Hello everyone! I'm looking for information about edge effect and I want to start reading the pillars about this topic, especially its influence on the vegetation structure and environmental variables.
I would suggest looking into some of the US Forest Service research on edge effect on biodiversity and various species. I don’t remember the year that they reduced the size of forest clear cuts to 80 acres, and sometimes less, to help reduce effects of fragmentation. I think this was in the 1970s approximately. Small clear cuts or group selection can increase edge as compared to large clearcuts. Small clear cuts or group selection are less likely to have permanent roads, another biodiversity and fragmentation issue. Not all edges are equal in their effects, and that is why the USFS used biologists, landscape architects, soil scientists, botanists and hydrologists to help evaluate the varying effects of activities. The information on large clear cuts was significant enough to limit their size in official regulations unless exceptions existed relative to critical species restoration. If you search on words clearcut, biodiversity, fragmentation and edge effect in forest ecosystems, and as well some of the USFS Research Stations were active in collecting this type information. Some undesired negative effects of dispersed, less intense activities and openings across the landscape can occur, such as if logging equipment are spreading non-native invasive species. Activities that drain or connect wetlands to streams can inadvertently connect rare wetland species habitats with aquatic species, resulting in habitat loss. Most research has found that in general, the riparian forest edge or buffer is among the most diverse and highest habitat and biodiversity value and productivity within the Forest landscape.
I would suggest looking into some of the US Forest Service research on edge effect on biodiversity and various species. I don’t remember the year that they reduced the size of forest clear cuts to 80 acres, and sometimes less, to help reduce effects of fragmentation. I think this was in the 1970s approximately. Small clear cuts or group selection can increase edge as compared to large clearcuts. Small clear cuts or group selection are less likely to have permanent roads, another biodiversity and fragmentation issue. Not all edges are equal in their effects, and that is why the USFS used biologists, landscape architects, soil scientists, botanists and hydrologists to help evaluate the varying effects of activities. The information on large clear cuts was significant enough to limit their size in official regulations unless exceptions existed relative to critical species restoration. If you search on words clearcut, biodiversity, fragmentation and edge effect in forest ecosystems, and as well some of the USFS Research Stations were active in collecting this type information. Some undesired negative effects of dispersed, less intense activities and openings across the landscape can occur, such as if logging equipment are spreading non-native invasive species. Activities that drain or connect wetlands to streams can inadvertently connect rare wetland species habitats with aquatic species, resulting in habitat loss. Most research has found that in general, the riparian forest edge or buffer is among the most diverse and highest habitat and biodiversity value and productivity within the Forest landscape.
The following article is a seminal work in the field of edge studies.
Harper, K.A., S.E. Macdonald, P. Burton, J. Chen, K.D. Brosofsky, S. Saunders, E.S. Euskirchen, D. Roberts, M. Jaiteh and P.-A. Esseen. 2005. Edge influence on forest structure and composition in fragmented landscapes. Conservation Biology. 19(3): 768-782
Also, Article A Meta‐Analysis of Forest Cover, Edge Effects, and Artificia...
Thanks, William! A little of what I've read so far, it's as you say: edge effect related to the way of habitat management. I will continue researching in that direction.
Thanks, Vishal and Andrew for the articles.
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