Forest Successional Processes in the E. S. George Reserve, Livingston County, Michigan Ivette...
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Transcript of Forest Successional Processes in the E. S. George Reserve, Livingston County, Michigan Ivette...
Forest Successional Processes in the E. S. George Reserve,
Livingston County, Michigan
Ivette Perfecto
John Vandermeer
The transformation of the Oak-dominated forests
• Oak-domination is an anthropogenic product of Native American agriculture and hunting activities.
• Red maple (Acer rubrum) survived in swamps and is now spreading.
• American beech (Fagus americana) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum) were eliminated from vast areas.
The transformation of the Oak-dominated forests
• Since sugar maple and American beech are not very common in these forests, we expect recruitment limitation to occur.
• We also expect a fat-tail distribution of seed dispersal (as suggested by Clark et al., 1998)
No. seeds
Distance
The transformation of the Oak-dominated forests
Oak
Red Maple
Sugar Maple American Beech
OBJECTIVES
• 1) Estimate the possible time-course of replacement of oaks by red maple.
• 2) Estimate the possible long term time-course of replacement of red maples by American beech and sugar maple.
SITE AND METHODOLOGY
Wetlands
Old fields
Forest
Main plot
Esker plot
Hourglass plot
West woods plot
Patterson lake plot
E. S. George Reserve
three 100 X 70 M2
Plus one 100 X 70 M2 plot
at the Patterson Lake
Facility
one 16
hectares
62 surviving offspring:
from seedling to 10 cm dbh
2 largest are 70 and 78 years old
60 hectares were surveyed
DISTRIBUTION OF BEECH
Wetlands
Old fields
Forest
Main plot
Esker plot
Hourglass plot
West woods plot
Patterson lake plot
SUGAR MAPPLE
Data to be Collected • Continue the censuses of small plot (summer 2003-2004)
• Locate and tag all seedlings and saplings near remnant reproductive red maples (summer 2003-2004)
• Seed traps near the two reproductive red maples (fall 2003)
• Sugar maple seedlings will be planted in forested areas (mainly in the Patterson Lake Nature Center, if it remains available) to verify that suitable microhabitats
Analyses • Seed traps we will provide an accurate estimate of
the seed shadow of the two remnant sugar maples.
• The data will allow us to determine if there is a "fat tailed" distribution.
• Spatial simulation model by Higgens et al. (2001)
Analyses • With the 2004 re-census it will be possible to
estimate both the mortality rate of all trees and the growth rate of all trees.
• Estimates of the time course of the replacement of the oaks and hickories by the red maple.
• Here the modeling framework will be a simple
stage structured model (Caswell, 2001).
Future Research • Depending on the results, the new proposal
to NSF may include aspect of dispersal limitation and neutral competition (Hubble et al, 1999; Vandermeer et al, 2000) as mechanism for the maintenance of diversity.
• Comparison between these mechanisms in tropical and temperate forests.