Forest spatial

structures

By- Sharon.J
 What is a forest
Forests are three-dimensional systems whose
biophysical structure plays an important role in
ecosystem functioning and diversity.
What is a forest spatial structure?
● Forest spatial structure or forest structure describes
the spatial relationships among different species in the
same forest community.
● In other words, it is the spatial distribution of tree
positions and their attributes.
● Forest spatial structure provides a more detailed
description of a forest and largely determines the
properties of the system as a whole, including total
biomass production, biodiversity, habitat functions,
and the quality of ecosystem services
The evaluation of forest structure thus informs us about
the following features-
● Distribution of tree attributes,
● Spatial distribution of tree species and their
dimensions, crown lengths and leaf areas.
● Facilitates a comparison between a managed and an
unmanaged forest ecosystem.
● Structural data also provide an essential basis for the
analysis of ecosystem disturbance, including harvest
events
 Four major components
Particularly important components of forest structure
include:
1. Tree size/age distribution
2. Vertical foliage distributions
3. Horizontal canopy distribution
4. Dead wood
 Tree size/Age distribution
● Size distribution of living trees is closely linked to
many other structural features (e.g. foliage
distribution, crown attributes) or the potential to
produce other features (e.g. dead wood of different
sizes).
● Size distribution and densities per unit area are used
to calculate growth and yield as well as make
decisions about harvesting or thinning forest stands.
● Size distributions are also related to important habitat
elements such as canopy layering and nest site
availability.
 Vertical foliage distribution
● Foliage layering or vertical foliage distribution is
another component of forest structure that plays
important roles in wildlife habitat, absorption of solar
radiation, and in the microclimate of the forest.
● Forests can have distinctive horizontal layers of
vegetation, but typically foliage is distributed more
continuously from the forest floor to the upper canopy
with peaks in the profile.
● During succession, forest foliage distributions tend to
increase in height and evenness.
● Evidence is mounting that other forest species such as
birds and epiphytic lichens also respond to this vertical
gradient of structure and microclimate.
● For example, vertical foliage diversity may facilitate
thermoregulation by northern spotted owls (Strix
occidentalis caurina).
● Epiphyitic lichen species are distributed at different
heights within multilayered Douglas-fir forests
 Horizontal canopy distribution
● Forests are horizontally structured into a mosaic of
different canopy densities and gaps.
● Because light is limited within most forest
systems,variation in foliage density plays important
roles in regeneration and understory development.
● Gaps contribute to spatial diversity, facilitate tree
regeneration, and enable herb and shrub species to
grow and reproduce within late-successional forests
 Dead wood
● Coarse woody debris plays many roles in forest
ecosystems, including wildlife and fish habitat, water
storage, nutrient cycling, and soil development.
● Its role in terrestrial and aquatic habitat is generally
understood.
● Many species of terrestrial vertebrates, invertebrates,
plants, and fungi use decaying wood as shelter, as
substrate, and as an energy source.
● In streams, dead wood helps create habitat complexity
for salmonids.
● The role of dead wood in site productivity is less clear
than its role as habitat.
● It can contribute nitrogen to soil ecosystems via
fixation; however, this contribution may be small
relative to other sources
● On dry sites, decayed wood may contribute structures
to the soil, increasing water holding capacities
 Importance of forest spatial
structure
Consequently, understanding forest structure can help
unlock an understanding of the history, function and
future of a forest ecosystem.
 The importance of structure is especially apparent in
coastal forests of northwestern part of North America
where trees can reach great heights and diameters.
 In these forests, structures play many roles in the
ecosystem, e.g. large leaf areas intercept radiation
and precipitation, gaps in dense canopies allow trees,
shrubs, and herbs to regenerate, and large live and
dead trees provide specialized habitats for many
species.
● Forest structure is shaped by natural forces such as
wind, fire, and succession.
● Increasingly, the structure of forests at stand and
landscape scales is controlled by forest management
● Managers have typically manipulated and restricted
variation in forest structure to maximize timber
outputs.
● However, as the range of forest structures becomes
limited, so does the diversity of wildlife habitat and
other values. Knowledge of patterns of variation in
forest structure over time and space can serve as the
basis of forest management strategies that seek to
sustain a broad array of forest goods and services
Forest structure affects
● productivity
● tree species diversity
● biological habitat
● determines the quality of forest ecosystem services
 Forest stand
Stand Structure refers to the overall “look” of the forest.
It is the “horizontal and vertical distribution of
components of a stand, including the height, diameter,
crown layers and stems of trees, shrubs, herbaceous
understory, snags and down woody debris”.
Forests can have a simple structure or they can be very
complex. Based on the range of ages among the different
levels of structure, forest stands are defined as
● even-aged
● two-aged
● uneven-aged.
● Horizontal structure is created by the placement of
trees and how close their crowns are to each other. A
collection of these crowns creates the canopy.
● Vertical structure is formed because trees and shrubs
in a forest will have different heights. So, two or more
layers of tree crowns can be found in forests. These
layers are called forest storeys or strata. The top-most
stratum is made of emergent trees; below them are
the canopy trees, which are usually present as a
continuous layer. The tree strata below them are called
the sub-canopy and the understorey. Next, close to the
ground could be shrubs, herbs, and grasses.
 Even-aged structure
● This stand has one distinct age and size class. (An age
class is comprised of trees within 20 years of age).
● They are often less diverse and composed of fewer
species than other structures.
● Most of the tree diameters come close to the average
stand diameter. A plantation provides an extreme
example of an even-aged structure.
 Two-aged stands
● Two-aged forest is made up of trees with two very
distinct ages in the same stand.
● Two-aged stands are often, but not always, a result of
human intervention and may be a temporary condition
as management works towards developing an even-
aged or uneven-aged stand.
● Structure within these stands will often have patchy or
partial overstory canopies with a well-defined second
story, or layer, of either pole timber or seedlings and
saplings.
 Uneven-aged structure
● This kind of stand has three or more age classes.
● This type of structure is a result of increasing species,
age- and size-class diversity within a stand.
● Different species grow at different rates, and a distinct
overstory canopy may no longer be recognizable.
● Each species or age class exhibits an average stand
diameter of its own, and smaller diameter classes may
contain more trees per acre than the next larger one.
● Uneven-aged stands are considered balanced when
they have three or more age classes occupying
approximately equal areas. When this is achieved, the
stand can be considered self-sustaining.
 Indices
● In recent decades, several methods and indices have
been widely developed to describe forest structural
attributes.
● From the perspective of mathematical terms, most of
these indices can be divided into two major groups:
 distance-independent measures
 distance-dependent measures
 Distance independent measure
● This group evaluates stand structure without any
spatial reference (e.g., Shannon index),
 Distance dependent measures
● These measures are used to describe the forest stand
structure at the stand level.
● However, the distance-dependent indices can provide
only the average status of the structure of a particular
forest and cannot be used to describe the great variety
of spatial arrangements
● especially in very complex and mixed uneven-aged
forests where the fine-scale structural characteristics
are highly variable
 Neighbourhood-based variables
● The three neighbourhood-based parameters regularity,
mingling and differentiation can be used to provide a
comprehensive description of the spatial structure of a
forest.
● Assessment and description may be tree- based or
point-based.
 Tree-based and Point-based
● In the tree-based approach a sample tree closest to a
sample point is chosen as reference tree and the
attributes of its immediate neighbours (size, species)
and the regularity of their positions are related to the
reference tree.
● In the point-based approach the structural attributes of
a neighbourhood group of trees (variation of tree
species and sizes; regularity of tree positions) is
assessed at each sample point
 Structure of forest
Consits of 4 layers-
● Emergent
● Canopy
● Understory
● Forest floor
 Emergent layer

