A dendroecological test of a classic successional chronosequence at Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
Fastie CL. 1991. A dendroecological test of a classic successional chronosequence at Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 72(2; Program and Abstracts):111-112
The classic account of succession inferred from a 215 yr glacial retreat chronosequence at Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, was compared to site-specific reconstructions of forest stand development based on 600 increment cores at 10 sites (aged 20 to 215 yr) along the chronosequence. The reconstructed rate of early tree invasion at the 3 oldest sites (155 to 215 yr) was at least twice the rate at any younger site. The rate of tree invasion at the 10 sites is inversely correlated with site-specific distance to seed sources in refugial old-growth forests. The record of trunk radial growth indicates that dense early stands of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) at the oldest sites precluded the development of early thickets of N-fixing Sitka alder (Alnus sinuata) which are characteristic of all younger sites. Thus inference based on the entire chronosequence incorrectly assigns importance to early thickets of N-fixing shrubs in the development of the older forests.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Fastie, Christopher
- Units
- GLBA
- Keywords
- Ecology, Management, Natural Resource, Plant Studies