Coastal Pine Forest Research Articles

Salt distribution in response to optical stratification porosity and relative windspeed in a coastal forest in Niigata, Japan

Wind velocity, vertical stand structure and sea-salt distribution were measured at various heights inside a plantation of coastal pine forest, with thinning and unthinning, to assess whether any relationships exist between the wind profile, stand structure and sea-salt distribution in the coastal pine forest. The vertical stand structure, i.e., optical stratification porosity (OSP), which is defined as vertical distribution of the proportion of sky hemisphere not obscured by tree elements inside a forest stand, was determined for each height by computer analysis of digital images taken with a hemispherical lens. The distribution of OSP in the coastal forest follows the Lambert-Beer's law with absorbency coefficient (v). The relative windspeed within canopy can be described using the exponential form with the attenuation coefficient (alpha). The sea-salt was collected using salt gauze (a surgical dressing of loosely woven cotton) both inside and outside the coastal forest, and the distribution of sea-salt within canopy was also in accordance with an exponential function. The relationships among windspeed, OSP and sea-salt indicate that the distributions of both sea-salt and windspeed within canopy were very closely correlated with the distribution of OSP. A linear relationship between OSP and sea-salt has been found. Additionally, linear regression between coefficients v and alpha has been obtained as well. Based on these relationships between OSP, wind and sea-salt in the coastal forest, the sea-salt distribution and wind profile within the canopy of the coastal forest can be predicted according to OSP. These results may therefore be useful in analyzing the effects of sea-salt on vegetation and evaluating the filter functions of coastal forests.

Characteristics of Sand Distribution Flying into the Shonan Coastal Pine Forest

Characteristics of Sand Distribution Flying into the Shonan Coastal Pine Forest

The environmental evaluation of coastal pine forests of the Łebsko sand bar by zooindication based on epigeic staphylinid communities (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae)

The coastal pine forest bioindication has been carried out with use of epigeic staphylinid communities and applying the test containing seven zooindicative indices. The empirical standard of Empetro nigri Pinetumepigeic communities of staphylinids enabled the natural value valorization and man-made changes assessment in the ecosystem. The natural valorization of coastal pine forest of the Mierzeja Łebska sand bar has been based on the four indices: the index of uniqueness Sc, natural quality Bc, equability J' and general species diversity H'. The system of natural valorization discriminates the ecosystems into six valorization classes: from the most valuable to the poorest one.

The use of similarity analysis in the environmental research – a case study of multispecies invertebrate communities

Similarity analysis was carried out with use of two techniques, the Ward method and Renkonen method, in order to analyze staphylinid (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) epigeic communities of the coastal pine forest. This attempt enabled a multilateral spatial description of the coastal pine forest microsite structure including the domination structure of microsites, the degree of their isolation, and the migration impact and edge effect of ecotone zones.

Coarse-Scale Gradient Analysis of Environmental Factors in Relation to Plant Species Diversity for Vegetation Communities of California

Plant species data from floristic subregions for chaparral, coastal sage scrub, foothill woodland, and yellow pine forest communities in California were analyzed for species turn-over in relation to environmental variables. Species-community data were related to climate and topography using detrended canonical analysis (DCA) and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), to identify factors associated with composition gradients. Total species-community variance explained by the first two DCA/CCA axes was 65/59% for chaparral, 61/57% for coastal sage scrub, 49/43% for foothill woodland, and 60/48% for yellow pine forest. Seasonal variability and climatic extremes contributed more to species variation than mean annual climatic conditions. Species gradients were more strongly associated with climatic conditions during the growing season than in winter. Results for these vegetation communities confirm previous fine-scale studies, supporting the notion that local community structure is the result of both regional and landscape processes. Analysis of coarse-scale historical floral data reduced problems with spatial and temporal sampling effects found in many fine-scale field studies.

Salt-wind induced wave regeneration in coastal pine forests in New Zealand

Strong onshore winds and airborne sea salt can gradually defoliate trees at the exposed margin of temperate pine stands in New Zealand and induce a slowly moving front of dieback and regeneration. Overcrowded mature stands are vulnerable to crown abrasion: abrasion affects trees 20 m ahead of the dieback front; suppressed trees 12 m ahead die before the front reaches them. At the stand margin, trees die from abrasion and salt wind induced dieback. The dieback zone lets sunlight enter the stand; light-demanding pine seedlings establish, but a gradient of increasing litter depth from the dieback front and summer dryness restrict successful seedling establishment to a narrow zone that moves parallel with the dieback front and 11-13 m ahead of it. Further seedlings establish for 4-10 years before the juveniles form a closed canopy; competing vegetation is partly suppressed by infrequent cattle browsing. Regenerating juvenile maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.), show a strict age-related gradation from the dieback front and indicate that wind and salt deposition have been constant for 30 years. Stands further from the sea, with lower stocking rates and other pine species, did not have a clear-cut regeneration zone, because there were no strong gradients of litter depth and light intensity.

