自公元1830年以来，在泰米斯卡明格的混交林温带森林中，与气候和火灾状况变化相比，木材采伐是推动植被组成变化的最重要因素。

Timber harvesting was the most important factor driving changes in vegetation composition, as compared to climate and fire regime shifts, in the mixedwood temperate forests of Temiscamingue since AD 1830.

作者信息

Robles Daniela, Boulanger Yan, Pascual Jesus, Danneyrolles Victor, Bergeron Yves, Drobyshev Igor

机构信息

Institut de recherche sur les forêts, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), 445 boul. de l'Universite, Rouyn-Noranda, QC J9X 5E4 Canada.

Herbario Nacional del Ecuador (QCNE), Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Avenida Río Coca E6-115 e Isla Fernandina, Quito, Ecuador.

出版信息

Landsc Ecol. 2025;40(2):26. doi: 10.1007/s10980-025-02043-x. Epub 2025 Jan 20.

DOI:10.1007/s10980-025-02043-x

PMID:39845271

原文链接:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11753300/

Abstract

CONTEXT

The vegetation composition of northeastern North American forests has significantly changed since pre-settlement times, with a marked reduction in conifer-dominated stands, taxonomic and functional diversity. These changes have been attributed to fire regime shifts, logging, and climate change.

METHODS

In this study, we disentangled the individual effects of these drivers on the forest composition in southwestern Quebec from 1830 to 2000 by conducting retrospective modelling using the LANDIS-II forest landscape model. The model was run based on pre-settlement forest composition and fire history reconstructions, historical timber harvest records, and climate reanalysis data. We compared counterfactual scenarios excluding individual factors to a baseline historical scenario.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicated that timber harvesting had the greatest impact on forest dynamics over the past centuries. In the absence of timber harvesting, pre-settlement species abundances were largely maintained, preserving key functional traits like fire and shade tolerance that contribute to ecosystem resilience. Increased fire activity during the settlement period contributed to the increase of early-successional aspen (Populus tremuloides), but timber harvesting played the dominant role. Fire exclusion had no influence on vegetation composition, suggesting mesophication unfolds over longer timescales than those captured in this study. Climate change, characterized by modest increases in temperature and precipitation, had a minor effect on vegetation shifts, as increased precipitation might have mitigated the adverse effects of rising temperatures. However, future climate change is projected to become a more significant driver of forest composition. These findings underscore the importance of forest restoration and continued research on past forest dynamics to better understand current and future changes.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-025-02043-x.

摘要

背景

自北美东北部森林在人类定居前的时代以来，其植被组成发生了显著变化，针叶树为主的林分、分类和功能多样性显著减少。这些变化归因于火灾 regime 的转变、伐木和气候变化。

方法

在本研究中，我们通过使用 LANDIS-II 森林景观模型进行回顾性建模，梳理了这些驱动因素在 1830 年至 2000 年期间对魁北克西南部森林组成的个体影响。该模型基于人类定居前的森林组成和火灾历史重建、历史木材采伐记录以及气候再分析数据运行。我们将排除个体因素的反事实情景与基线历史情景进行了比较。

结果与结论

我们的结果表明，在过去几个世纪中，木材采伐对森林动态的影响最大。在没有木材采伐的情况下，人类定居前的物种丰度在很大程度上得以维持，保留了有助于生态系统恢复力的关键功能特征，如耐火性和耐荫性。定居期间火灾活动的增加导致了早期演替的山杨（Populus tremuloides）数量增加，但木材采伐起了主导作用。排除火灾对植被组成没有影响，这表明中生代化的发展时间尺度比本研究所涵盖的时间尺度更长。以温度和降水量适度增加为特征的气候变化对植被变化的影响较小，因为降水量的增加可能减轻了气温上升的不利影响。然而，预计未来气候变化将成为森林组成变化的更重要驱动因素。这些发现强调了森林恢复以及对过去森林动态持续研究的重要性，以便更好地理解当前和未来的变化。