What is a gap in forestry?
When one or a few canopy trees die (or are injured) in a forest, small openings, which are called ‘gaps,’ are formed in the forest canopy and are then filled with other trees.
What is a gap in a forest called?
Gap dynamics is the process by which one or a few trees die, leaving a gap in the forest canopy that is then filled by other trees.
Why are forest gaps important?
Gaps increase the diversity of forests across the land- scape and present local environments that encourage the establishment and growth of new species.
What are the 4 stages of a forest?
Forest ecologists recognize four phases of forest succession, or what is sometimes called forest development. These phases are: (i) stand initiation, (ii) stem exclusion, (iii) understory reinitiation, and (iv) steady state.
What is a canopy gap?
2 minutes. A canopy gap, at its most basic, is a hole in the forest land cover, often the result of a fallen tree or windstorm. But these gaps in the forest, usually created by natural processes, can also lead to new life.
How long do hardwood trees live?
Although most central hardwoods can be retained 100 years or more, species such as aspen, butternut, scarlet oak, and several bottomland species start to decline in vigor and succumb to insect and diseases at an age much younger than 100 years (table 1).
What are possible forest disturbances?
The major disturbance impacts on forests result from fire, drought, introduced species, insect and pathogen outbreaks, hurricanes, windstorms, ice storms, and landslides.
Why are canopy gaps important in forest regeneration?
Gaps play an important role in forest ecology helping to preserve bio- and pedo-diversity, influencing nutrient cycles, and maintaining the complex structure of the late-successional forests.
What are the 6 stages of secondary succession?
Stages of Secondary Succession
- Growth exists.
- Existing growth is destroyed.
- Destruction stops.
- The soil remains.
- Time goes by.
- Regrowth begins.
- Fast-growing plants and/or trees are dominant for a while.
- Slower growing plants and/or trees come back and begin growing.
What causes canopy gaps?
Both natural and artificial disturbances in a forest can cause tree death or injury, which in turn creates openings in the forest cover known as canopy gaps (Yamamoto 2000). These gaps are often filled with other trees, and this replacement phenomenon is termed gap dynamics (Brokaw and Busing 2000).