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Decreases by disturbance-dependent tree species in the eastern and central USA

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Abstract

Open pine and oak forest ecosystems and floodplain forests have declined because of fire and flooding suppression. I determined tree species that have contracted in area occupied (where area occupied was ≥0.5 % of total species composition) or decreased in percent composition (i.e., percentage of all stems) during recent surveys (2000–2013) to ≤85 % of area occupied or composition during older surveys (1968–1999). I then identified whether species were associated with frequent fire, flooding, wetlands, postfire conditions, or other disturbances. Of 35 species that decreased in area occupied or composition, 16 species were associated with fire or postfire disturbance and fire-dependent species decreased in composition from 20 to 14 % during tree surveys. Even though species of floodplain forests and wetlands comprise a small percent of overall tree composition, 12 decreasing species were associated with floodplain forests or wetlands. Fire maintains open oak and pine ecosystems and flooding maintains floodplain forests, generally suspending succession. Suppression of fire in upland forests and flooding in floodplain forests has allowed disturbance-sensitive species to remain established and advance successional forests throughout the USA.

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Acknowledgments

I thank anonymous reviewers for their time and comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Missouri, 203 Natural Resources Building, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Brice B. Hanberry

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  1. Brice B. Hanberry
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Correspondence to Brice B. Hanberry.

Additional information

Communicated by A. Weiskittel.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 3.

Table 3 Species with ID for Figs. 2 and 3 and values for range contraction and percent decrease in composition from 1968–1999 (old) surveys to 2000–2013 surveys followed by values for decreases from old surveys to 1984–2008 surveys
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Appendix 2

See Table 4.

Table 4 Thirty-five most abundant species that were not decreasing
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Appendix 3

See Table 5.

Table 5 In forestland plots, species that decreased to ≤85 % of area occupied (where area occupied was ≥0.5 % of total species composition) or composition between 1968–1999 (old) surveys and 2000–2013 (new) surveys
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Hanberry, B.B. Decreases by disturbance-dependent tree species in the eastern and central USA. Eur J Forest Res 133, 1029–1041 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-014-0820-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-014-0820-8

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