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Holocene dynamics of an eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) forest site at the northern range of the species limit

Summary

Published in The Holocene, 25: 1246-1256. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683615580863

Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is a shade-tolerant tree species of the temperate conifer-hardwood forests of northeastern North America, the northern distribution limit of which coincides with the St. Lawrence River around Québec City (Canada). We analyzed the structure and dynamics of one of the very few old-growth hemlock stands in this area to evaluate its successional status at the Holocene scale. To document the origin and long-term development of the hemlock site, we used conventional forest surveys and macrofossil analysis of woody debris and charcoal pieces at the soil surface and buried in the mineral soil. ‘Rivière-du-Moulin hemlock forest’ is an old-growth forest, at least 1000-years-old, the structure of which has been rejuvenated by recurrent surface fires killing most plants of the shaded forest floor and facilitating hemlock regeneration. According to the number of fires and the corresponding fire intervals, the hemlock site has experienced a sustained fire regime since the mid-Holocene. It first developed as a hardwood forest where beech (Fagus), butternut (Juglans) and birch (Betula) grew, and then for the last 2400–2100 years as a conifer forest where hemlock prevailed during a large part of the period. Our data highlight the influence of fire on the dynamics of hemlock-hardwood stands, a forest ecosystem generally viewed as being controlled by local light and medium canopy-gap disturbances. Soil charcoal analysis of conifer-hardwood forests may be used concurrently with canopy-gap analysis to decipher the influence of stand-scale disturbances and to calculate better forest turnover at several time scales.

Sector(s): 

Forests

Categorie(s): 

Scientific Article

Theme(s): 

Forest Ecology, Forestry Research

Departmental author(s): 

Couillard, Pierre-Luc

Author(s)

PAYETTE, Serge, Vanessa PILON, Pierre-Luc COUILLARD and Mathieu FRÉGEAU

Year of publication :

2014

How to get the publication :

PDF available upon request. Available at the Direction des inventaires forestiers

Keywords :

charcoal, fire history, gap, Holocene, old-growth forest, Tsuga canadensis, woody debris

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