This layer consists up of tall trees having straight

branches and pointed leaves. At the top of the tree is a
crown. Now, what is a crown.

Crown of Tree
Crown is the top part of the tree from which branches
grow above the stem. There are 8 types of crown on the
basis of shape such as Pyramidal crown: e.g. Deodar
cedar
As the trees in this layer are very tall, so they are always
in sunlight.
 Canopy

● Canopy is the outermost layer of the leaves formed by

an individual tree or by the group of trees.
● It restricts the sunlight and rains from getting into the
layers which are below the canopy. The leaves here
are broader and so on raining water drips from the
canopy to the forest floor.
● The rainwater drip slowly from canopy to the branches
of shrubs and herbs and then to the layer of decaying
organic matter. Reptiles, squirrels, bats and many
other birds reside here.
 Animals in canopy layer
● Many well-known animals including monkeys, frogs,
lizards, birds, snakes, sloths, and small cats are found
in the canopy.
 Understorey

● When the different size and types of crown form

horizontal layers in the forest is called as understorey.
● Giant and tall trees constitute the top layer followed
by shrubs and tall grasses, and herbs formed the
lowest layer.
● The sunlight in this layer is very less with algae, fungi
and mould on the trunk of the leaves. The insects like
the snake, butterflies, frogs, beetles reside in this
layer.
 Understorey animals
● The understory is home to smaller animals, insects,
and snakes. Some larger animals use the understory
layer for hunting. Geckos, bats, and boa constrictors
are some of the animals that make their home in the
understory layer.
 Forest floor
● Forest floor is covered with decaying organic matter
that acts like a sponge and helps in absorption of
rainwater.
● As compared to other layers, animals here are heavier
and large in size. Eg. Snakes, wild cats, lizards etc. The
root system of plants also helps water to seeps into
the soil.
● Interrelationships between plant, soil and
decomposers
● When plant and animal die, decomposer degrades
them and makes the soil fertile by adding humus to
the soil.
● Forest is made up of plants, soil and decomposers and
all of them are interconnected.
 References
● https://extension.unh.edu/goodforestry/html/2-2.htm

● https://
fennerschool-associated.anu.edu.au/mensuration/s_str
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p.
● https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/animals-and-nature/
habitats-and-ecosystems/canopy-layer/
● Frank, R.M., and J.C. Bjorkbom. 1973. A Silvicultural
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● Leak, W.B., D.S. Solomon, and P.S. DeBald. 1987.
Silvicultural Guide for Northern Hardwood Types in the
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● https://cid-inc.com/blog/the-forest-canopy-structure-rol
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● https://
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