Transfer of radiocaesium and stable caesium from substrata to mushrooms in a pine forest in Rokkasho-mura, Aomori, Japan

Mushrooms and substrata collected from a coastal pine forest in Rokkasho-mura, Aomori Prefecture, Japan were measured for radiocaesium and stable Cs. The ranges of 137Cs and stable Cs concentrations in mushrooms were ND-570 Bq kg -1 fresh weight and 0·005–1·6 mg kg -1 fresh weight, respectively. Both 137Cs and stable Cs concentrations in mushrooms were higher than those in common agricultural plants. The concentrations of 137Cs and stable Cs in the substrata were 37–261 Bq kg -1dry weight and 0·29–0·98 mg kg -1 dry weight, respectively. The specific activities of 137Cs in mushrooms were several times higher than those in the substrata. The substratum-to-mushroom transfer factors of 134Cs, 137Cs and stable Cs were in the range of 0·1–3·5, 0·03–3·3 and 0·01–1·7, respectively. These transfer factors were 1–3 orders of magnitudes higher than those for plants. The transfer factors of 137Cs were equivalent to those of 134Cs and were also significantly correlated to those of stable Cs.

Salt-wind induced wave regeneration in coastal pine forests in New Zealand

Salt-wind induced wave regeneration in coastal pine forests in New Zealand

Human vs. Lightning Ignition of Presettlement Surface Fires in Coastal Pine Forests of the Upper Great Lakes

To recover direct evidence of surface fires before European settlement, we sectioned fire-scarred logging-era stumps and trees in 39 small, physically isolated sand patches along the Great Lakes coast of northern Michigan and northern Wisconsin. While much information was lost to postharvest fire and stump deterioration, 147 fire-free intervals revealed in cross-sections from 29 coastal sand patches document numerous close interval surface fires before 1910; only one post-1910 fire was documented. Cross-sections from the 10 patches with records spanning >150 yr suggest local fire occurrence rates before 1910 ca. 10 times the present rate of lightning-caused fire. Since fire spread between or into coastal sand patches is rare, and seasonal use of the patches by Native people before 1910 is well documented, both historically and ethnographically, ignition by humans probably accounts for more than half of the pre-1910 fires recorded in cross-sections.

平面上に直立する有限長円柱群を越流する流れの可視化計測

This experimental research simulates that tidal waves which are higher than coastal pine forests strike against the forests. Canopy models of coastal forests are presented as groups of circular cylinders with steel wool placed perpendicularly on a ground plane. The circular cylinders and the steel wool present trunks and crowns of trees, respectively. The effect of canopy models on flow fields is studied with flow visualization and image processing. Two patterns of canopy models are used; one is a continuous pattern and the other a gap-toothed pattern. With flow visualization, crowns of these models dam up tidal waves, and the waves rise up to about twice the height of trees at the frontal part of canopy models. Velocity fields of the flows are measured by image processing of the correlation method. Then, the velocity fields are revised under constraint of the equation of continuity. Velocity fields in the downstream regions of the plant canopies are evidently different between two patterns of models.

Summary of Ecosystem-Level Effects of Caribbean Hurricanes

Effects of Hurricane Hugo on forest ecosystem processes in Puerto Rico and South Carolina are summarized from six research papers presented in this issue. Hurricanes are major catastrophic disturbances capable of altering ecosystemlevel processes in both the short and the long term. The high intensity, broad scale, and relatively high frequency of these storms makes them a major agent of catastrophic disturbance in the Caribbean and the Atlantic seaboard of the U.S.A. (Scatena & Larsen 1991). Although the return frequency of hurricanes for any given area is low (on the order of years or decades; Fig. 2 in Walker et al. 1991) relative to the lifespan of an individual investigator or a typical research project, the return time is shorter than the life span of a canopy tree or a forest ecosystem. Hurricanes have struck the Caribbean repeatedly within recorded history (Scatena & Larsen 1991, Walker et al. 1991), and have surely played a role in shaping plant population dynamics (e.g., Lugo et al. 1983), soil development (Scatena & Larsen 199 1) and nutrient cycling (Sanford et al. 199 1) over evolutionary time scales (thousands of years) in much of the Caribbean. Our paper summarizes the six preceding research papers in this issue, and focuses on the short-term changes in nutrient cycling induced by Hurricane Hugo, as well as the possible long-term consequences of such disturbances on tropical forests. Data on biomass and nutrient fluxes caused by Hurricane Gilbert in Quintana Roo, Mexico (Whigham et al. 1991, Plant Section, this issue) are included, but the discussion is primarily focused on two Long-Term Ecological Research sites funded by the National Science Foundation: the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF) in Puerto Rico and the North Inlet site in South Carolina. The processes summarized below are: hurricane litterfall and associated nutrient fluxes and exports; salinization of coastal soils from storm surge and associated changes in soil chemistry; fine root dynamics after disturbance; changes in soil nutrient pools and fertility; and, hurricane-induced changes in nitrogen (N) transformations and fluxes. DIRECT EFFECTS OF HURRICANE HUGO IN 1989, HURRICANE HUGO STRUCK NORTHEASTERN PUERTO RICO on 18 September with maximum sustained wind speeds of 166 kph, then struck the coast of South Carolina on 21 September with maximum sustained wind speeds of 217 kph. In addition, a storm surge associated with the hurricane inundated the coastal pine forest site in South Carolina. As a result of wind or wind plus salt stress, the forests were largely defoliated in both the Puerto Rican (Lodge et al. 1991, Walker 1991) and South Carolinian (Blood et al. 1991, Gardner et al. 1991) study sites. Consequently, a large amount of green leaves and wood were converted to necromass in all sites (Blood et al. 1991, Frangi & Lugo 1991, Lodge et al. 1991, Table 1). The forests in Quintana Roo, Mexico were similarly defoliated by winds of Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 (Whigham et al. 1991). In the LEF in Puerto Rico, the mass of fine litter resulting from Hurricane Hugo was ca 1000 g/m2 in tabonuco and palm forests, and 625 g/m2 in dwarf forest (Table 1, Lodge et al. 1991). The mass of litterfall resulting from Hurricane Hugo was 1.2 to 2.0 times the mean annual litterfall inputs in the LEF. In Mexico, Hurricane Gilbert induced a litterfall of 836 g/m2 leaves and 1600 g/m2 wood (Table 1; Whigham et al. 1991). In addition, wind structurally damaged or killed some of the trees in Puerto Rico (Frangi & Lugo 1991, Walker 1991), and South Carolina (Gardner et al. 1991). Damage to root systems was also apparent in both sites, though it is unclear to what extent the physical damage resulting from wind or salt stress was exacerbated by the drought of several months that followed the hurricane (Blood et al. 1991, Parrotta & Lodge 1991). ECOSYSTEM RESPONSES TO HURRICANE HUGO NUTRIENT CYCLING.-A large pulse of litterfall containing higher than normal concentrations of certain nutrients and labile carbon was deposited in all sites i Received 5 July 1991, revision accepted 15 July 1991.

