Abstract
We conducted a field study to determine the relative contributions of aspen (Populus tremuloides), meadow, and conifer communities to local and landscape-level plant species diversity in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range, northeastern California, USA. We surveyed plant assemblages at 30 sites that included adjacent aspen, conifer, and meadow communities across a 10,000-km2 region. We statistically investigated patterns in local and landscape-scale plant diversity within and among the three vegetation types. Summing across sites, aspen stands supported more plant species overall and more unique plant species than either meadow or conifer communities. Local richness and diversity did not differ between aspen and meadow plots; conifer forest plots were significantly lower in both measures. Heterogeneity in species composition was higher for aspen forest than for meadows or conifer forest, both within sites and between sites. Plant communities in aspen stands shared less than 25% of their species with adjacent vegetation in conifer and meadow plots. Within aspen forest, we found a negative relationship between total canopy cover and plant diversity. Our results strongly support the idea that plant communities of aspen stands are compositionally distinct from adjacent meadows and conifer forest, and that aspen forests are a major contributor to plant species diversity in the study region. Current patterns of aspen stand succession to conifer forest on many sites in the semiarid western US are likely to reduce local and landscape-level plant species diversity, and may also have negative effects on other ecosystem functions and services provided by aspen forest.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson RC, Loucks OL, Swain AM (1969) Herbaceous response to canopy cover, light intensity, and throughfall precipitation in coniferous forests. Ecology 50:255–263
Barbour MG, Minnich RA (2000) Californian upland forests and woodlands. In: Barbour MG, Billings WD (eds) North American terrestrial vegetation, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 162–202
Bartos DL (2001) Landscape dynamics of aspen and conifer forests. In: Shepperd WD, Binkley D, Bartos DL, Stohlgren TJ, Eskew LG (eds) Sustaining aspen in western landscapes RMRS-P-18. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, pp 5–14
Bartos DL, Campbell RB Jr (1998) Decline of quaking aspen in the Interior West: examples from Utah. Rangelands 20:17–24
Binkley D (2008) Age distribution of aspen in Rocky Mountain National Park, USA. For Ecol Manag 255:797–802
Brohman RJ, Bryant LD (2004) Existing vegetation classification and mapping technical guide. USDE Forest Service. Ecosystem Management Coordination Staff, Washington, DC
California Spatial Information Library System (CaSil) (2006) Digital orthophoto quadrangle geotiff (DOQQ). http://archive.casil.ucdavis.edu/casil/remote_sensing/doq/doqq/. Accessed 10 Oct 2009
Callaway RM, Walker LR (1997) Competition and facilitation: a synthetic approach to interactions in plant communities. Ecology 78:1958–1965
Chong GW, Simonson SE, Stohlgren TJ, Kalkhan MA (2000) Biodiversity: aspen stands have the lead, but will nonnative species take over? In: Shepperd WD, Binkley D, Bartos DL, Stohlgren TJ, Eskew LG (eds) Sustaining aspen in western landscapes. RMRS-P-18. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, pp 261–271
DeByle NB (1985) Wildlife. In: DeByle NV, Winokur RP (eds) Aspen: ecology and management in the western United States. General Technical Report RM-119. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, pp 135–152
Di Orio AP, Callas R, Schaefer RJ (2004) Forty-eight year decline and fragmentation of aspen (Populus tremuloides) in the South Warner Mountains of California. For Ecol Manag 206:307–313
Ellison L, Houston WR (1958) Production of herbaceous vegetation in openings and under canopies of western aspen. Ecology 39:337–345
ESRI (2005) ArcGIS, version 9.1. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, CA
Ewel JJ, Mazzarino MJ, Berish CW (1991) Tropical soil fertility changes under monocultures and successional communities of different structure. Ecol Apps 1:289–302
