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Changes in variance components of forest structure along a chronosequence in a wave-regenerated forest

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Ecological Research

Abstract

We explored structural mean and variation along a chronosequence in a wave-regenerated forest on Mt. Shimagare, Japan, and examined differences in the components of variation between developmental stages. Because there are several strips of stands at the same developmental stage in the forest, between- and within-strip variances (i.e., variance components) were analyzed at each stage. Three strips were selected for each of three developmental stages (one for saplings to three for mature trees), and four plots were established in each of the strips. Stem densities and stand basal areas for trees taller than 20 cm were computed for all plots. Six Bayesian ANOVA models were compared to examine the temporal patterns of stage means, total variance, and the variance components for the two stand structural parameters. The results of the model comparison suggested that the variation in stem densities decreased from the sapling stage to the mature stage, but variation in stand basal areas remained roughly constant throughout forest development. For both density and basal area, the relative magnitudes of each variance component compared to the total variance differed between stages; the ratios of between-strip variation to within-strip variation were highest at the mature stage. Our results suggest that forest structure exhibited higher variability during development of the wave-regenerated forest than was assumed in previous studies and that the variance components for the forest structure varied temporally among developmental stages. This study thus illustrated a potential application of the chronosequence approach to infer the dynamics of a spatially heterogeneous and hierarchically structured ecosystem.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Nan-Shin District Forest Office for allowing us to conduct our study at the site. We are grateful to the stimulus discussions with Drs. Koichi Takahashi and Tatsuyuki Seino. Dr. Kenichirou Shimatanitni and an anonymous reviewer made critical comments. The members of the laboratories of Animal Ecology and Plant Ecology of Tokyo Metropolitan University helped us in the field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 1-1 Minami-Ohsawa, Hachiohji, Tokyo, 192-0397, Japan

    Satoshi N. Suzuki, Naoki Kachi & Jun-Ichirou Suzuki

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  1. Satoshi N. Suzuki
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  2. Naoki Kachi
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  3. Jun-Ichirou Suzuki
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Correspondence to Satoshi N. Suzuki.

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Table 4 Structural characteristics of the stands sampled at the study site
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Suzuki, S.N., Kachi, N. & Suzuki, JI. Changes in variance components of forest structure along a chronosequence in a wave-regenerated forest. Ecol Res 24, 1371–1379 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-009-0621-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-009-0621-6

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