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Interacting Factors Driving a Major Loss of Large Trees with Cavities in a Forest Ecosystem

Overview of attention for article published in PLOS ONE, October 2012
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  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (98th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (98th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
11 news outlets
blogs
1 blog
twitter
6 X users

Citations

dimensions_citation
136 Dimensions

Readers on

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187 Mendeley
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Title
Interacting Factors Driving a Major Loss of Large Trees with Cavities in a Forest Ecosystem
Published in
PLOS ONE, October 2012
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0041864
Pubmed ID
Authors

David B. Lindenmayer, Wade Blanchard, Lachlan McBurney, David Blair, Sam Banks, Gene E. Likens, Jerry F. Franklin, William F. Laurance, John A. R. Stein, Philip Gibbons

Abstract

Large trees with cavities provide critical ecological functions in forests worldwide, including vital nesting and denning resources for many species. However, many ecosystems are experiencing increasingly rapid loss of large trees or a failure to recruit new large trees or both. We quantify this problem in a globally iconic ecosystem in southeastern Australia--forests dominated by the world's tallest angiosperms, Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans). Tree, stand and landscape-level factors influencing the death and collapse of large living cavity trees and the decay and collapse of dead trees with cavities are documented using a suite of long-term datasets gathered between 1983 and 2011. The historical rate of tree mortality on unburned sites between 1997 and 2011 was >14% with a mortality spike in the driest period (2006-2009). Following a major wildfire in 2009, 79% of large living trees with cavities died and 57-100% of large dead trees were destroyed on burned sites. Repeated measurements between 1997 and 2011 revealed no recruitment of any new large trees with cavities on any of our unburned or burned sites. Transition probability matrices of large trees with cavities through increasingly decayed condition states projects a severe shortage of large trees with cavities by 2039 that will continue until at least 2067. This large cavity tree crisis in Mountain Ash forests is a product of: (1) the prolonged time required (>120 years) for initiation of cavities; and (2) repeated past wildfires and widespread logging operations. These latter factors have resulted in all landscapes being dominated by stands ≤72 years and just 1.16% of forest being unburned and unlogged. We discuss how the features that make Mountain Ash forests vulnerable to a decline in large tree abundance are shared with many forest types worldwide.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 6 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 187 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Brazil 6 3%
United States 2 1%
Australia 1 <1%
France 1 <1%
Canada 1 <1%
Sweden 1 <1%
Unknown 175 94%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 35 19%
Researcher 34 18%
Student > Master 20 11%
Student > Bachelor 16 9%
Other 13 7%
Other 32 17%
Unknown 37 20%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Environmental Science 67 36%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 59 32%
Earth and Planetary Sciences 5 3%
Medicine and Dentistry 4 2%
Business, Management and Accounting 2 1%
Other 10 5%
Unknown 40 21%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 102. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 03 March 2022.
All research outputs
#360,016
of 23,257,423 outputs
Outputs from PLOS ONE
#5,255
of 198,790 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#1,852
of 173,780 outputs
Outputs of similar age from PLOS ONE
#79
of 4,540 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,257,423 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 98th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 198,790 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 15.2. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 173,780 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 4,540 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.