Falk DA, Palmer MA, Zedler J (2006) Integrating restoration ecology and ecological theory: a synthesis. In: Falk DA, Palmer MA, Zedler J (eds) Foundations of restoration ecology: the science and practice of ecological restoration. Island Press, Washington, DC, pp 341–345
Fechner GH, Barrows JS (1976) Aspen stands as wildfire fuel breaks. Eisenhower Consortium Bulletin 4. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins
Gibson W (2006) United States average monthly or annual precipitation, 1971–2000. The PRISM Group, College of Science, and College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University. http://prism.oregonstate.edu/docs/index.phtml. Accessed 10 Oct 2009
Griffis-Kyle KL, Beier P (2003) Small isolated aspen stands enrich bird communities in southwestern ponderosa pine forests. Biol Cons 110:375–385
Hart SA, Chen HYH (2006) Understory vegetation dynamics of North American boreal forests. Crit Rev Plant Sci 25:381–397
Hickman JC (ed) (1993) The Jepson manual: higher plants of California, 3rd edn. Berkeley, University of California Press
Johns BW (1993) The influence of grove size on bird species richness in aspen parklands. Wilson Bull 105:256–264
Jones JR, De Byle NV, Bowers DM (1985) Insects and other invertebrates. In: De Byle NV, Winokur RP (eds) Aspen: ecology and management in the western United States. General technical report RM-119. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, pp 107–114
Jones BE, Rickman TH, Vazquez A, Sado Y, Tate KW (2005) Removal of encroaching conifers to regenerate degraded aspen stands in the Sierra Nevada. Rest Ecol 13:373–379
Jones BE, Lile DF, Tate KW (2010) Effect of simulated browsing on aspen regeneration: implications for restoration. Rangeland Ecol Manag 62:557–563
Kay CE (1997) Is aspen doomed? J For 95:4–11
Keeley JE, Fotheringham CJ (2005) Plot shape effects on plant species diversity measurements. J Veg Sci 16:249–256
Keeley JE, Carrington M, Trnka S (1995) Overview of management issues raised by the 1993 wildfires in southern California. In: Keeley JE, Scott T (eds) Brushfires in California: ecology and resource management. International Association of Wildland Fire, Fairfield, WA, pp 83–89
Kilpatrick S, Abendroth D (2001) Aspen response to prescribed fire and ungulate herbivory. In: Shepperd WD, Binkley D, Bartos DL, Stohlgren TJ, Eskew LG (eds) Sustaining aspen in western landscapes. RMRS-P-18. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, pp 387–394
Kilpatrick S, Clause D, Scott D (2003) Aspen response to prescribed fire, mechanical treatments, and ungulate herbivory. In: Fire, fuel treatments, and ecological restoration: conference proceedings, April 16–18, 2002. RMRS-P-29. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, pp 93–102
Knight DH (2001) Summary: aspen decline in the west? In: Shepperd WD, Binkley D, Bartos DL, Stohlgren TJ, Eskew LG (eds) Sustaining aspen in western landscapes. RMRS-P-18. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, pp 441–446
LaMalfa EM, Ryel RJ (2008) Differential snowpack accumulation and water dynamics in aspen and conifer communities: implications for water yield and ecosystem function. Ecosystems 11:569–581
Lavers C, Field R (2006) A resource-based conceptual model of plant diversity that reassesses causality in the productivity–diversity relationship. Glob Ecol Biogeog 15:213–224
Lieffers VJ, Messier C, Stadt KJ, Gendron F, Comeau PG (1999) Predicting and managing light in the understory of boreal forests. Can J For Res 29:796–811
McCune B, Grace JB (2002) Analysis of ecological communities. MJM Software Design, Gleneden Beach
McCune B, Mefford MJ (2005) PC-ORD. Multivariate analysis of ecological data. Version 5.0 MJM Software, Gleneden Beach
Messier C, Parent S, Bergeron Y (1998) Effects of overstory and understory vegetation on the understory light environment in mixed boreal forests. J Veg Sci 9:511–520
Mitton JB, Grant MC (1996) Genetic variation and the natural history of quaking aspen. Bioscience 46:25–31
Mueggler WF (1985) Vegetation associations. In: DeByle NV, Winokur RP (eds) General technical report RM-119. Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service, Fort Collins, pp 45–55
Naeem S, Li SB (1997) Biodiversity enhances ecosystem reliability. Nature 390:507–509
Naeem S, Hakansson K, Lawton JH, Crawley MJ, Thompson LJ (1996) Biodiversity and plant productivity in a model assemblage of plant species. Oikos 76:259–264
