Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The long-term influence of past land use on the Walker Branch forest

  • Published:
Landscape Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Forest structure and composition influence patterns of insect outbreaks and can be explained on the Walker Branch watershed by past land use (timber harvest and agriculture), soils, aspect, and slope. In particular, pine bark beetles caused large losses of pine on sites that had been used for agriculture, on Fullerton silt loam soils, and on north-to-northeast and east-to-southeast exposures. Hickory bark beetles had a high impact on hickory biomass on Bodine soil areas that were forested in 1935 and sloped greater than 11%. Thus, prior land use can have an indirect effect on future disturbances.

Because forest disturbances can affect nutrient distribution, land use can also indirectly affect nutrient availability. For example, locations of hickory bark beetle outbreaks experience a large flux of calcium from dead wood to soil because hickory accumulates large amounts of calcium in woody tissue. The research demonstrates a link between past land use, insect outbreaks, and calcium cycling.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature cited

  • Berryman, A.A. and Wright, L.C. 1978. Defoliation, tree condition, and bark beetles.In The Douglas-fir Tussock Moth: A Synthesis, pp. 81–87. Edited by M.H. Brookes, R.W. Stark and R.W. Campbell. U.S. For. Serv., Pac. Northwest For. Range Exper. Stn., Tech. Bull. No. 1585.

  • Boring, L.R., Monk, C.D. and Swank, W.T. 1981. Early regeneration of a clear-cut Southern Appalachian forest. Ecology 62: 1244–1253.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borman, F.H. and Likens, G.E. 1979. Pattern and Process in a Forested Ecosystem. Springer-Verlag, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyle, J.R., Phillips, J.J. and Ek, A.R. 1973. Whole tree harvesting: nutrient budget evaluation. J. For. 71: 760–762.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun, E.L. 1950. Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America. Hafner Press, New York. (Reprinted 1974).

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgess, R.L. and Sharpe, D.M. 1981. Forest island dynamics in man-dominated landscapes. Springer-Verlag, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, J.B. and Smith, K.E. 1980. Climatological forecasts of southern pine beetle infestations. Southeast Geogr. 20: 16–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christensen, N.L. and Peet, R.K. 1981. Secondary forest succession on the North Carolina Piedmont.In: Forest Succesion: Concepts and Application, pp. 230–245. Edited by D.C. West, H.H. Shugart and D.B. Botkin. Springer-Verlag, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, J.H. and Slatyer, R.O. 1977. Mechanisms of succession in natural communities and their role in community stability and organization. Am. Nat. 111: 1119–1144.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coulson, R.N. 1979. Population dynamics of bark beetles. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 24: 417–447.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dale, V.H. and Doyle, T.W. 1987. The role of stand history in assessing forest impacts. Environ. Manage. 11: 351–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dale, V.H. and Franklin, J.F. 1989. Potential effects of climate change on stand development in the Pacific Northwest. Can. J. For. Res.

  • Drury, W.H., Jr. and Nisbet, I.C.T. 1973. Succession. J. Arnold Arbor. 54: 31–368.

    Google Scholar 

  • ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute). 1988. ARC/INFO Users Guide. Volume 1. The Geographic Information System. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forman, R.T.T. and Godron, M. 1986. Landscape Ecology. John Wiley & Sons, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster, D.R. 1988a. Disturbance history, community organization and vegetation dynamics of the old-growth Pisgah forest, south-western New Hampshire, U.S.A. J. Ecol. 76: 105–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster, D.R. 1988b. Species and stand response to catastrophic wind in central New England, U.S.A. J. Ecol. 76: 135–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fowells, H.A. 1965. Silvics of Forest Trees of the United States. U.S.D.A. Forest Service Agricultural Handbook No. 271, 762 pp.

