RESUMEN
We sought to quantify changes in tree species composition, forest structure and aboveground forest biomass (AGB) over 76 years (1930-2006) in the deciduous Black Rock Forest in southeastern New York, USA. We used data from periodic forest inventories, published floras and a set of eight long-term plots, along with species-specific allometric equations to estimate AGB and carbon content. Between the early 1930s and 2000, three species were extirpated from the forest (American elm (Ulmus americana L.), paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.) and black spruce (Picea mariana (nigra) (Mill.) BSP)) and seven species invaded the forest (non-natives tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle) and white poplar (Populus alba L.) and native, generally southerly distributed, southern catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides Walt.), cockspur hawthorn (Crataegus crus-galli L.), red mulberry (Morus rubra L.), eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides Bartr.) and slippery elm (Ulmus rubra Muhl.)). Forest canopy was dominated by red oak and chestnut oak, but the understory tree community changed substantially from mixed oak-maple to red maple-black birch. Density decreased from an average of 1500 to 735 trees ha(-1), whereas basal area doubled from less than 15 m(2) ha(-1) to almost 30 m(2) ha(-1) by 2000. Forest-wide mean AGB from inventory data increased from about 71 Mg ha(-1) in 1930 to about 145 Mg ha(-1) in 1985, and mean AGB on the long-term plots increased from 75 Mg ha(-1) in 1936 to 218 Mg ha(-1) in 1998. Over 76 years, red oak (Quercus rubra L.) canopy trees stored carbon at about twice the rate of similar-sized canopy trees of other species. However, there has been a significant loss of live tree biomass as a result of canopy tree mortality since 1999. Important constraints on long-term biomass increment have included insect outbreaks and droughts.
Asunto(s)
Biomasa , Árboles/fisiología , Geografía , New York , Hojas de la Planta/fisiología , Especificidad de la Especie , Árboles/anatomía & histologíaRESUMEN
In the understory of a closed forest, plant growth is limited by light availability, and early leafing is proposed to be an important mechanism of plant invasion by providing a spring C "subsidy" when high light is available. However, studies on respiration, another important process determining plant net C gain, are rare in understory invasive plants. In this study, leaf properties and the temperature response of leaf respiration were compared between invasive Berberis thunbergii, an early leafing understory shrub, and two native shrubs, Kalmia latifolia, a broadleaf evergreen and Vaccinium corymbosum, a late-leafing deciduous species, in an oak-dominated deciduous forest. The seasonal trend of the basal respiration rates (R(0)) and the temperature response coefficient (E(0)), were different among the three shrubs and species-specific negative correlations were observed between R(0) and E(0). All three shrubs showed significant correlation between respiration rate on an area basis (20 degrees C) and leaf N on an area basis. The relationship was attributed to the variation of both leaf N on a mass basis and leaf mass per area (LMA) in B. thunbergii, but to LMA only in K. latifolia and V. corymbosum. After modeling leaf respiration throughout 2004, B. thunbergii displayed much higher annual leaf respiration (mass based) than the two native shrubs, indicating a higher cost per unit of biomass investment. Thus, respiratory properties alone were not likely to lead to C balance advantage of B. thunbergii. Future studies on whole plant C budgets and leaf construction cost are needed to address the C balance advantage in early leafing understory shrubs like B. thunbergii.
Asunto(s)
Berberis/metabolismo , Ericaceae/metabolismo , Vaccinium/metabolismo , Dióxido de Carbono/metabolismo , Respiración de la Célula , New York , Hojas de la Planta/metabolismo , Estaciones del Año , TemperaturaRESUMEN
Early leafing and extended leaf longevity can be important mechanisms for the invasion of the forest understory. We compared the leaf phenology and photosynthetic characteristics of Berberis thunbergii, an early leafing invasive shrub, and two co-occurring native species, evergreen Kalmia latifolia and late leafing Vaccinium corymbosum, throughout the 2004 growing season. Berberis thunbergii leafed out 1 month earlier than V. corymbosum and approximately 2 weeks prior to the overstory trees. The photosynthetic capacity [characterized by the maximum carboxylation rate of Rubisco (V (cmax)) and the RuBP regeneration capacity mediated by the maximum electron transport rate (J (max))] of B. thunbergii was highest in the spring open canopy, and declined with canopy closure. The 2003 overwintering leaves of K. latifolia displayed high V (cmax) and J (max) in spring 2004. In new leaves of K. latifolia produced in 2004, the photosynthetic capacity gradually increased to a peak in mid-September, and reduced in late November. V. corymbosum, by contrast, maintained low V (cmax) and J (max) throughout the growing season. In B. thunbergii, light acclimation was mediated by adjustment in both leaf mass per unit area and leaf N on a mass basis, but this adjustment was weaker or absent in K. latifolia and V. corymbosum. These results indicated that B. thunbergii utilized high irradiance in the spring while K. latifolia took advantage of high irradiance in the fall and the following spring. By contrast, V. corymbosum generally did not experience a high irradiance environment and was adapted to the low irradiance understory. The apparent success of B. thunbergii therefore, appeared related to a high spring C subsidy and subsequent acclimation to varying irradiance through active N reallocation and leaf morphological modifications.