Differential Tree Colonization of Old Fields in a Temperate Rain Forest
Riege DA and Del Moral R. 2004. Differential Tree Colonization of Old Fields in a Temperate Rain Forest. The American Midland Naturalist. 151(2):251-264
From the Abstract: "Most old fiields in the Queets Valley of Olympic National Park, USA remain dominated by exotic herbs 60 y after abandonment although the fields are surrounded by temperate rain forest. However, areas of some fields have been invaded by Picea sitchensis, one of three dominant forest species (with Alnus rubra and Tsuga heterophylla). This provided an opportunity to examine local variation of factors (competition, facilitation, cervid herbivory, soils) that influence tree colonization within a set of old fields, an approach rare in previous studies. ... Differential tree colonization of the fields resulted from: (1) differential competition by invaded cover types against seedling establishment, (2) selective herbivory on tree species of established seedlings and (3) facilitation by fern cover of seedlings of an unbrowsed species."
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Riege, Dennis; Del Moral, Roger
- Units
- OLYM
- Keywords
- homestead, Plant Studies, Queets River Watershed, Succession, temperate rain forest, tree colonization