Stand Changes

Stand re-initiation

denotes the beginning of

succession. Woody and foliage biomass steadily

increase during this stage. Another important

characteristic of this stage is that resources that

influence tree growth (e.g. light, water and

nutrients) are abundant relative to the other stages

of stand development

stem exclusion

marks the

onset of intense inter- and intraspecies competition

for limiting resources, resulting in mortality or self-

thinning. Foliage mass reaches a maximum near

the onset of this second stage - this is noteworthy

because foliage is the tissue that carries on

photosynthesis and is the primary tissue regulating

the growth of the forests. Foliage mass remains

relatively stable or decreases by 10-30% in the

older stages of stand development and this decline

may be responsible for decreased forest growth in

older forests 

understory re-initiation

characterized by renewed growth of the understory

in response to gaps in the canopy caused by tree

mortality

old-growth

the growth of these forests is often 10-70% less

than young forests in the stand re-initiation or stem

exclusion stages