  • Franklin, J.F. and Forman, R.T.T. 1987. Creating landscape patterns by forest cutting: ecological consequences and principles. Landscape Ecol. 1: 5–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S.A. and Knight, F.B. 1965. Principles of Forest Entomology. McGraw-Hill, New York. 417 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grigal, D.F. and Goldstein, R.A. 1971. An integrated ordination-classification analysis of an intensively sampled oak-hickory forest. J. Ecol. 59: 481–492.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harmon, M.E., Franklin, J.F., Swanson, F.J., Sollins, P., Greggory, S.V., Lattin, J.D., Anderson, N.H., Cline, S.P., Aumen, N.G., Sedell, J.R., Lienkaemper, G.W., Cromack, K., Jr. and Cummins, K.W. 1987. Ecology of coarse woody debris in temperate forests. Adv. Ecol. Res. 15: 133–302.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, G.S., Swank, W.T., Waide, J.B. and Grier, C.C. 1978. Nutrient budgets of Appalachian and Cascade region watersheds: a comparison. For. Sci. 24: 385–397.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hett, J.M. 1971. Land-use changes in East Tennessee and a simulation model which describes these changes for three counties. ORNL/IBP-71/8. Oak Ridge, TN.

  • Hornbeck, J.W. and Kropelin, W. 1982. Nutrient removal and leaching from a whole-tree harvest of northern hardwoods. J. Environ. Qual. 11: 309–316.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, D.W., West, D.C., Todd, D.E. and Mann, L.K. 1982. Effects of sawlogvs whole-tree harvesting on the nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium budgets of an upland mixed oak forest. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 46: 1304–1309.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, D.W., Richter, D.D., Lovett, G.M. and Lindberg, S.E. 1985. The effects of atmospheric deposition on potassium, calcium, and magnesium cycling in two deciduous forests. Can. J. For. Res. 15: 773–782.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, D.W. and Van Hook, R.I. 1989. Biogeochemical cycling in Walker Branch Watershed: A Synthesis of Research Results. Springer-Verlag, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, D.W., Henderson, G.S. and Todd, D.E. 1988. Changes in nutrient distribution in forests and soils of Walker Branch watershed, Tennessee, over an eleven-year period. Biogeochemistry 5: 275–293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, D.W., Olson, R.J., Mann, L.K. and Todd, D.E. 1990. Long-term changes in biomass and nutrient cycling in forests of Walker Branch Watershed, Tennessee.In Sustained Productivity of Forest Soils, pp. 122–136. Edited by S.P. Gessel, D.S. LaCate, G.F. Weetman and R.F. Powers. Vancouver: Forestry Publications, University of British Columbia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keever, C. 1950. Causes of succession on old fields of the piedmont, North Carolina. Ecol. Monogr. 20: 229–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kroll, J.C. and Reeves, H.C. 1978. A simple model for predicting annual numbers of southern pine beetle infestations in east Texas. South. J. Appl. For. 2: 62–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krummell, J.R., Gardner, R.H., Sugihara, G., O'Neill, R.V. and Coleman, P.R. 1987. Landscape pattern in a disturbed environment. J. Environ. Manage. 18: 279–290.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann, L.K., Johnson, D.W., West, D.C., Cole, D.W., Hornbeck, J.W., Martin, C.W., Riekerk, H., Smith, C.T., Swank, W.T., Tritton, L.M. and Van Lear, D.H. 1988. Effects of whole-tree and stem-only clearcutting on postharvest hydrologic losses, nutrient capital and regrowth. For. Sci. 34: 412–428.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinat, P.J. 1987. The role of climatic variation and weather in forest insect outbreaks.In Insect Outbreaks, pp. 241–268. Edited by P. Barbosa and J.C. Schultz. New York: Academic Press, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michaels, P.J., Sappington, D.E., Spengler, P.J. and Philip, J. 1986. SPBCMP-A program to assess the likelihood of major changes in the distribution of southern pine beetle infestations. South J. Appl. For. 10: 158–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Odum, E.P. 1969. The strategy of ecosystem development. Science 164: 262–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oosting, H.J. 1942. An ecological analysis of the plant communities of Piedmont, North Carolina. Am. Midl. Nat. 28: 1–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, L.N., Grigal, D.F., Curtin, S.W. and Selvidge, W.J. 1970. Walker Branch Watershed Project: Chemical, Physical and Morphological Properties of the Soils of Walker Branch Watershed. ORNL/TM-2968. Oak Ridge, TN.

