8 documents found, page 1 of 1

Windthrows control biomass patterns and functional composition of Amazon forests

Amazon forests account for ~25% of global land biomass and tropical tree species. In these forests, windthrows (i.e., snapped and uprooted trees) are a major natural disturbance, but the rates and mechanisms of recovery are not known. To provide a predictive framework for understanding the effects of windthrows on forest structure and functional composition (DBH ≥10 cm), we quantified biomass recovery as a func...

The steady-state mosaic of disturbance and succession across an old-growth cent...

Old-growth forest ecosystems comprise a mosaic of patches in different successional stages, with the fraction of the landscape in any particular state relatively constant over large temporal and spatial scales. The size distribution and return frequency of disturbance events, and subsequent recovery processes, determine to a large extent the spatial scale over which this old-growth steady state develops. Here, ...

Allometry for juvenile trees in an amazonian forest after wind disturbance

Allometric models to estimate the aboveground mass AGM, belowground mass BGM and total mass TM of juvenile trees (stem diameter at breast height DBH ≤ 5 cm, tree height H ≥ 30 cm) in open-canopy terra-firme forests after wind disturbance were developed in the Amazon. For comparison, the allometric models were also developed for a closed-canopy terra-firme forest. After six models had been compared in each fores...

Forest management effects on the abundance and species composition of ferns in ...

During the last decades, the tropical timber species demand has intensified. However, mostly of the tropical timber harvesting is still done conventionally. Forest management optimizes the production and aims at the maintenance of the forest and its biodiversity. This study evaluates the effects of logging on the abundance and composition of ferns on the Projeto Agroextrativista Chico Mendes, Acre state, Brazil...

Windthrow variability in central Amazonia

Windthrows are a recurrent disturbance in Amazonia and are an important driver of forest dynamics and carbon storage. In this study, we present for the first time the seasonal and interannual variability of windthrows, focusing on Central Amazonia, and discuss the potential meteorological factors associated with this variability. Landsat images over the 1998-2010 time period were used to detect the occurrence o...

Vulnerability of Amazon forests to storm-driven tree mortality

Large-scale wind disturbances promote tree diversity in a Central Amazon forest

Canopy gaps created by wind-throw events, or blowdowns, create a complex mosaic of forest patches varying in disturbance intensity and recovery in the Central Amazon. Using field and remote sensing data, we investigated the short-term (four-year) effects of large (>2000 m2) blowdown gaps created during a single storm event in January 2005 near Manaus, Brazil, to study (i) how forest structure and composition...

Windthrows increase soil carbon stocks in a central Amazon forest

Windthrows change forest structure and species composition in central Amazon forests. However, the effects of widespread tree mortality associated with wind disturbances on soil properties have not yet been described in this vast region. We investigated short-term effects (7 years after disturbance) of widespread tree mortality caused by a squall line event from mid-January of 2005 on soil carbon stocks and con...