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Typhoon Disturbance and Forest Dynamics: Lessons from a Northwest Pacific Subtropical Forest

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Abstract

Strong tropical storms are known to affect forest structure, composition, and nutrient cycles in both tropical and temperate regions, although our understanding of these effects disproportionally comes from regions experiencing much lower cyclone frequency than many forests in the Northwest Pacific. We summarized the effects of typhoons on forest dynamics at Fushan Experimental Forest (FEF) in northeastern Taiwan, which averages 0.49 major typhoons annually, and compared their resistance and resilience to those of forests in other regions. Typhoons cause remarkably few tree falls at FEF; multiple typhoons in 1994 felled only 1.4% of canopy trees, demonstrating high structural resistance. The most important effect of typhoons in this ecosystem is defoliation, which maintains high understory light levels and enhances heterogeneity, sustaining diversity without large canopy gaps. The vulnerability of taller trees to being blown down has resulted in the short-stature FEF (mean canopy height is 10.2 m). As the FEF is P-limited and a large fraction of total annual P export occurs during typhoons, these storms may have the effect of reducing productivity over time. DIN and K+ export only remain elevated for days at FEF, in contrast to the several years observed in Puerto Rico. High resilience is also evident in the rapid recovery of leaf area following typhoons. Heavy defoliation and slow decomposition are among the processes responsible for the high resistance and resilience of FEF to typhoon disturbance. These key structural features may emerge in other forest ecosystems if the frequency of major storms increases with climate change.

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Acknowledgments

We dedicate this paper to Dr. Hen-Biau King for his vision of establishing long-term ecological research in Taiwan with Fushan as the first study site and his continuous support and inspiration on critical ecological studies. This study was supported in part by research Grants from National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC912621B018001, 912621B018002, 922621B018001, 932621B018001, 942313B018001, 952313B018001, 962313B018001). We thank Meng-Fen Lee for editing the figures, Fushan Research Center of Taiwan Forest Research Institute for logistical support, Dr. Emery Boose for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. Thanks are also given to Hsueh-Ching Wang, Shih-Bin Ding, Horng-Ming Hsiao for the hard work in the field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, 88 Ting-Chow Road, Section 4, Taipei, 11677, Taiwan, ROC

    Teng-Chiu Lin & Chung-Te Chang

  2. Environmental Defense Fund, 257 Park Avenue South, New York, New York, 10010, USA

    Steven P. Hamburg

  3. Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, 53 Nan-hai Road, Taipei, 10066, Taiwan, ROC

    Kuo-Chuan Lin

  4. School of Forestry and Resource Conservation, National Taiwan University, 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan, ROC

    Lih-Jih Wang

  5. Institute of Natural Resource, National Donghwa University, 1, Section 2, Da Hsueh Road, Shoufeng, Hualien, 97401, Taiwan, ROC

    Yue-Joe Hsia

  6. Complex Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire, 8 College Road, Durham, New Hampshire, 03824, USA

    Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur

  7. Department of Natural Resource Ecology & Management, Iowa State University, 339 Science II, Ames, Iowa, 50011-3221, USA

    Cathy M. Mabry McMullen

  8. Department of Forestry, National Chung Hsing University, 250, Kuo Kuang Road, Taichung, 40254, Taiwan, ROC

    Chiung-Pin Liu

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  1. Teng-Chiu Lin
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  6. Yue-Joe Hsia
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  7. Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur
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  8. Cathy M. Mabry McMullen
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  9. Chiung-Pin Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lih-Jih Wang.

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Author Contributions

Teng-Chiu Lin designed the study, performed research, analyzed data, and wrote the paper; Steven P. Hamburg conceived the study and wrote the paper; Kuo-Chuan Lin performed litterfall and biomass research; Lih-Jih Wang performed streamwater chemistry research; Chung-Te Chang performed understory light measurement; Yue-Joe Hsia performed meteorological research; Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur developed the rationale and wrote the paper; Cathy M. Mabry McMullen performed canopy gap and tree mortality research; and Chiung-Pin Liu performed hydrochemical research.

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Lin, TC., Hamburg, S.P., Lin, KC. et al. Typhoon Disturbance and Forest Dynamics: Lessons from a Northwest Pacific Subtropical Forest. Ecosystems 14, 127–143 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-010-9399-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-010-9399-1

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