Changes in understory vegetation with increasing stand age in New Brunswick forests: species composition, cover, biomass, and nutrients

Understory relationships were examined in 12 jack pine and 11 mixed hardwood stands representing a 7- to 57-year age sequence in New Brunswick. All stands were of fire origin. Percentage cover and frequency of vascular species and major mosses and lichens were presented for each stand. Accumulation of shrub layer and herb layer biomass and distribution of N, P, K, Ca, and Mg were also examined. The biomass showed maximum values in the 10- to 20-year period after fire: it then decreased and stabilized. Contribution of the understory biomass to the total ecosystem biomass ranged from 71–88% on 13-and 16-year-old jack pine stands to 1–6% on the older stands. Nutrient accumulation generally showed a similar pattern to biomass, but some differences occurred owing to variation in nutrient concentration. In particular, shrub layer K increased dramatically on the two oldest jack pine stands; this was postulated to be due to increased dominance of Pteridium aquilinum on these stands. Understory contribution to the total aboveground nutrient pool (tree + understory + forest floor) ranged from 25 to 65% on the younger stands and 5 to 31% on the older stands.