Canadian Forest Service Publications
Resilience of southern Yukon boreal forests to spruce beetle outbreaks. 2018. Campbell, E.M., Antos, J.A., vanAkker, L. Forest Ecology and Management 433, pp. 52–63.
Year: 2018
Issued by: Pacific Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 39473
Language: English
Availability: PDF (request by e-mail)
Available from the Journal's Web site. †
DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2018.10.037
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Abstract
Changed disturbance regimes could drive biome-level shifts in vegetation structure and have cascading societal consequences. Expanding and intensifying bark beetle outbreaks pose a risk of major changes to large regions of boreal forests in North America. We evaluated the resilience of boreal forests in southwestern Yukon to an unprecedented spruce beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis Kirby [Coleoptera: Curculionidae) outbreak using data collected from permanent plots, which were measured repeatedly, in 21 stands. We determined basal area (m2/ha) and density (stems/ha) of canopy trees (which are most vulnerable to beetles), density of advance regeneration, and growth response to the outbreak using ring widths from over 800 trees ranging in size from small advance regeneration to canopy trees. Beetle-related reductions in tree canopy basal area averaged 52% across all stands but there was considerable variability among stands. About 68% of variation in basal area reductions among stands was explained by variability in pre-outbreak canopy tree basal area (β = 1.1; p = 0.0021) and a climatic moisture deficit index (β = 0.5; p = 0.0015). Although the percentage of white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) in the canopy was reduced in some stands, by 2–29%, white spruce remained the dominant canopy tree species. Almost all stands had more than adequate advance regeneration density (average = 5 448 stems/ha) in 2016 to replace canopy trees killed by beetles. Variability in advance regeneration among stands could partly be explained by pre-outbreak tree canopy basal area (β = −0.4; p = 0.0018), a climate moisture deficit index (β = −0.3; p = 0.0004), and shrub per cent cover (β = −0.3; p = 0.0003), as well as, humus depth (β = 544; p = 0.0186). Over the last two decades, spruce trees, of all size classes, exhibited substantial increases in mean annual radial growth increment, beginning 4–5 years after the start of the outbreak. The proportion of trees in a stand with at least a 50% increase in radial growth increment varied significantly with canopy tree basal area at the end of the outbreak (β = −0.12; p
Plain Language Summary
Changed disturbance regimes could drive biome-level shifts in vegetation structure and have cascading consequences for ecosystem services, including climate regulation, water quality, wood supply and cultural inspiration. Expanding and intensifying bark beetle outbreaks pose a risk of major changes to large regions of boreal forests in North America. We evaluated the resilience of boreal forests in southwestern Yukon to an unprecedented spruce bark beetle outbreak using data collected from permanent plots, which were measured repeatedly, in 21 stands. We determined basal area (m2/ha) and density (stems/ha) of canopy trees (which are most vulnerable to beetles), density of advance regeneration, and growth response to the outbreak using ring widths from over 800 trees ranging in size from small advance regeneration to canopy trees. Beetle-related reductions in tree canopy basal area averaged 52% across all stands but there was considerable variability among stands. About 61% of variation in basal area reductions among stands was explained by variability in pre-outbreak canopy tree basal area and climate moisture deficits. Although the percentage of spruce in the canopy was reduced in some stands, by 2 to 29%, spruce remained the dominant the canopy tree species. All stands had more than adequate advance regeneration density (average = 5 448 stems/ha) in 2016 to replace canopy trees killed by beetles but stands with the lowest climate moisture deficits had the most trees. Over the last two decades, spruce trees, of all size classes, exhibited substantial increases in mean annual radial growth increment, beginning about 3 years after the start of the outbreak. Growth increment was much more variable after the outbreak than before; some trees showed no growth increase while others increased greatly in growth. The proportion of trees in a stand with at least a 50% increase radial growth increment varied significantly with canopy tree basal area at the end of the outbreak, climate moisture deficit, and humus depth. We conclude that the forests of southwestern Yukon had high resilience to the recent spruce beetle outbreak because of the large number of surviving canopy trees, the abundant advance regeneration of spruce that can replace killed trees, and the increased growth of surviving trees. However, these forests may become less resilient to future outbreaks; as the climate continues to warm, outbreaks may become more severe and tree growth limited.
