Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ecology of Temperate Forests

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Ecology and the Environment

Part of the book series: The Plant Sciences ((PLANTSCI,volume 8))

What Is a Forest?

The term “forest” has been used since at least the Middle Ages, when William the Conquerer consolidated much of the knowledge about his newly acquired lands in the Domesday Book of 1086 CE (Common Era). Royal forests, as listed in the Domesday Book, referred to unbounded lands intended to raise wild animals that could be hunted by the monarch and other members of the royal family. Forests were not classified according to ecological or botanical attributes, but rather as legal entities afforded protection by laws and management. Forests at this time included grasslands, woodlands, heathlands, and even agricultural fields.

In more recent times, the term “forest” has been associated with woodlands, and most dictionary definitions include reference to a “high density of trees.” The US National Vegetation Classification Scheme, which is produced through oversight by the US Federal Geographic Data Committee (an interagency committee led by...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Black SH, Kulakowski D, Noon BR, DellaSala DA. Do bark beetle outbreaks increase wildfire risks in the Central US Rocky Mountains? Implications from recent research. Nat Areas J. 2013;33:59–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boon S. Snow ablation energy balance in a dead forest stand. Hydrol Process. 2009;23:2600–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bugmann H. A review of forest gap models. Clim Change. 2001;51:259–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carcaillet C, Almquist H, Asnong H, Bradshaw RHW, Carrion JS, Gaillard MJ, Gajewski K, Haas JN, Haberle SG, Hadorn P, Muller SD, Richard PJH, Richoz I, Rosch M, Goni MFS, von Stedingk H, Stevenson AC, Talon B, Tardy C, Tinner W, Tryterud E, Wick L, Willis KJ. Holocene biomass burning and global dynamics of the carbon cycle. Chemosphere. 2002;49:845–63.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen I–C, Hill K, Ohlemüller R, Roy DB, Thomas CD. Rapid range shifts of species associated with high levels of climate warming. Science. 2011;333:1024–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clark DA, Brown S, Kicklighter DW, Chambers JQ, Thomlinson JR, Ni J, Holland EA. Net primary production in tropical forests: an evaluation and synthesis of existing field data. Ecol Appl. 2001;11:371–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis MB. Lags in vegetation response to greenhouse warming. Clim Change. 1989;15:75–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hicke JA, Allen CD, Desai AR, Dietze MC, Hall RJ, Hogg EH, Kashian DM, Moore D, Raffa KF, Sturrock RN, Vogelmann J. Effects of biotic disturbances on forest carbon cycling in the United States and Canada. Glob Chang Biol. 2012;18:7–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Högberg P, Read DJ. Towards a more plant physiological perspective on soil ecology. Trends Ecol Evol. 2006;21:548–54.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hu J, Moore DJP, Burns SP, Monson RK. Longer growing seasons lead to less carbon sequestration by a subalpine forest. Glob Chang Biol. 2010;16:771–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitzberger T, Brown PM, Heyerdahl EK, Swetnam TW, Veblen TT. Contingent Pacific-Atlantic Ocean influence on multicentury wildfire synchrony over western North America. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2007;104:543–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lambers H, Raven JA, Shaver GR, Smith SE. Plant nutrient-acquisition strategies change with soil age. Trends Ecol Evol. 2008;23:95–103.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lebreton P, Gallet C. Plant communities are biochemically organized. Acta Botanica Gallica (in French). 2007;154:573–95.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lipson D, Näsholm T. The unexpected versatility of plants: organic nitrogen use and availability in terrestrial ecosystems. Oecologia. 2001;128:305–16.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moore DJP, Trahan NA, Wilkes P, Quaife T, Stephens BB, Elder K, Desai AR, Negron J, Monson RK. Persistent reduced ecosystem respiration after insect disturbance in high elevation forests. Ecol Lett. 2013;16:731–7.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Norby RJ, Wullschleger SD, Gunderson CA, Johnson DW, Ceulemans R. Tree responses to rising CO2 in field experiments: implications for the future forest. Plant Cell Environ. 1999;22:683–714.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parmesan C, Yohe G. A globally coherent fingerprint of climate change impacts across natural systems. Nature. 2003;421:37–42.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reich PB, Grigal DF, Aber JD, Gower ST. Nitrogen mineralization and productivity in tree stands on diverse soils. Ecology. 1997;78:335–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saugier B, Roy J, Mooney HA. Terrestrial global productivity. San Diego: Academic; 2001. 573 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoennagel T, Turner MG, Romme WH. The influence of fire interval and serotiny on postfire lodgepole pine density in Yellowstone National Park. Ecology. 2003;84:2967–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thevenon F, Williamson D, Bard E, Anselmetti FS, Beaufort L, Cachier H. Combining charcoal and elemental black carbon analysis in sedimentary archives: implications for past fire regimes, the pyrogenic carbon cycle, and the human-climate interactions. Glob Planet Change. 2010;72:381–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vadeboncoeur MA. Meta-analysis of fertilization experiments indicates multiple limiting nutrients in northeastern deciduous forests. Can J Forest Res. 2010;40:1766–80.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Tuyl S, Law BE, Turner DP, Gitelman AI. Variability in net primary production and carbon storage in biomass across Oregon forests – an assessment integrating data from forest inventories, intensive sites, and remote sensing. For Ecol Manage. 2005;209:273–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varhola A, Coops NC, Weiler M, Moore RD. Forest canopy effects on snow accumulation and ablation: an integrative review of empirical results. J Hydrol. 2010;392:219–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vila M, Carrillo-Gavilan A, Vayreda J, Bugmann H, Fridman J, Grodzki W, Haase J, Kunstler G, Schelhaas M, Trasobares A. Disentangling biodiversity and climatic determinants of wood production. PLoS One. 2013;8, e53530.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek PM, Field CB. Ecosystem constraints to symbiotic nitrogen fixers: a simple model and its implications. Biogeochemistry. 1999;46:179–202.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Williams AP, Allen CD, Millar CI, Swetnam TW, Michaelsen J, Still CJ, Leavitt SW. Forest responses to increasing aridity and warmth in the southwestern United States. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2010;107:21289–94.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Further Reading

  • Box EL, Fujiwara K. Temperate forests around the Northern Hemisphere. Heidelberg: Springer; 2013. 280 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frelich LE. Forest dynamics and disturbance regimes: studies from temperate evergreen-deciduous forests. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2008. 280 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurz WA, Dymond CC, Stinson G, Rampley GJ, Neilson ET, Carroll AL, Ebata T, Safranyik L. Mountain pine beetle and forest carbon feedback to climate change. Nature. 2008;452:987–90.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Turner MG, Romme WH, Gardner RH. Prefire heterogeneity, fire severity, and early postfire plant reestablishment in subalpine forests of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Int J Wildland Fire. 1999;9:21–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wappler T, Labandeira CC, Rust J, Frankenhauser H, Wilde V. Testing for the effects and consequences of mid-Paleogene climate change on insect herbivory. PLoS One. 2012;7, e40744.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Natural Resources and the Laboratory for Tree Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    Russell K. Monson

Authors
  1. Russell K. Monson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Russell K. Monson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Natural Resources and the Environment and Laboratory for Tree Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

    Russell K. Monson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

Monson, R.K. (2014). Ecology of Temperate Forests. In: Monson, R. (eds) Ecology and the Environment. The Plant Sciences, vol 8. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7501-9_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation