Forest Dynamics and Disturbance Regimes Studies from Temperate Evergreen-Deciduous Forests

About this book

Temperate-zone forests have been shaped by fire, wind and grazing over thousands of years. This book provides a major contribution to the study of their dynamics by considering three important themes:

*The combined influence of wind, fire and herbivory on the successional trajectories and structural characteristics of forests

*The interaction of deciduous and evergreen tree species to form mosaics which, in turn, influence the environment and disturbance regime

*The significance of temporal and spatial scale with regard to the overall impact of disturbances

These themes are explored via case studies from the forests in the Lake States of the USA (Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan) where the presence of large primary forest remnants provides a unique opportunity to study the long-term dynamics of near-boreal, pine and hardwood-hemlock forests. The comparability of these forests to forests in other temperate zones allows generalizations to be made that may apply more widely.

Re-issue, originally published in hardcover in 2002.

Contents

Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. The forest setting; 2. The disturbance regime and its components; 3. Sampling and interpretation of stand disturbance history; 4. Disturbance, stand development, and successional trajectories; 5. The study of disturbance and landscape structure; 6. The disturbance regime and landscape structure; 7. Disturbance in fragmented landscapes; 8. Forest stability over time and space; References; Appendix I; Index.

Customer Reviews

Biography

Lee Frelich is a Research Associate in the Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota, St Paul and Founder Director of the University of Minnesota Center for Hardwood Ecology. His research experience spans studies of the impact of acid rain on forest growth, paleoecological studies of forest change, tree population dynamics, old-growth forest dynamics and forest disturbance ecology, including the effects of fire, windstorms and grazing.