Patrick Horve

Borowczak

Bio 213

September 11, 2017

Field Trip Make-Up Essay

Forests are continually changing and adapting to multiple stimuli, both biotic and abiotic,

to create the large areas of wilderness that is customary to the Willamette Valley. Some of the

major abiotic factors that can affect the distribution of trees in the Willamette Valley is the

amount of water that is present in the soil. Even though the amount of moisture has a major

effect on the growth of forests, there are two other factors which can quickly change the

distribution of plants. Both forest fires and logging (clearcutting) can lead to significant changes

in distribution. After a significant loss event such as a fire or clearcutting, the area will go

through a process known as succession (Conserve-Energy-Future.com, 2017). Succession can be

broken into three stages: primary succession, secondary succession, and climax succession.

Primary succession is the establishment of a habitable soil in a formerly uninhabitable area such

as a rocky surface (Conserve-Energy-Future.com, 2017). Secondary succession is the

reestablishment of smaller shrubs and plants and eventually larger trees after a significant loss

event such as a fire (Conserve-Energy-Future.com, 2017). Lastly, climax succession is the final

stage in which a forest is a stable ecosystem barring a major event (Conserve-Energy-

Future.com, 2017). In this paper, we will examine the roles that typical Willamette Valley

(dogwood, western red cedar, chinquapin, Douglas-fir, western hemlock, and pacific yew) plants

play in the ever-changing ecosystem.

 When there is not a major disturbance in the forest ecosystem, the distribution will be

determined by the amount of moisture that is available in the soil. The plants that will most likely

be successful in more moist environments are the dogwood, western red cedar, western hemlock,

and the Douglas fir. Typically, these trees will adapt to the moister environment by having more

superficial roots (Verweij, 2014). Some trees adapted to these moist environments will either

grow very quickly and reproduce early in their life or grow very slowly to avoid any kind of

decay from occurring in their roots (Verweij, 2014). In contrast, the plants that are more adapted

to less moisture in the soil are the chinquapin and pacific yew. These trees are typically adapted

to more light and less moisture (Roberts, 2007). Trees that have similar characteristics will

typically have longer branches and large leaves to allow for maximum sunlight exposure

(Roberts, 2007).

When a major event, such as a fire, does occur, different plants will react to the loss of

environment differently. Dogwood and chinquapin are known to be some of the first trees that

will reappear after a major loss event (McKee, 2017) (Corey, 2005). Both of these species are

angiosperms. There are two significant reasons that these two angiosperms will have more

success than the other trees after a fire. First, angiosperms will typically have seeds that are more

protected from the environment around them (Hooper, 2004). Because the seeds have more

protection, they are able to survive for longer once they are dispersed from the original tree.

These seeds could be dispersed months or even years before a fire occurs. By the time of the fire,

the seeds could be in the ground, safe from the fire. Once other trees have been burned, the seeds

have easier access to water and will begin to sprout shortly after the fire. Other seeds would not

be able to last long enough to escape the fire. Similarly to the first reason, the seeds of these two

trees are often lighter than the other seeds and can be more easily spread by the wind (Hooper,
2004). This easier spreading means the seeds can reach more places than the other seeds.

Because the seeds are in more places, they have a higher chance of survival when there is a fire.

These two variations explain why the dogwood and chinquapin will often be some of the first

trees to return after a fire or logging incident.

Based on these adaptations, we can attempt to predict the distribution of trees after a

significant loss event. In the first 50 years after an event, we would expect the distribution to be

dominated by the faster sprouting plants that have already been discussed. Over the next 150

years, we would expect that the slower germinating trees such as the western red cedar, Douglas

fir, and western hemlock to catch up and begin to surpass the distribution of the developmentally

faster trees. By the time we reach 500 years after the disturbance event, we would expect that the

distribution would be fairly even with the possibility of the slower germinating plants gaining a

slight edge. One exception to these results would be the pacific yew. Even though the pacific

yew has seeds that would favor it to develop earlier, the yew does not do well in direct sunlight

(Bolsinger, 2007). Because of this, we would not expect to see thriving pacific yew until a

significant canopy has been formed by other trees. This leads us to believe that the yew would

not be present in significant numbers until at least the 150-year mark post disturbance. Based on

the data that we have found, both the environment and genotype have a major effect on the

distribution of plants.
 Works Cited

Bolsinger, Charles L, and Annabelle E Jaramillo. Pacific Yew. Taxus Brevifolia Nutt, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 2007,
www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/Volume_1/taxus/brevifolia.htm.

Gucker, Corey L. Cornus Nuttalli. In: Fire Effects Information System. Species: Cornus
Nuttallii, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research
Station, 2005, www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/cornut/all.html.

Hooper, Elaine R., et al. Factors Affecting Community Composition Of Forest Regeneration In
Deforested, Abandoned Land In Panama. Ecology, vol. 85, no. 12, 2004, pp. 3313
3326., doi:10.1890/03-0655.

McKee, Arthur. Giant Chinkapin. Castanopsis Chrysophylia (Dougl-) A, 2017,

www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/castanopsis/chrysophylla.htm.

Rinkesh. Types and Stages of Ecological Succession. Conserve Energy Future, 24 Dec. 2016,
www.conserve-energy-future.com/types-and-stages-of-ecological-succession.php.

Roberts, Cassy. Taxus Brevifolia- The Pacific Yew. Taxus Brevifolia The Pacific Yew Home
Page, 2007, bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2011/roberts_cass/index.htm.

Verweij, Vincent, et al. Water-Loving Trees and Their Adaptations. Environment, 22 Sept.
2014, environment.arlingtonva.us/2014/09/water-loving-trees-and-their-adaptations/.