DOI: 10.5061/dryad.12jm63z9f
title: Do harvest retention patches in the boreal forest emulate those resulting from wildfire? A comparison of understory vegetation a decade after disturbance

description: To sustain a breadth of ecosystem services, Ecosystem-based forest
 management (EBM) aims to reduce differences between managed and natural
 forests. Based on observed structural complexity of forests following
 natural disturbance, retention of forest structure at harvest is being
 implemented globally. Despite a decade of including retention patches in
 managed forests, it remains unclear if patches in forests disturbed by
 fire and harvest exhibit similar structural characteristics and
 biodiversity as intact forest. Such knowledge is critical within an
 adaptive management framework. We present the first study comparing
 understory vegetation of post-fire and post-harvest remnants in the
 boreal. A decade following disturbance, we examine forest structure and
 plant diversity in key locations of harvests and burns: the disturbed
 matrix, island remnants within the disturbance, adjacent undisturbed
 forest, and edges of these. We utilize a trait-based framework for plant
 diversity to test hypotheses about how traits vary in relation to
 disturbance type, environmental variables, and with variation in
 structure.  Edge effects were minor and didn’t differ between
 burns and harvests. Both harvest and wildfire remnants maintained
 understory communities and forest structure similar to adjacent forest,
 but remnant and reference areas exhibited some compositional differences
 between fire and harvest sites. Analysis of plant functional traits
 revealed similar patterns across burns and harvests, with colonization
 traits associated with disturbed areas, while persistence traits were
 associated with island remnants.  Synthesis and applications: The
 similarity of the understory community and forest structure of island
 remnants to adjacent reference forest in burned and harvested areas
 suggests remnants are effective reservoirs of undisturbed forest. This
 provides evidence that implementation of aggregated retention at harvest
 helps achieve a key objective of retention, i.e. maintaining structural
 heterogeneity to support biodiversity.
description: # Do harvest retention patches in the boreal forest emulate those
 resulting from wildfire? A comparison of understory vegetation a decade
 after disturbance Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.12jm63z9f](10.5061/dryad.12jm63z9f) ## Description of the
 data and file structure This datset contains the data needed to replicate
 the analyses in Schneider et al. (in review), examining the vascular
 understory plant composition and forest structure of post-harvest and
 post-fire island remnants in the Boreal forest of Alberta. Data collected
 includes plant cover data, leaf trait data, and tree measurements and also
 includes trait data sourced from the TOPIC and TRY databases.    ### Files
 and variables #### File: Species\_Codes.csv **Description:** A list of
 species codes (column A) and their associated Latin Binomial (column B)
 #### File: Trait\_Site\_Data.csv **Description:** Dataset with explanatory
 forest structure variables to be used in the fourth corner analysis #####
 Variables * BADR: Ratio of living tree basal area to basal area of
 recently dead trees. Empty cells indicate the measurement was either not
 collected or not applicable for analysis in this plot type. * CONBAAR:
 Ratio of living coniferous tree basal areal to living deciduous tree basal
 area. Empty cells indicate the measurement was either not collected or not
 applicable for analysis in this plot type. * canopy: Canopy cover
 (%). Empty cells indicate the measurement was not collected in the plot
 type. * BAA: Basal area of living trees (m^2/ha). Empty cells indicate the
 measurement was either not collected or not applicable for analysis in
 this plot type. * olayer: Thickness of the soil organic layer (cm) *
 litter: Ground cover of leaf litter (%) * saps: Number of saplings
 (stems/ha). Empty cells indicate the measurement was either not collected
 or not applicable for analysis in this plot type. #### File:
 Trait\_Data.csv **Description:** Dataset with trait variables for vascular
 understory species to be used in the fourth corner analysis #####
 Variables * raunkier: Raunkiaer life form. Categorized as: ch,
 **chamaephyte**; g, **geophyte**; h, **hemicryptophyte**; mc,
 **micro-phanerophyte**; mg, **mega-phanerophyte**; t, **therophytes** *
 lateral extension: Categorized by distance of lateral spread: **0**,
 absent; **1**, limited; **2**, extensive (non-phanerophyte); **3**,
 phanerophyte intermediate; **4**, phanerophyte extensive *
 resprouting: Resprouting capability **present: 1**; **absent 0** * seed
 production: **1**, few; **2**, some; **3**, abundant * height: Maximum
