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The pre-disturbance vegetation characteristics that predict carbon (C) cycling responses to disturbance are not well known. To address this gap, we initiated the Forest Resilience Threshold Experiment, a manipulative study in which more than 3600 trees were stem girdled to achieve replicated factorial combinations of four levels (control, 45, 65, and 85% gross defoliation) of disturbance severity and two disturbance types (targeting upper or lower canopy strata). Applying a standardized stability framework in which initial C cycling resistance to disturbance was calculated as the first-year natural log response ratio of disturbance and control treatments, we investigated to what extent pre-disturbance levels of species diversity, aboveground woody biomass, leaf area index, and canopy rugosity—a measure of structural complexity—predict the initial responses of subcanopy light-saturated leaf CO2 assimilation (Asat), aboveground wood NPP (ANPPw), and soil respiration (Rs) to phloem-disrupting disturbance. In the year following stem girdling, we found that above-ground C cycling processes, Asat and ANPPw, were highly resistant to increases in disturbance severity, while Rs resistance declined as severity increased. Disturbance type had no effect on first-year resistance. Pre-disturbance aboveground woody biomass, and canopy rugosity were positive predictors of ANPPw resistance and, conversely, negatively related to Rs resistance. Subcanopy Asat resistance was not related to pre-disturbance vegetation characteristics. Stability of C uptake processes along with Rs declines suggest the net C sink was sustained in the initial months following disturbance. We conclude that biomass and complexity are significant, but not universal, predictors of initial C cycling resistance to disturbance. Moreover, our findings highlight the utility of standardized stability measures when comparing functional responses to disturbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Disturbance effects on forest canopy structural complexity are poorly understood. • We synthesized the results of three forest disturbance manipulations. • Disturbance had variable effects on the temporal dynamics of structural complexity. • Moderate severity disturbance sometimes increased structural complexity. • Disturbance severity, source, and scale constrain temporal changes in complexity. The temporal dynamics of forest canopy structure are influenced by disturbances that alter vegetation quantity and distribution. While canopy structural indicators such as leaf area index (LAI), canopy cover, and canopy height have been widely studied in the context of disturbance, the post-disturbance temporal dynamics of structural complexity, which summarizes the heterogeneity of vegetation arrangement, are poorly understood. With the goal of advancing conceptual and empirical understanding of the temporal dynamics of structural complexity following disturbance, we synthesized results from three large-scale disturbance manipulation experiments at the University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS): the 4-year Forest Resilience Threshold Experiment (FoRTE) manipulating levels of disturbance severity; the decade-long Forest Accelerated Succession Experiment (FASET), in which all early successional tree species were stem-girdled within 39 ha in the same landscape; and forest chronosequences established following clear-cut harvesting. We found that the temporal dynamics of canopy structure following disturbance were dependent upon three factors: (1) the source and severity of disturbance; (2) the spatial and temporal scales of analysis; and (3) the measure of structure assessed. Unlike vegetation area index and canopy cover, which initially decreased in response to disturbance, structural complexity measures such as canopy and top rugosity did not consistently respond to moderate levels of disturbance severity. Over multi-decadal timescales, structural complexity increased to a maximum, regardless of whether fire occurred at the time of stand establishment, but intervening low-to-moderate severity disturbance in regrown century-old forests altered trajectories of canopy rugosity. We conclude that structural complexity indicators display a more nuanced temporal and directional response to disturbance than conventional leaf area and cover indexes. Predicting what disturbance conditions modify trajectories of structural complexity remains critical to disturbance characterization and the inference of ecosystem functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]