John Pastor

Influence of climate, soil moisture, and succession on forest carbon and nitrogen cycles

The interactions between the biotic processes of reproduction, growth, and death and the abiotic processes which regulate temperature and water availability, and the interplay between the biotic and abiotic processes regulating N and light availabilities are important in the dynamics of forest ecosystems. We have developed a computer simulation that assembles a model ecosystem which links these biotic and abiotic interactions through equations that predict decomposition processes, actual evapo-transpiration, soil water balance, nutrient uptake, growth of trees, and light penetration through the canopy. The equations and parameters are derived directly from field studies and observations of forests in eastern North America, resulting in a model that can make accurate quantitative predictions of biomass accumulation, N availability, soil humus development and net primary production.

Moose Browsing and Soil Fertility in the Boreal Forests of Isle Royale National Park

Selective foraging by moose on hardwoods and avoidance of conifers alters community composition and structure, which in turn can affect nutrient cycles and pro- ductivity. The effect of moose browsing on the nutrient cycles of boreal forests was studied using three 40-yr-old enclosures on Isle Royale, Michigan. Two alternative mechanisms by which moose affect ecosystems were tested: (1) moose depress both the quantity and quality of litter return to the soil, and hence N mineralization and net primary productivity, by browsing on hardwoods and avoiding conifers; (2) moose stimulate N mineralization, and hence net primary productivity, by opening the canopy and by dropping fecal pellets. Soil nutrient availability and microbial activity, including exchangeable cations, total car- bon and nitrogen, nitrogen mineralization rates, and microbial respiration rates, were uniformly higher in exclosures than outside. These differences were more significant where browsing intensity was high and less often significant where browsing intensity was low. N mineralization in browsed plots declined with increasing moose consumption rates. Net primary production in enclosures and browsed plots was strongly correlated with N min- eralization. N mineralization in turn was positively correlated with litter N return and negatively correlated with litter cellulose content. These differences in litter quantity and quality were caused by an increased abundance of unbrowsed spruce outside the enclosures. Moose pellets alone mineralized less N but more C than soil alone, but pellets combined with soil stimulated N and C mineralization more than the sum of the two separately. However, this did not appear to be sufficient to offset the depression in nitrogen and carbon mineralization in soil resulting from the increased abundance of unbrowsed spruce. We conclude that, in the long term, high rates of moose browsing depress N mineralization and net primary production through the indirect effects on recruitment into the tree stratum, and subsequent depression of litter N return and litter quality. These results suggest that the effects of herbivores on ecosystems may be amplified by positive feedbacks between plant litter and soil nutrient availability.

CARBON, NITROGEN, AND PHOSPHORUS MINERALIZATION IN NORTHERN WETLANDS

We examined rates of C, N, and P mineralization in soils from 16 northern Minnesota wetlands that occur across an ombrotrophic–minerotrophic gradient. Soils were incubated at 30°C under aerobic and anaerobic conditions for 59 wk, and the results were fit with a two-pool kinetic model. Additionally, 39 different soil quality variables were used in a principal components analysis (PCA) to predict mineralization rates. Mineralization of C, N, and P differed significantly among wetland types, aeration status (aerobic vs. anaerobic), and their interaction term. Despite low total soil N and P, there was a rapid turnover of the nutrient pools in ombrotrophic sites, particularly under aerobic conditions. On a volumetric basis, C and N mineralization increased in a predictable manner across the ombrotrophic–minerotrophic gradient, largely due to increasing soil bulk density. However, P mineralization per cubic centimeter remained relatively high in the bogs. The higher total P content of more minerotrophic soils a...

Overview of case studies on recovery of aquatic systems from disturbance

An extensive review of the published literature identified more than 150 case studies in which some aspect of resilience in freshwater systems was reported. Approximately 79% of systems studied were lotic and the remainder lentic. Most of the stressor types were chemical with DDT (N=29) and rotenone (N=15) the most common. The most common nonchemical stressors were logging activity (N=16), flooding (N=8), dredging (N=3), and drought (N=7).The variety of endpoints to which recovery could be measured ranged from sparse data for phytoplankton (N=13), periphyton (N=6), and macrophytes (N=8) to relatively more data for fish (N=412) and macroinvertebrates (N=698). Unfortunately the same characteristics were rarely measured consistently among sites. For example, with respect to fish, more than 30 different species were studied and recovery was measured in many ways, most commonly on the basis of: (1) first reappearance of the species, (2) return time of predisturbance densities, and (3) return time of predisturbance average individual size. Based on these criteria, all systems in these studies seem to be resilient to most disturbances with most recovery times being less than three years. Exceptions included when (1) the disturbance resulted in physical alteration of the existing habitat, (2) residual pollutants remained in the system, or (3) the system was isolated and recolonization was suppressed.

