- College Station, Texas, United States
Charles Lafon
Texas A&M University, Geography, Faculty Member
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Question: Can fire be used to maintain Yellow pine (Pinus subgenus Diploxylon) stands disturbed by periodic outbreaks of southern pine beetle?Location: Southern Appalachian Mountains, USA.Methods: We used LANDIS to model vegetation... more
Question: Can fire be used to maintain Yellow pine (Pinus subgenus Diploxylon) stands disturbed by periodic outbreaks of southern pine beetle?Location: Southern Appalachian Mountains, USA.Methods: We used LANDIS to model vegetation disturbance and succession on four grids representative of xeric landscapes in the southern Appalachians. Forest dynamics of each landscape were simulated under three disturbance scenarios: southern pine beetle, fire, and southern pine beetle and fire, as well as a no disturbance scenario. We compared trends in the abundance of pine and hardwood functional types as well as individual species.Results: Yellow pine abundance and open woodland conditions were best maintained by a combination of fire and southern pine beetle disturbance on both low elevation sites as well as mid-elevation ridges & peaks. On mid-elevation SE-W facing slopes, pine woodlands were best maintained by fire alone.Conclusions: Our simulations suggest that fire can help maintain open pine woodlands in stands affected by southern pine beetle outbreaks.
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Major ice storms are significant forest disturbance agents and natural hazards in eastern North America. Studies of forest damage suggest that ice storm severity varies among topographic positions, but little climatic information is... more
Major ice storms are significant forest disturbance agents and natural hazards in eastern North America. Studies of forest damage suggest that ice storm severity varies among topographic positions, but little climatic information is available to evaluate fine-scale variations in ice storm climatology. Our study assesses the utility of tree-ring analysis for identifying fine-scale spatial patterns and long-term temporal variations in the frequency of major ice storms. We looked for ice storm signals in tree-ring chronologies of chestnut oak Quercus prinus L. and black oak Q. velutina Lam. at 2 sites in southwestern Virginia that were affected by known ice storms in 1979 and 1994. Radial growth of these species exhibits a dual response to ice storm disturbance. Trees with substantial canopy loss show reduced radial growth for several years following an ice storm. Other trees display increased growth due to the loss of competitors. We identified thresholds of ring-width increase and decrease that distinguished ice storms from other events, permitting a preliminary attempt to reconstruct ice storm history at each of the 2 study sites. For our Gap Mountain site, ring-width chronologies spanning the period 1914–1998 record apparent signals of major ice storms in 1920, 1979, and 1994. For the Walker Mountain site, our results suggest that during the period 1901–1998 the stand was affected by major ice storms in 1918 and 1994. This study suggests that dendrochronology provides a promising method for understanding fine-scale spatial patterns of ice storm disturbance in hardwood forests.
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... Jon Moen a * , David M. Cairns b & Charles W. Lafon b pages 77-87. ... View all references). A, mean tree height (m); B, mean diameter at breast height (cm). View larger version(219K), Figure 2. Krummholz... more
... Jon Moen a * , David M. Cairns b & Charles W. Lafon b pages 77-87. ... View all references). A, mean tree height (m); B, mean diameter at breast height (cm). View larger version(219K), Figure 2. Krummholz birch at treeline, Saarisälkä, Finland (Photo: Jon Moen). ...
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... In the bald ground, some pioneer species were planted, such as Masson pine (Pinus masso-niana), Taiwan acacia (acacia confusa), longleaf ... school of life sciences, sun Yat-sen University, guangzhou 510275, china, +86 20 84039571,... more
... In the bald ground, some pioneer species were planted, such as Masson pine (Pinus masso-niana), Taiwan acacia (acacia confusa), longleaf ... school of life sciences, sun Yat-sen University, guangzhou 510275, china, +86 20 84039571, lsspsl@mail.sysu.edu.cn), Yi-na Yu ...
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The southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis (Zimmerman) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) (SPB) is an indigenous invasive species that infests and causes mortality to pines (Pinus spp.) throughout the southern US. The hemlock... more
The southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis (Zimmerman) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) (SPB) is an indigenous invasive species that infests and causes mortality to pines (Pinus spp.) throughout the southern US. The hemlock woolly Adelgid, Adelges tsugae (Annand) (Homoptera: Adelgidae) (HWA), is a non- indigenous invasive species that infests and causes mortality to Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), and Carolina hemlock (T. caroliniana)
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Page 1. A Dendroecological Comparison of Three Red Spruce (Picea rubens) Populations Tarek A. Hijaz Department of Environmental Sciences University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 22903 Charles W. Lafon Department ...
