Temporal patterns of forest seedling emergence across different disturbance histories data

Forest ecosystems experience a myriad of natural and anthropogenic disturbances that shape ecological communities. Seedling emergence is a critical, preliminary stage in the recovery of forests post-disturbance and is triggered by a series of abiotic and biotic changes. However, the long-term influence of different disturbance histories on patterns of seedling emergence is poorly understood.

Here, we address this research gap by using an 11-year dataset gathered between 2009 and 2020 to quantify the influence of different histories of natural (wildfire) and anthropogenic (clearcut and post-fire salvage logging) disturbances on emerging seedlings in early successional Mountain Ash forests in south-eastern Australia. We also describe patterns of seedling emergence across older successional forests varying in stand age (stands that regenerated in <1900s, 1939, 1970-90 and 2007-11).

Seedling emergence was highest in the first three years post-disturbance. Stand age and disturbance ...