Increase in forest structural complexity along a precipitation gradient is mediated by partial harvests in temperate Patagonian forests.

Increasing forest structural complexity is becoming a common goal in forestry worldwide. However, the lack of empirical quantification clouds its implementation. Here we quantified the long-term effects (> 30 y) of partial harvest on stand structural complexity and net primary productivity using the east-west precipitation gradient (318-2508 mm, mean annual precipitation-MAP) of western Patagonian as a study system.

Mother trees, altruistic fungi, and the perils of plant personification.

There are growing doubts about the true role of the common mycorrhizal networks (CMN or wood wide web) connecting the roots of trees in forests. We question the claims of a substantial carbon transfer from 'mother trees' to their offspring and nearby seedlings through the CMN. Recent reviews show that evidence for the 'mother tree concept' is inconclusive or absent.

Producing wood at least cost to biodiversity: integrating Triad and sharing-sparing approaches to inform forest landscape management.

Forest loss and degradation are the greatest threats to biodiversity worldwide. Rising global wood demand threatens further damage to remaining native forests. Contrasting solutions across a continuum of options have been proposed, yet which of these offers most promise remains unresolved.

Trait integration and functional differentiation among co-existing plant species.

Premise: Determining which traits characterize strategies of coexisting species is important to developing trait-based models of plant communities. First, global dimensions may not exist locally. Second, the degree to which traits and trait spectra constitute independent dimensions of functional variation at various scales continues to be refined.

Cross-scale interactions affect tree growth and intrinsic water use efficiency and highlight the importance of spatial context in managing forests under global change.

1. We investigated the potential of cross-scale interactions to affect the outcome of density reduction in a large-scale silvicultural experiment to better understand options for managing forests under climate change. 2.

Management trade-off between aboveground carbon storage and understory plant species richness in temperate forests.

Because forest ecosystems have the capacity to store large quantities of carbon (C), there is interest in managing forests to mitigate elevated CO2 concentrations and associated effects on the global climate. However, some mitigation techniques may contrast with management strategies for other goals, such as maintaining and restoring biodiversity. Forest thinning reduces C storage in the overstory and recruitment of detrital C.

Bayesian small area models for assessing wildlife conservation risk in patchy populations.

Species conservation risk assessments require accurate, probabilistic, and biologically meaningful maps of population distribution. In patchy populations, the reasons for discontinuities are not often well understood. We tested a novel approach to habitat modeling in which methods of small area estimation were used within a hierarchical Bayesian framework.

Patterns of growth compensation in eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.): the influence of herbivory intensity and competitive environments.

To investigate complex growth compensation patterns, white pine (Pinus strobus L.) seedlings were clipped to simulate different herbivory levels. Seedlings were growing with different understory competition levels (created through monthly weeding vs no brush control) under a range of overstory canopy closures.