Comparing Spatial Pattern in Unaltered Old‐Growth and Disturbed Forest Landscapes

We used geographic information systems (GIS) to analyze the structure of a second-growth forest landscape (9600 ha) that contains scattered old-growth patches. We compared this landscape to a nearby, unaltered old-growth landscape on comparable landforms and soils to assess the effects of human activity on forest spatial pattern. Our objective is to determine if characteristic landscape structural patterns distinguish the primary old-growth forest landscape from the disturbed landscape. Characteristic patterns of old-growth landscape structure would be useful in enhancing and restoring old-growth ecosystem functioning in managed landscapes. Our natural old-growth landscape is still dominated by the original forest cover of eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), and yellow birch (Betula allegheniensis). The disturbed landscape has only scattered, remnant patches of old-growth ecosystems among a greater number of early successional hardwood and conifer forest types. Human disturbances can either increase or decrease landscape heterogeneity depending on the parameter and spatial scale examined. In this study, we found that a number of important structural features of the intact old-growth landscape do not occur in the disturbed landscape. The disturbed landscape has significantly more small forest patches and fewer large, matrix patches than the intact landscape. Forest patches in the fragmented landscape are significantly simpler in shape (lower fractal dimension, D) than in the intact old-growth landscape. Change in fractal dimension with patch size, a relationship that may be characteristic of differing processes of patch formation at different scales, is present within the intact landscape but has been obscured by human activity in the disturbed landscape. Important ecosystem juxtapositions of the old-growth landscape, such as hemlock with lowland conifers, have been lost in the disturbed landscape. In addition, significant landscape heterogeneity in this glaciated region is produced by landforms alone, without natural or human disturbances. The features that distinguish disturbed and old-growth forest landscape structure that we have described need to be examined elsewhere to determine if such features are characteristic of other landscapes and regions. Such forest landscape structural differences that exist more broadly could form the basis of landscape principles to be applied both to the restoration of old-growth forest landscapes and the modification of general forest management for enhancing biodiversity. These principles may be particularly useful for constructing integrated landscapes managed for both commodity production and biodiversity protection.

Fine root turnover in forest ecosystems in relation to quantity and form of nitrogen availability: a comparison of two methods

SummaryTwo methods of estimating fine root production and turnover are compared for 13 forest ecosystems exhibiting a wide range in form (NH4+ vs. NO3-) and quantity of available nitrogen. The two methods are by comparison of seasonal maxima and minima in biomess and by nitrogen budgeting. Both methods give similar results for stands with low rates of nitrification. The budgeting method predicts higher fine root turnover and productivity than the max-min method for systems with significant rates of nitrification.

The Potential Importance of Boundaries of Fluvial Ecosystems

Boundaries separating adjacent resource patches are dynamic components of the aquatic landscape. This article addresses some fundamental questions about boundary structure and function in lotic ecosystems. We give examples of longitudinal and lateral boundaries associated with stream systems, demonstrate the application of chaos theory to understanding the inherent variability of boundary properties, and compare characteristics of boundaries in an arctic-tropical transect. We conclude that studies of resource patches, their boundaries, and the nature of exchange with adjacent patches will improve our perspective of drainage basin dynamics over a range of temporal and spatial scales.

SELECTIVE FORAGING AND ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES IN BOREAL FORESTS

We suggest that selective foraging alters feedbacks between plants and decomposers and between plants and herbivores. Plant tissue chemistry is an important link between herbivores and decomposers. Plants that produce easily decomposable litter are also heavily browsed, because the same chemical properties that determine litter decay also determine digestibility. This trait links theories of food webs and nutrient cycles by posing a role of herbivores as functional switches determining both plant community composition and the array of litters returned to the soil. This role appears to be particularly strong in boreal forests, where nutrient availability is low and limits productivity and determines successional pathways, where effects of herbivores are strong and long lasting, and where the same plant traits that determine herbivore preference and response to browsing also determine interactions with soil nutrient availability. Such feedbacks cause the effects of herbivores on ecosystems to persist even after the herbivores arc no longer present.

