Understory vegetation plays an important role in the structure and function of forest ecosystems. Light detection ranging (LiDAR) can provide understory information form either point cloud or full-waveform data. Point data have a remarkable ability to represent three-dimensional structures vegetation, while contain more detailed on interactions between laser pulses vegetation; both types been w...

Carbon release from thawing permafrost soils could significantly exacerbate global warming as the active-layer deepens, exposing more carbon to decay. Plant community and soil properties provide a major control on this by influencing the maximum depth of thaw each summer (active-layer thickness; ALT), but a quantitative understanding of the relative importance of plant and soil characteristics,...

Information is lacking on ecosystem effects of understory burning in mesic mixed-oak (Quercus spp.) forests of the southern Appalachians. Native Americans used periodic fires in these forests for driving game and opening the forest. In April 1998, we conducted a lowto moderate-intensity fire in a cove–hardwood forest in the Nantahala National Forest, western North Carolina. In March 1998, befor...

Spatial heterogeneity in microenvironments may provide unique regeneration niches for trees and may promote forest diversity. We examined how heterogeneity in understory cover, mineral nutrients, and moisture and their interactions with canopy gaps contribute to the coexistence of three common, co-occuring tree species. We measured survival and height growth of 1080 seedlings of Acer rubrum (re...

Understory plant communities play critical ecological roles in forest ecosystems. Both above- and below-ground ecosystem properties and processes influence these communities but relatively little is known about such effects at fine (i.e., one to several meters within-stand) scales, particularly for forests in which the canopy is dominated by a single species. An improved understanding of these ...

To better understand the contribution of understory to biodiversity of a forest ecosystem, we examined the understory in stands of: (1) a Phyllostachys edulis (Moso bamboo) plantation, (2) a Cunninghamia lanceolata (Chinese fir) plantation and (3) a natural evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved mixed forest (natural mixed forest) in Mt. Mao’er in southern China, and the distribution and diversit...

Albert, D.A. and Barnes, B.V., 1987. Effects of clearcutting on the vegetation and soil of a sugar maple-dominated ecosystem, western Upper Michigan. For. Ecol. Manage., 18: 283-298. The effects 50 years after clearcutting on the vegetation and soil of an ecosystem type dominated by sugar maple (Acer saccharum) were studied at four locations along the boundaries of the Sylvania Recreation Area ...

Rangelands in Saudi Arabia extend over more than 175 m.ha. (about 75% of country land area) while woodland forests occupy only 2.7 m.ha. and are limited to the south western highlands. The diversity in landscape has been reflected in terrestrial plant species diversity. Range vegetation as well as forest understory vegetation has long history of grazing by livestock and wildlife herbivores. In ...