  • Pickett, S.T.A. 1980. Non-equilibrium coexistence of plants. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 107: 238–248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pittman, G.B., Larsson, S. and Tenow, O. 1982. Stem growth efficiency: an index of susceptibility to bark beetle and sawfly attack.In Carbon Uptake and Allocation in Subalpine Ecosystems as a Key to Management. pp. 52–56. Edited by R.H. Waring. Proc. Int. Union For. Organ. Workshop, Oregon State Univ. For. Res. Lab., Corvallis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pyle, C. and Schafale, M.P. 1988. Land use history of three spruce-fir forest sites in southern Appalachia. pp. 4-21. J. For. Hist.

  • Romme, W.H. 1982. Fire and landscape diversity in subalpine forests of Yellowstone National Park. Ecol. Monogr. 52: 199–221.

    Google Scholar 

  • Romme, W.H. and Knight, D.H. 1982. Landscape diversity: the concept applied to Yellowstone Park. BioScience 32: 664–670.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rykiel, E.J., Jr., Coulson, R.N., Sharpe, P.J.H., Allen, T.F.H. and Flamm, R.O. 1988. Disturbance propagation by bark beetles as an episodic landscape phenomenon. Landscape Ecol. 1: 129–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schowalter, T.D., Coulson, R.N. and Crossley, D.A., Jr. 1981. Role of southern pine beetle and fire in maintenance of structure and function of the southeastern coniferous forest. Environ. Entomol. 10: 821–825.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schowalter, T.D. 1985. Adaptations of insects to disturbances.In The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and Patch Dynamics, pp. 235–252. Edited by S.T.A. Pickett and P.S. White. Academic Press, Inc., New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shortle, W.C. and Smith, K.T. 1988. Aluminum-induced calcium deficiency syndrome in declining red spruce. Science 240: 1017–1018.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silsbee, D.G. and Larson, G.L. 1982. Water quality of streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Hydrobiologia 89: 97–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sollins, P., Reichle, D.E. and Olson, J.S. 1973. Organic matter budget and model for a southern AppalachianLiriodendron forest. EDFB-IBP-73–2. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sousa, W.P. 1984. The role of disturbance in natural communities. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 15: 353–391.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swank, W.T., Waide, J.B., Crossley, D.A., Jr. and Todd, R.L. 1981. Insect defoliation enhances nitrate export from forest ecosystems. Oecologia 51: 297–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, M.G. 1987a. Land use changes and net primary production in the Georgia, USA, landscape: 1935–1982. Environ. Manage. 11: 237–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, M.G. 1987b. Landscape Heterogeneity and Disturbance. Springer-Verlag, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, M.G. and Ruscher, C.L. 1988. Changes in landscape patterns in Georgia, USA. Landscape Ecol. 1: 241–251.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, M.G., Gardner, R.H., Dale, V.H. and O'Neill, R.V. 1989. Predicting the spread of disturbance across heterogeneous landscapes. Oikos 5: 121–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Lear, D.H., Waide, J.B. and Teuke, M.J. 1984. Biomass and nutrient content of a 41-year old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation on a poor site in South Carolina. For. Sci. 30: 395–410.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waring, R.H. and Pitman, G.B. 1983. Physiological stress in lodgepole pine as a precursor for mountain pine beetle attack. Zeitschrift für angewandte Entonologie 96: 265–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, P.S. 1979. Pattern, process, and natural disturbance in vegetation. Bot. Rev. 45: 229–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whittaker, R.H. 1956. Vegetation of the Great Smoky Mountains. Ecol. Monogr. 26: 1–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woods, F.W. and Shanks, R.E. 1959. Natural replacement of chestnut by other species in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Ecology 40: 349–361.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. D. W. Johnson

    Present address: Biological Sciences Center, Desert Research Institute, P.O. Box 60220, 89512, Reno, NV, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, 37831-6038, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

    V. H. Dale, L. K. Mann, R. J. Olson, D. W. Johnson & K. C. Dearstone

Authors
  1. V. H. Dale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L. K. Mann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. J. Olson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. D. W. Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. K. C. Dearstone
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dale, V.H., Mann, L.K., Olson, R.J. et al. The long-term influence of past land use on the Walker Branch forest. Landscape Ecol 4, 211–224 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00129829

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00129829

Keywords

Search

Navigation