Effects of moose browsing on vegetation and litter of the boreal forest, Isle Royale, Michigan, USA

Large mammalian herbivores can influence the dynamics and structure of ecosystems by selectively removing tissues of specific plant species. The plant community composition can be altered as animals feed on some species but not others, changing the biomass, production, and nutrient cycling of an entire ecosystem. We used four paired moose (Alces alces) exclosures and browsed plots (built between 1948 and 1950) on Isle Royale, Michigan, to examine the influence of moose on aboveground biomass, production, and annual litterfall of boreal vegetation in 1987. Tree biomass was significantly greater (X = 230 vs. 150 Mg/ha, df = 3, P < .05), shrub biomass was significantly less (X = 1.9 vs. 3.1 Mg/ha, P < .05), and herb biomass was significantly less (X = 0.2 vs. 0.8 Mg/ha, P < .05) in exclosures than in browsed plots. Tree production was greater in exclosures than in browsed plots (X = 7.9 vs. 5.0 Mg.ha—1.yr, P = .05), but there was no difference in the production per unit biomass between exclosures and browsed plots. Shrub production in exclosures was similar to that of browsed plots (X = 3.5 vs. 2.3 Mg.ha—1.yr—1, P < .05), despite total vegetation biomass differences between paired plots. There was significantly greater herb litter produced in the browsed plots than in the exclosures (X = 0.7 vs. 0.1 Mg.ha—1.yr—1, P < .05). Moose browsing prevented saplings of preferred species from growing into the tree canopy, resulting in a forest with fewer canopy trees and a well—developed understory of shrubs and herbs. In addition, browsing may have altered the eventual balance of white spruce (Picea glauca) was balsam fir (Abies balsamea), causing an increase in the former and a decrease in the latter. Thus, browsing by moose influences in long—term structure and dynamics of the boreal forest ecosystem, which has important implications for forest ecosystem management, especially where the population dynamics of moose are regulated.

RESPONSE OF BOG AND FEN PLANT COMMUNITIES TO WARMING AND WATER-TABLE MANIPULATIONS

Large-scale changes in climate may have unexpected effects on ecosystems, given the importance of climate as a control over almost all ecosystem attributes and internal feedbacks. Changes in plant community productivity or composition, for example, may alter ecosystem resource dynamics, trophic structures, or disturbance regimes, with subsequent positive or neg- ative feedbacks on the plant community. At northern latitudes, where increases in temperature are expected to be greatest but where plant species diversity is relatively low, climatically mediated changes in species composition or abundance will likely have large ecosystem effects. In this study, we investigated effects of infrared loading and manipulations of water-table ele- vation on net primary productivity of plant species in bog and fen wetland mesocosms between 1994 and 1997. We removed 27 intact soil monoliths (2.1 m2 surface area, 0.5-0.7 m depth) each from a bog and a fen in northern Minnesota to construct a large mesocosm facility that allows for direct manipulation of climatic variables in a replicated experimental design. The treatment design was a fully crossed factorial with three infrared-loading treatments, three water-table treatments, and two ecosystem types (bogs and fens), with three replicates of all treatment combinations. Overhead infrared lamps caused mean monthly soil temperatures to increase by 1.6-4.1?C at 15-cm depth during the growing season (May-October). In 1996, depths to water table averaged -11, -19, and -26 cm in the bog plots, and 0, -10, and -19 cm in the fen plots. Annual aboveground net primary production (ANPP) of bryophyte, forb, graminoid, and shrub life-forms was determined for the dominant species in the mesocosm plots based on species- specific canopy/biomass relationships. Belowground net primary production (BNPP) was esti- mated using root in-growth cores. Bog and fen communities differed in their response to infrared loading and water-table treatments because of the differential response of life-forms and species characteristic of each community. Along a gradient of increasing water-table elevation, production of bryophytes increased, and production of shrubs decreased in the bog community. Along a similar gradient in the fen community, production of graminoids and forbs increased. Along a gradient of in- creasing infrared loading in the bog, shrub production increased whereas graminoid production decreased. In the fen, graminoids were most productive at high infrared loading, and forbs were most productive at medium infrared loading. In the bog and fen, BNPP:ANPP ratios increased with warming and drying, indicating shifts in carbon allocation in response to climate change. Further, opposing responses of species and life-forms tended to cancel out the response of production at higher levels of organization, especially in the bog. For example, total net primary productivity in the bog did not differ between water-table treatments because BNPP was greatest in the dry treatment whereas ANPP was greatest in the wet treatment. The differential responses of species, life-forms, and above- and belowground biomass pro- duction to the treatments suggest that bog and fen plant communities will change, in different directions and magnitudes, in response to warming and changes in water-table elevation. Further, results of this and complementary research indicate that these peatlands may mediate their energy, carbon, and nutrient budgets through differential responses of the plant communities. Thus, predictions of the response of peatlands to changes in climate should consider differences in plant community structure, as well as biogeochemistry and hydrology, that characterize and differentiate these two ecosystems.