OLD-GROWTH WHITE SPRUCE AND BALSAM POPLAR FORESTS OF THE PEACE-RIVER LOWLANDS, WOOD-BUFFALO-NATIONAL-PARK, CANADA - DEVELOPMENT, STRUCTURE,AND DIVERSITY
Kp. Timoney et Al. Robinson, OLD-GROWTH WHITE SPRUCE AND BALSAM POPLAR FORESTS OF THE PEACE-RIVER LOWLANDS, WOOD-BUFFALO-NATIONAL-PARK, CANADA - DEVELOPMENT, STRUCTURE,AND DIVERSITY, Forest ecology and management, 81(1-3), 1996, pp. 179-196
Thirty-seven permanent plots were established and sampled during 1993
and 1994 in Timber Berth 408, Peace River Lowlands, of Wood Buffalo Na
tional Park. Sites were sampled for vegetation, bird, physical, and st
ructural attributes, The transition from mature to old-growth conditio
ns occurs at different times In balsam poplar and white spruce forests
. In lowland balsam poplar forests, old-growth attributes begin to app
ear after a stand age of approximate to 80 years, and in lowland white
spruce, after approximate to 160 years, Both forest types may persist
in excess of 300 years, Attributes shared by, and unique to, both low
land balsam poplar and white spruce old-growth are described, The deve
lopment of log attributes over time follows opposing trends in flood a
nd fire-origin forests. The preferred rooting medium of white spruce s
hifts from mineral soil early in succession to decaying wood under pre
-existing canopies. Log and snag structure, decay, and dynamics are di
scussed in relation to time, bryophyte and lichen communities, Canopy
height and roughness, total tree cover, and snag and tree animal cavit
ies are described; indicator communities of birds are identified, We c
onclude with a summary of attributes characteristic of boreal riverine
old-growth forests.