Stand structure and growth form of the birch transition community in an industrially damaged ecosystem, Sudbury, Ontario

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Abstract
The anthropogenic birch transition community has developed in the vicinity of Sudbury, Ont., as a result of base-metal mining and smelting, logging, and forest fires over the past century. This study investigates the floristic composition and structure of an exposed ridge site and a protected woodland site in this community, a coppice woodland dominated by Betulapapyrifera Marsh. and Acerrubrum L. For convenience in the field, vegetation was classified into growth forms I to V on the basis of morphological development and stem diameter to separate multiple-stemmed stools from single-stemmed individuals and seedlings from saplings of seedling size but older than 1 year. The ridge was dominated by small stools (growth form II) of B. papyrifera, whereas both large stools (growth form I) and small stools of B. papyrifera and A. rubrum characterized the woodland. No A. rubrum and only a few B. papyrifera seedlings became established at the ridge. Seedlings that survive develop into growth form II while still less than 1 m high. At the woodland, regeneration also was low, but A. rubrum seedlings were more frequent than those of B. papyrifera. Lack of seedlings, the persistence of coppicing, and periodic crown dieback maintain this coppice woodland in its present form so that little change with time is expected.

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