Exploring the Relationships Among Canopy Structure, Stand Productivity, and Biodiversity of Temperate Forest Ecosystems
By Hiroaki Ishii, S. Tanabe, T. Hiura. Forestry sciences, 2004
335 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Impacts of human activity on forest ecosystems are most pronounced in the temperate region. Simplification of stand structure has resulted in diminished ecosystem function and biodiversity decline, raising much debate over future management policies. Ecosystem functions and biodiversity may be enhanced by managing forests for increased structural complexity. However, processes that determine relationships among structural complexity, ecosystem functions, and biodiversity of forest ecosystems remain unclear. In this review, we present examples of studies conducted at two canopy research facilities located in different types of temperate forest to illustrate that structural complexity of forest canopies enhances stand productivity and biodiversity: (1) development of structurally complex canopies comprising various tree species enhances stand productivity by promoting complementary resource utilization among species through spatial, physiological, and temporal differentiation; and (2) development of complex canopy structure enhances biodiversity of canopy-dwelling organisms by creating a resource-rich habitat. These ecological observations stress the importance of including three-dimensional structural attributes of forest canopies in management plans and silvicultural prescriptions that aim to maintain ecosystem functions and biodiversity. FOR. SCI. 50(3):342–355.
Subfields: Global and Planetary Change, Mechanical Engineering, Nature and Landscape Conservation
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1c73fbe78179d3fca5344a9356b22a7c62690563
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In Global and Planetary Change
In Nature and Landscape Conservation
Citations in the corpus
- Emergent crowns and light-use complementarity lead to global maximum biomass and leaf area in Sequoia sempervirens forests (2016, background): “During the lengthy process of crown optimization, abundant opportunities are created for other species to add leaf area in various canopy positions along the vertical gradient (Canham, 1988; Ishii et al., 2004).”
- Arthropods as bioindicators of sustainable forest management, with a focus on plantation forests (2009, background): “…age classes, large logs, snags, and vertical structural heterogeneity, which provide diverse habitat resources for forest-dwelling organ- isms (Ishii et al., 2004; Humphrey, 2005); however, the role of plantation forests in maintaining biodiversity cannot be ignored (Lindenmayer and Hobbs,…”
- Structural diversity as a predictor of ecosystem function (2019, background): “Canopy height and gap fractionwere also better at explaining the amount of light energy in the ecosystem (fPAR) than structural heterogeneity, species richness, or phylogenetic diversity, which is consistent with forest openness being a main driver of light interception (Ishii et al 2004).”
- The role of crown architecture, leaf phenology and photosynthetic activity in promoting complementary use of light among coexisting species in temperate forests (2010, background): “Ishii et al. (2004) proposed that spatial and temporal differentiation in crown architecture, leaf phenology, and photosynthetic activity among coexisting species would result in complementary use of light and increased productivity in temperate forest ecosystems.”