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Ecological Importance of Large-Diameter Trees in a Temperate Mixed-Conifer Forest

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  • James A Lutz
  • Andrew J Larson
  • Mark E Swanson
  • James A Freund

Abstract

Large-diameter trees dominate the structure, dynamics and function of many temperate and tropical forests. Although both scaling theory and competition theory make predictions about the relative composition and spatial patterns of large-diameter trees compared to smaller diameter trees, these predictions are rarely tested. We established a 25.6 ha permanent plot within which we tagged and mapped all trees ≥1 cm dbh, all snags ≥10 cm dbh, and all shrub patches ≥2 m2. We sampled downed woody debris, litter, and duff with line intercept transects. Aboveground live biomass of the 23 woody species was 507.9 Mg/ha, of which 503.8 Mg/ha was trees (SD = 114.3 Mg/ha) and 4.1 Mg/ha was shrubs. Aboveground live and dead biomass was 652.0 Mg/ha. Large-diameter trees comprised 1.4% of individuals but 49.4% of biomass, with biomass dominated by Abies concolor and Pinus lambertiana (93.0% of tree biomass). The large-diameter component dominated the biomass of snags (59.5%) and contributed significantly to that of woody debris (36.6%). Traditional scaling theory was not a good model for either the relationship between tree radii and tree abundance or tree biomass. Spatial patterning of large-diameter trees of the three most abundant species differed from that of small-diameter conspecifics. For A. concolor and P. lambertiana, as well as all trees pooled, large-diameter and small-diameter trees were spatially segregated through inter-tree distances

Suggested Citation

  • James A Lutz & Andrew J Larson & Mark E Swanson & James A Freund, 2012. "Ecological Importance of Large-Diameter Trees in a Temperate Mixed-Conifer Forest," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(5), pages 1-15, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0036131
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0036131
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Brian J. Enquist & Karl J. Niklas, 2001. "Invariant scaling relations across tree-dominated communities," Nature, Nature, vol. 410(6829), pages 655-660, April.
    2. Baddeley, Adrian & Turner, Rolf, 2005. "spatstat: An R Package for Analyzing Spatial Point Patterns," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 12(i06).
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    1. Shaw, C.H. & Hilger, A.B. & Metsaranta, J. & Kurz, W.A. & Russo, G. & Eichel, F. & Stinson, G. & Smyth, C. & Filiatrault, M., 2014. "Evaluation of simulated estimates of forest ecosystem carbon stocks using ground plot data from Canada's National Forest Inventory," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 272(C), pages 323-347.
    2. James A Lutz & Andrew J Larson & James A Freund & Mark E Swanson & Kenneth J Bible, 2013. "The Importance of Large-Diameter Trees to Forest Structural Heterogeneity," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(12), pages 1-13, December.
    3. James A. Lutz & John R. Matchett & Leland W. Tarnay & Douglas F. Smith & Kendall M. L. Becker & Tucker J. Furniss & Matthew L. Brooks, 2017. "Fire and the Distribution and Uncertainty of Carbon Sequestered as Aboveground Tree Biomass in Yosemite and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks," Land, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-24, January.
    4. Tyson L Swetnam & Christopher D O’Connor & Ann M Lynch, 2016. "Tree Morphologic Plasticity Explains Deviation from Metabolic Scaling Theory in Semi-Arid Conifer Forests, Southwestern USA," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(7), pages 1-16, July.

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