significantly to the addition of N and K together after 10 yr of fertilization but not after 15 yr. Our experimental soils are infertile for the region, and species whose regional distributions are strongly associated with low soil P availability dominate the local tree flora. Under these circumstances, we expect muted responses to fertilization, and we predicted species associated with low-P soils would respond most slowly. The data did not support this prediction, species-level tree growth responses to P addition were unrelated to species-level soil P associations. The meta-analysis demonstrated that nutrient limitation is widespread in lowland tropical forests and evaluated two directional hypotheses concerning plant responses to N addition and to P addition. The meta-analysis supported the hypothesis that tree (or biomass) growth rate responses to fertilization are weaker in old growth forests and stronger in secondary forests, where rapid biomass accumulation provides a nutrient sink. The meta-analysis found no support for the long-standing hypothesis that plant responses are stronger for P addition and weaker for N addition. We do not advocate discarding the latter hypothesis. There are only 14 fertilization experiments from lowland, species-rich, tropical forests, 13 of the 14 experiments added nutrients for five or fewer years, and responses vary widely among experiments. Potential fertilization responses should be muted when the species present are well adapted to nutrient-poor soils, as is the case in our experiment, and when pest pressure increases with fertilization, as it does in our experiment. The statistical power and especially the duration of fertilization experiments conducted in old growth, tropical forests might be insufficient to detect the slow, modest growth responses that are to be expected.
Journal Article
How do tree structure and old age affect growth potential of California redwoods?
As the only species exceeding 90 m in height and 2000 years of age,
Sequoia sempervirens
and
Sequoiadendron giganteum
provide the optimal platform upon which to examine interactions among tree structure, age, and growth. We climbed 140 trees in old-growth redwood forests across California, USA, spanning a broad range of sizes and including the tallest, largest, and oldest known living individuals (i.e., 115.86 vs. 96.29 m tall, 424 vs. 582 Mg aboveground dry mass, and 2510 vs. 3240 years old for
Sequoia
and
Sequoiadendron
, respectively). We used a combination of direct measurements, hierarchical sampling, and dendrochronology to quantify tree structure and annual growth increments through old age. We also developed equations to predict aboveground attributes of standing redwoods via ground-based measurements. Compared to
Sequoia
,
Sequoiadendron
develops thicker bark on lower trunks, provisions leaves with more sapwood, and delays heartwood production throughout the crown. Main trunk wood volume growth (up to 1.6 vs. 0.9 m
3
/yr), aboveground biomass growth (up to 0.77 vs. 0.45 Mg/yr), and aboveground growth efficiency (0.55 ± 0.04 vs. 0.22 ± 0.01 kg annual growth per kg leaves, mean ± SE) are all higher in
Sequoia
. Two independent dimensions of structure-size and aboveground vigor-are the strongest predictors of tree-level productivity in both species. A third dimension, relative trunk size, is a significant predictor of growth in
Sequoia
such that trees with relatively large main trunks compared to their crowns produce more wood annually. Similar-size trees grow at similar rates regardless of latitude or elevation in tall forests of each species. Recent annual growth increments are higher than in the past for the majority of trees, and old trees are just as responsive to environmental changes as young trees. Negative growth-age relationships in previous centuries and positive growth-age relationships in recent decades reflect sampling bias and shifting disturbance regimes. Overall, we find little (if any) evidence for negative effects of old age on tree-level productivity in either species. Except for recovery periods following temporary reductions in crown size, annual increments of wood volume and biomass growth increase as redwoods enlarge with age until extrinsic forces cause tree death.
Journal Article
In search of the old ones : an odyssey among ancient trees
\"An extraordinary journey to visit the oldest trees in the United States that beautifully reveals the connection between humans and natural history\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Carbon storage in old-growth forests of the Mid-Atlantic: toward better understanding the eastern forest carbon sink
Few old-growth stands remain in the matrix of secondary forests that dominates the eastern North American landscape. These remnant stands offer insight on the potential carbon (C) storage capacity of now-recovering secondary forests. We surveyed the remaining old-growth forests on sites characteristic of the general Mid-Atlantic United States and estimated the size of multiple components of forest C storage. Within and between old-growth stands, variability in C density is high and related to overstory tree species composition. The sites contain 219 ± 46 Mg C/ha (mean ± SD), including live and dead aboveground biomass, leaf litter, and the soil O horizon, with over 20% stored in downed wood and snags. Stands dominated by tulip poplar (
Liriodendron tulipifera
) store the most live biomass, while the mixed oak (
Quercus
spp.) stands overall store more dead wood. Total C density is 30% higher (154 Mg C/ha), and dead wood C density is 1800% higher (46 Mg C/ha) in the old-growth forests than in the surrounding younger forests (120 and 5 Mg C/ha, respectively). The high density of dead wood in old growth relative to secondary forests reflects a stark difference in historical land use and, possibly, the legacy of the local disturbance (e.g., disease) history. Our results demonstrate the potential for dead wood to maintain the sink capacity of secondary forests for many decades to come.
