Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Comparison of stand development of a deciduous-dominated riparian forest and a coniferous-dominated riparian forest in the Oregon Coast Range

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/6969z4744

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  • Riparian forests in the central Oregon Coast Range vary along a coniferous-deciduous compositional continuum. Variations in structure and composition affect water quality, fish and wildlife, biodiversity, timber, and aesthetics. A retrospective approach was taken in this study in order to understand and compare the structure, pattern, and history of an unmanaged, mature, deciduous-dominated riparian forest and an unmanaged, mature, coniferous-dominated riparian forest in the central Oregon Coast Range. Information on forest structure and pattern was acquired by mapping locations of all trees and snags (DBH 5cm) within a 2.0 ha and a 2.25 ha reference stand. The history of each stand was reconstructed through analyses of stand structure and composition, tree ages, spatial patterns of trees and snags, as well as detailed field observations. The structure and composition of the two forests is very different. Non-random patterns of trees and snags were observed at multiple scales. Although it is not possible to infer directly the process(es) responsible for observed patterns, point-pattern analysis is a useful tool to detect and describe intra- and interspecific patterns. Neither forest resulted from a single, stand-replacing fire. Instead, both sites were at least partially burned about 145 years ago, possibly in the same fire(s) which spread across an estimated 500,000 acres between the Siuslaw and Siletz Rivers in the mid-1800's (Morris 1934). There is good evidence to suggest that a second fire occurred at the coniferous-dominated site. One or two other fires may have occurred at the deciduous-dominated site. Evidence of wind, herbivory, flooding, pathogens, mass movement events, and non-stand replacing fire was observed at one or both of the sites. Seed source availability as affected by disturbance history may have played a role in forest development at both sites. The seed source availability of red alder relative to Douglas-fir may have increased with successive disturbance events at the deciduous-dominated, riparian forest. A local source of western hemlock seed may have been a key factor in the development of the coniferous-dominated, riparian forest.
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