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Research Interests: Geology and Geophysics
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Restoration planning, evaluation, and implementation are important in areas where abiotic disturbances (e.g., wildfires, hurricanes, and ice storms), biotic disturbances (e.g., outbreaks of native and exotic invasive pests and diseases),... more
Restoration planning, evaluation, and implementation are important in areas where abiotic disturbances (e.g., wildfires, hurricanes, and ice storms), biotic disturbances (e.g., outbreaks of native and exotic invasive pests and diseases), and anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., harvesting, planting, and fire exclusion) have altered forest landscapes. However, the effects of restoration practices are difficult to measure, and restoration goals often are unclear. Landscape
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This paper uses records of wildland fire to investigate the contemporary fire regime on federal lands in the central Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and West Virginia. During the study period (1970-2003), 1557 anthropogenic fires and... more
This paper uses records of wildland fire to investigate the contemporary fire regime on federal lands in the central Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and West Virginia. During the study period (1970-2003), 1557 anthropogenic fires and 344 natural fires occurred on these lands. Most were small, low-intensity burns. However, fires of moderate to high intensity also occurred, and because of their larger sizes they were responsible for most of the area burned. Fire size also differed between natural and anthropogenic fires (median size 1.2 ...
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... Harrod, JC, Harmon, ME, and White, PS (2000) Post-fire succession and 20th century reduction in fire frequency on xeric southern ... Chronology Series 6. Horn, SP, Kennedy, LM, and Orvis, KH (2001) Vegetation recovery following a high... more
... Harrod, JC, Harmon, ME, and White, PS (2000) Post-fire succession and 20th century reduction in fire frequency on xeric southern ... Chronology Series 6. Horn, SP, Kennedy, LM, and Orvis, KH (2001) Vegetation recovery following a high elevation fire in the Dominican Republic. ...
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LaFon*, C.W., M.A. Huston, and S.P.Horn. 2000. Effects of agricultural soil loss on forest succession rates and tree diversity in East Tennessee. Oikos 90: 431-441.
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Abstract Small Footprint LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) has been proposed as an effective tool for measuring detailed biophysical characteristics of forests over broad spatial scales. However, by itself LiDAR yields only a sample of... more
Abstract Small Footprint LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) has been proposed as an effective tool for measuring detailed biophysical characteristics of forests over broad spatial scales. However, by itself LiDAR yields only a sample of the true 3D structure of a forest. In order to extract useful forestry relevant information, this data must be interpreted using mathematical models and computer algorithms that infer or estimate specific forest metrics. For these outputs to be useful, algorithms must be validated and/or calibrated using a sub- ...
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ABSTRACT Forest tundra boundaries occur world wide in both Arctic and alpine locations and respond to changes in climate over both short and long time spans. The treeline environments of Fennoscandia are particularly sensitive indicators... more
ABSTRACT Forest tundra boundaries occur world wide in both Arctic and alpine locations and respond to changes in climate over both short and long time spans. The treeline environments of Fennoscandia are particularly sensitive indicators of climate change. Trees at these treelines are subject to herbivory by a variety of large and small animals, and recent studies have shown that herbivores may be limiting the ability of treeline to migrate upslope in response to climate change. However, the data are typically for small areas. In this paper, we present the results of a dendroecological study of mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) that encompasses a large portion of the Swedish Scandes in northern Sweden. Results are based on data from more than 4700 stems gathered at 65 sites in Norrbotten and Vasterbotten counties. Stems from small trees reveal the historical establishment of new individuals at the treeline, and data from large trees are used to detect outbreaks of the autumnal moth. These data indicate that historic autumnal moth outbreaks can be identified and that the effects of reindeer herbivory are equivocal. Data from mountain birch seedlings and saplings indicate that pulses in mountain birch establishment are influenced by both climate and herbivory. These results indicate that the response of both the pattern and location of the treeline should be interpreted as a complex interaction of both climate and herbivory.