Journal Article
Luna and me : the true story of a girl who lived in a tree to save a forest
\"Social activism combines with environmentalism in this picture book bio of Julia Butterfly Hill and Luna, the thousand-year-old redwood tree whose life she saved\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Proximity to an old-growth forest edge and ectomycorrhizal tree islands enhance ectomycorrhizal fungal colonization of Betula lenta L. (black birch) seedlings in secondary forest soils
AimsThe few remaining old-growth forests in the northeastern United States are often comprised of ectomycorrhizal (EM) tree-dominated patches surrounded by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) tree-dominated secondary forests. We examined how (1) distance from old growth and tree neighborhood composition influenced EM colonization, fungal richness, and fungal community composition of Betula lenta L. (black birch) seedlings, a common EM tree that colonizes abandoned agricultural fields, and (2) potential effects of EM fungal genera on seedling physiological performance.MethodsWe sampled soils and tree composition from the edge of an EM-dominated old-growth forest into an adjacent AM-dominated secondary forest. We used soils to grow black birch seedlings in a growth chamber bioassay. We measured seedling EM colonization and investigated effects of EM fungi and soil characteristics on seedling physiological performance.ResultsWe identified 20 EM fungal species and found decreases in EM colonization and fungal richness with distance from old growth, with many taxa present only near the edge. Neighborhood EM tree abundance best explained EM colonization while distance interacted with EM tree basal area to best explain EM fungal richness of seedlings. Soils from neighborhoods lacking EM trees resulted in sparse EM colonization of seedlings. We found no clear effects of EM fungal genera on seedling performance, but we detected a slight decrease in seedling photosynthetic rate with distance from old growth.ConclusionsOld-growth forests can be reservoirs of EM fungi, and EM tree patches can function as localized inoculum sources in AM-dominated secondary forests, potentially facilitating EM tree establishment.
Journal Article
Demographic drivers of tree biomass change during secondary succession in northeastern Costa Rica
Second-growth tropical forests are an important global carbon sink. As current knowledge on biomass accumulation during secondary succession is heavily based on chronosequence studies, direct estimates of annual rates of biomass accumulation in monitored stands are largely unavailable. We evaluated the contributions of tree diameter increment, recruitment, and mortality to annual tree biomass change during succession for three groups of tree species: second-growth (SG) specialists, generalists, and old-growth (OG) specialists. We monitored six second-growth tropical forests that varied in stand age and two old-growth forests in northeastern Costa Rica. We monitored these over a period of 8 to 16 years. To assess rates of biomass change during secondary succession, we compared standing biomass and biomass dynamics between second-growth forest stages and old-growth forest, and evaluated the effect of stand age on standing biomass and biomass dynamics in second-growth forests.
Standing tree biomass increased with stand age during succession, whereas the rate of biomass change decreased. Biomass change was largely driven by tree diameter increment and mortality, with a minor contribution from recruitment. The relative importance of these demographic drivers shifted over succession. Biomass gain due to tree diameter increment decreased with stand age, whereas biomass loss due to mortality increased. In the age range of our second-growth forests, 10-41 years, SG specialists dominated tree biomass in second-growth forests. SG specialists, and to a lesser extent generalists, also dominated stand-level biomass increase due to tree diameter increment, whereas SG specialists largely accounted for decreases in biomass due to mortality.
Our results indicate that tree growth is largely driving biomass dynamics early in succession, whereas both growth and mortality are important later in succession. Biomass dynamics are largely accounted for by a few SG specialists and one generalist species,
Pentaclethra macroloba
. To assess the generality of our results, similar long-term studies should be compared across tropical forest landscapes.
Journal Article
Where are Europe's last primary forests?
Aim: Primary forests have high conservation value but are rare in Europe due to historic land use. Yet many primary forest patches remain unmapped, and it is unclear to what extent they are effectively protected. Our aim was to (1) compile the most comprehensive European-scale map of currently known primary forests, (2) analyse the spatial determinants characterizing their location and (3) locate areas where so far unmapped primary forests likely occur. Location: Europe. Methods: We aggregated data from a literature review, online questionnaires and 32 datasets of primary forests. We used boosted regression trees to explore which biophysical, socio-economic and forest-related variables explain the current distribution of primary forests. Finally, we predicted and mapped the relative likelihood of primary forest occurrence at a 1-km resolution across Europe. Results: Data on primary forests were frequently incomplete or inconsistent among countries. Known primary forests covered 1.4 Mha in 32 countries (0.7% of Europe's forest area). Most of these forests were protected (89%), but only 46% of them strictly. Primary forests mostly occurred in mountain and boreal areas and were unevenly distributed across countries, biogeographical regions and forest types. Unmapped primary forests likely occur in the least accessible and populated areas, where forests cover a greater share of land, but wood demand historically has been low. Main conclusions: Despite their outstanding conservation value, primary forests are rare and their current distribution is the result of centuries of land use and forest management. The conservation outlook for primary forests is uncertain as many are not strictly protected and most are small and fragmented, making them prone to extinction debt and human disturbance. Predicting where unmapped primary forests likely occur could guide conservation efforts, especially in Eastern Europe where large areas of primary forest still exist but are being lost at an alarming pace.
Journal Article