 plant height (cm) * seed weight: Weight of 1000 seeds in grams *
 SLA: Specific leaf area with petioles, cm2 g-1 * reproduction: **s**,
 reproduces only by seed; **svp**, reproduces primarily by seed, some
 vegetative reproduction; **vp,** reproduces primarily vegetatively *
 foliage: **de**, decumbent or prostrate stem; **e**, erect leaves; **el,**
 erect leafy stem; **fa**, arched stem; **g**, graminoid leaves; **me**,
 mono stem erect phanerophyte; **ms**, mono stem spread out; **mu**,
 multi-stem; r, rosette; **sr,** semi-rosette; **um**, umbel-shaped stem;
 **vi**, vine #### File: Trait\_Species\_Data.csv **Description:** Dataset
 with vascular understory species covers to be used in the fourth corner
 analysis ##### Variables * location: Unique code for each plot. First
 three letter represent region, net two numbers represent site within
 region, next two letters represent plot location * All other variables are
 cover of species (%).  Species codes are detailed in the species code
 spreadsheet #### File: ordination.csv **Description:** Data required to
 replicate PerMANOVA and NMDS analyses.  ##### Variables * location: Unique
 code for each plot. First three letter represent region, net two numbers
 represent site within region, next two letters represent plot location *
 region: Six regions, three harvest, three fire * color: Six level factor,
 a combination of disturbance type and location (disturbed, island,
 reference) * treat: Twelve level factor, a combination of disturbance type
 (fire/harvest) and plot location (DE,DI,IE,II,RE,RI) * f1: Two level
 factor representing disturbance type (fire/harvest) * f2: Three level
 factor representing location (disturbed, island, reference) * f3: Two
 level factor representing edge or interior plots #### File:
 Linear\_Models.csv **Description:** Data Necessary to replicate any mixed
 effect linear models ##### Variables * location: Unique code for each
 plot. First three letter represent region, net two numbers represent site
 within region, next two letters represent plot location * site: An
 identifier for site, a grouping of six plots located within an island
 remnant (x2), the adjacent disturbance (x2), an unharvested reference site
 (x2) * disturbance: Two level factor representing disturbance type
 (fire/harvest) * region: Six regions, three harvest, three fire * plot:
 Six level factor, plot location within the site (DE,DI,IE,II,RE,RI)   *
 cov: Total cover of vascular understory plants (%) * rich: Number of
 unique vascular understory plant species in the plot * shann: Hill
 diversity, derived from Shannon’s entropy * grass: Cover of graminoids in
 the understory (%) * shrub: Cover of shrubs in the understory (%) *
 forb: Cover of forbs in the understory (%) * olayer: Thickness of the soil
 organic layer (cm) * litter: Ground cover of leaf litter (%) * saps:
 Number of saplings (stems/ha) * RCV: Volume of recently dead downed trees
 (m^3/ha). * RTV: Volume of recently dead downed trees and recently dead
 standing trees (m^3/ha). Empty cells indicate the measurement was either
 not collected or not applicable for analysis in this plot type. * canopy:
 Canopy cover (%). Empty cells indicate the measurement was either not
 collected or not applicable for analysis in this plot type. * RSV: Volume
 of recently dead standing trees (m^3/ha). Empty cells indicate the
 measurement was either not collected or not applicable for analysis in
 this plot type. * BAA: Basal area of living trees (m^2/ha). Empty cells
 indicate the measurement was either not collected or not applicable for
 analysis in this plot type. * RBADR: Ratio of living tree basal area to
 basal area of recently dead trees. Empty cells indicate the measurement
 was either not collected or not applicable for analysis in this plot type.
 ## Access information Trait data was partially acquired from the from the
 following sources: * TOPIC database: Aubin, I., Messier, C., Gachet, S.,
 Lawrence, K., McKenney, D., Arseneault, A., Bell, W., De Grandpré, L.,
 Shipley, B., Ricard, J.-P. & Munson, A.D. 2012. TOPIC - Traits of
 Plants in Canada. [Internet] Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest
 Service, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada [Cited date] Available from:
 [https://natural-resources.canada.ca/science-data/science-research/research-centres/topic-network-traits-plants-canada-database-topic-canadian-repository-invertebrate-traits-trait-ecological-records-critter](https://natural-resources.canada.ca/science-data/science-research/research-centres/topic-network-traits-plants-canada-database-topic-canadian-repository-invertebrate-traits-trait-ecological-records-critter). - TRY database: Kattage, J., Boenisch, G., Diaz, S., Lavorel, S., Prentice, I. C., Leadley, P., Tautenhahn, S., Werner, G., & et al. (2020). TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access. *Global Change Biology*, *26*(1), 119–188.