Tree uprooting: review of impacts on forest ecology

This paper reviews the ecological effects of tree uprooting. In many forests, disturbance by uprooting is the primary means of maintaining species richness and diversity. Treefall may be due to exogenous factors or it may be endogenously created, although the former predominate. The canopy gap formed by downed trees is often vital to community vegetation dynamics and successional pathways, by providing high light niches (gaps) for pioneer...