Coastal pine forest landscapes: Modelling scenic beauty for forest management

For the management of coastal pine forests, particularly those used intensively for tourism, suitable information about forest stands and the socio-economic characteristics of the resource users is required. The objective of this study was to provide such information in biological and managerial terms, understandable to planners. Coastal landscape quality was expressed in terms of scenic beauty preferences of the resource users, and these preferences were related to quantitative measures of land use designations, and of forest stand and site characteristics. This method enables the planners to derive predictive models of scenic beauty as a function of site features and so to incorporate landscape information in the planning process. Conditions similar to those in this study are common in the Mediterranean region where tourism and pine forests, especially of Aleppo pine ( Pinus halepensis), are expanding. In these areas, the information and models provided in this paper could help with forest planning.

Oxidation of atmospheric molecular tritium in plant leaves, lichens and mosses.

The oxidation of atmospheric molecular tritium (HT) in vegetation was determined by in vitro experiments for pine needles, pine bark, lichens attached to pine trees, taken from a coastal pine forest in Ibaraki prefecture and comparison of such measurements was made with those in soil. The oxidation of HT in pine needles was extremely low, being only about 1/40000 that in the surface soil of a pine forest, whereas its oxidation in pine bark with a lichen was almost 1000-7000 times higher than that in pine needles. HT oxidation in pine bark, a lichen and a moss was determined in each case under light and dark conditions and was found to be essentially the same. All mosses and lichens examined in the present study were found to have unusually high levels of HT oxidation whether their habitat was tree or ground surface.

Ecology of the invading moss speciesOrthodontium linearein Sweden: substrate preference and interactions with other species

In southern Sweden O. lineare grows in two main habitats, coastal pine forests and planted spruce forests. Within this area, the species colonizes the same kinds of substrate as in other climatically similar areas in Europe, viz. rotten wood, tree bases and, to a lesser degree, bare soil. Only a small proportion of the seemingly available substrate (0.2–8.3%) is colonized, a smaller proportion in the pine forests than in the spruce forests. DECORANA and TWINSPAN analyses of sociological data from random squares indicated that the association Orthodontietum linearis (Barkman) v. Hübschmann is heterogeneous and that its species composition varies considerably with the habitat. O. lineare seems to be competitively inferior compared with the species commonly found in its habitats and it probably survives in the area due to a high dispersal and colonization capacity.

Factors involved in potential sulfur accumulation in litter and soil from a coastal pine forest

Samples of 01/02, A1, E2 and Bh horizons collected from a coastal pine forest were assayed for the potential capacity to adsorb and to form organic sulfur from added sulfate. The subsequent mobilization (mineralization) of organic S was also assayed to determine potential capacities of the samples for organic S accumulation. Organic and inorganic forms of S were quantified, as were total carbon and nitrogen levels. Relationships between these parameters and the above S processing capacities for each sample were examined, and fluctuations were statistically analyzed. Of the organic S present, sulfonate-S (non-Raney Ni-reducible S) was found to be the major component irrespective of horizon. Adsorbed and soluble S were found to be low, suggesting that loss by leaching may be an important fate of incoming sulfate at this site. Results from this study were compared with those obtained for two additional sites, which have been examined in detail and documented previously to be S accumulating. Soils from the pine forest site adsorbed substantially less sulfate than those from the other two sites. The organic S accumulation capacity was relatively low for the pine site, averaging less than one third of the potential established for the other two sites.