Despite its importance to biodiversity and ecosystem function, patterns and drivers of regional scale variation in forest structure and development are poorly understood. We characterize structural variation, create a hierarchical classification of forest structure, and develop an empirically based framework for conceptualizing structural development from 11,091 plots across 25 million...
Tree mortality is an important demographic process and primary driver of forest dynamics, yet there are relatively few plot-based studies that explicitly quantify mortality and compare the relative contribution of endogenous and exogenous disturbances at regional scales. We used repeated observations on 289,390 trees in 3673 1 ha plots on...
We characterized the structure and composition of unmanaged riparian forests in three river basins in Oregon’s coastal mountains. Our objective was to evaluate stand attributes at three spatial scales: streamside (site), drainage network (stream order), and basin (subregion). Data on basal area, species composition, snag density, canopy cover, and tree...
Tree invasions have been documented throughout Northern Hemisphere high elevation meadows, as well as globally in many grass and forb-dominated ecosystems. Tree invasions are often associated with large-scale changes in climate or disturbance regimes, but are fundamentally driven by regeneration processes influenced by interactions between climatic, topographic, and biotic factors...
Canopy gaps created by tree mortality can affect the speed and trajectory of vegetation growth, species’ population dynamics, and spatial heterogeneity in mature forests. Most studies focus on plant development within gaps, yet gaps also affect the mortality and growth of surrounding trees, which influence shading and root encroachment into...
Early‐seral ecosystems make important contributions to regional biodiversity by supporting high abundance and diversity of many plant and animal species that are otherwise rare or absent from closed‐canopy forests. Therefore, the period of post‐fire tree establishment is a key stage in forest stand and ecosystem development that can be viewed...
Twentieth-century land management has altered the structure and composition of mixed-conifer forests and decreased their resilience to fire, drought, and insects in many parts of the Interior West. These forests occur across a wide range of environmental settings and historical disturbance regimes, so their response to land management is likely...
Forest ecosystem dynamics emerges from nonlinear interactions between adaptive biotic agents (i.e., individual trees) and their relationship with a spatially and temporally heterogeneous abiotic environment. Understanding and predicting the dynamics resulting from these complex interactions is crucial for the sustainable stewardship of ecosystems, particularly in the context of rapidly changing...
Forests dominated by Douglas-fir and western hemlock in the Pacific Northwest of the United States have strongly influenced concepts and policy concerning old-growth forest conservation. Despite the attention to their old-growth characteristics, a tendency remains to view their disturbance ecology in relatively simple terms, emphasizing infrequent, stand-replacing (SR) fire and...
Forests play a critical role sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide, partially offsetting greenhouse gas emissions, and thereby mitigating climate change. Forest management, natural disturbances, and the fate of carbon in wood products strongly influence carbon sequestration and emissions in the forest sector. Government policies, carbon offset and trading programs, and sustainable...