Pielou EC (1969) An introduction to mathematical ecology. John Wiley, New York
Potter DA (1998) Forested communities of the upper montane in the central and southern Sierra Nevada. General technical report PSW-169. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Albany
Potter DA (2005) Riparian plant community classification-west slope, central, and southern Sierra Nevada, California. R5-TP-022. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, Vallejo
Powell GW, Bork EW (2006) Aspen canopy removal and root trenching effects on understory vegetation. For Ecol Manag 230:79–90
Power ME, Tilman D, Estes JA, Menge BA, Bond WJ, Mills LS, Daily G, Castilla JC, Lubchenco J, Paine RT (1996) Challenges in the quest for keystones. Bioscience 46:609–620
Richardson TW, Heath SK (2004) Effects of conifers on aspen-breeding bird communities in the Sierra Nevada. Trans Western Sect Wildlife Soc 40:68–81
Ricklefs RE (1977) Environmental heterogeneity and plant species diversity: a hypothesis. Am Nat 111:376–381
Ricklefs RE, Schluter D (1993) Species diversity in ecological communities. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Rogers PC, Leffler AJ, Ryel RJ (2010) Landscape assessment of a stable aspen community in southern Utah, USA. For Ecol Manag 259:487–495
Rosenzweig ML (1995) Species diversity in space and time. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Sall J, Creighton L, Lehman A (2005) JMP start statistics: a guide to statistics and data analysis using JMP and JMP in software, 3rd edn. SAS Institute Inc, Cary, NC
Sankey TT (2008) Learning from spatial variability: aspen persistence in the Centennial Valley, MT. For Ecol Manag 255:1219–1225
Shepperd WD (2001) Manipulations to regenerate aspen ecosystems. In: Shepperd WD, Binkley D, Bartos DL, Stohlgren TJ, Eskew LG (eds) Sustaining aspen in western landscapes. RMRS-P-18. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, pp 355–366
Shepperd WD, Binkley D, Bartos DL, Stohlgren TJ, Eskew LG (eds) (2001) Sustaining aspen in western landscapes. RMRS-P-18. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins
Shepperd WD, Rogers PC, Burton D, Bartos DL (2006) Ecology, biodiversity, management, and restoration of aspen in the Sierra Nevada. General technical report RMRS-GTR-178, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station Fort Collins
Shirley DM, Erickson V (2001) Aspen restoration in the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon. In: Shepperd WD, Binkley D, Bartos DL, Stohlgren TJ, Eskew LG (eds) Sustaining aspen in western landscapes. RMRS-P-18. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, pp 101–115
Stohlgren TJ, Chong GW, Kalkhan MA, Schell LD (1997a) Rapid assessment of plant diversity patterns: a methodology for landscapes. Env Mon Assess 48:24–43
Stohlgren TJ, Coughenour MB, Chong GW, Binkley D, Kalkhan MA, Schell LD, Buckley DJ, Berry JK (1997b) Landscape analysis of plant diversity. Land Ecol 12:155–170
Stohlgren TJ, Binkley D, Chong GW, Kalkhan MA, Schell LD, Bull KA, Otsuki Y, Newman G, Bashkin M, Son Y (1999) Exotic plant species invade hot spots of native plant diversity. Ecol Monog 69:25–46
Symstad AJ (2000) A test of the effects of functional group richness and composition on grassland invasibility. Ecology 81:99–109
Tilman D, Downing JA (1994) Biodiversity and stability in grasslands. Nature 367:363–365
US Department of Agriculture (2010) Strategic plan, fiscal years 2010–2015. US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC
Weeden NF (1996) A Sierra Nevada flora, 4th edn. Wilderness Press, Berkeley
Zier JL, Baker WL (2006) A century of vegetation change in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado. An analysis using repeat photography. For Ecol Manag 228:251–262
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the constructive input of the editor and three anonymous reviewers.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kuhn, T.J., Safford, H.D., Jones, B.E. et al. Aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands and their contribution to plant diversity in a semiarid coniferous landscape. Plant Ecol 212, 1451–1463 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-011-9920-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-011-9920-4