Forests are important to Oregon for their beauty as well as economic value, and Douglas fir trees are among the most common and important in the state. Managing and monitoring Oregon’s forests is imperative to ensure they can remain healthy and productive. One tool that helps forest scientists to understand...
An increase in frequency and severity of hot, dry summers has been associated with a dramatic shift in the coniferous forests of western Oregon’s valleys, especially on the privately-owned properties along the low-elevation edges of these valleys. Various conifer species, including Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), are declining in these forests, leaving...
Forest harvesting practices can expose mineral soils, decrease infiltration capacities of soils, disturb the stream bank and channel, and increase erosion and fine sediment supply to stream channels. To reduce nonpoint source sediment pollution associated with forest management activities and to maintain the high water quality typically provided from forests,...
This dataset consists of planted crop-tree growth metrics (Pseudotsuga menziesii), non-crop tree vegetation metrics, and foraging data for black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) and Roosevelt elk (Cervus canadensis rooseveli) collected from the Intensive Forest Management experiment, Oregon Coast Range, USA, 2011-2016. The objective of the experiment was to quantify the...
Estimating volume gains in genetically improved stands at rotation age is challenging because first-generation progeny tests in Douglas-fir were typically established to measure the relative growth performance of individual trees from open-pollinated parent trees. The overall goal of this dissertation research was to improve growth simulation of genetically improved Douglas-fir...
This work combines both applied and basic research regarding previously undescribed relationships between two ecologically and economically important insect groups in coniferous forests, bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) and wild bee (Hymenoptera: Apiformes) communities in Western North America. Across the continent, native bark beetle outbreaks are key drivers of structural...
In intensively managed forest plantations in the northern Oregon Coast Range, herbicides are often applied during site preparation and early stand regeneration to reduce competition for resources for planted conifer seedlings. In addition to reducing competition for crop trees, herbicide applications may affect soil processes including decomposition and nutrient cycling,...
There is a lack of fundamental knowledge about the role which adhesive flow and infiltration plays in the micro-mechanical performance of wood adhesive bonds. This data set, for the first time, provides a way to study directly the relationship between adhesive flow and the micro-mechanics of wood adhesive bonds.
Specimens...
Drought is expected to increase in many parts of the world and has been shown to affect tree physiology and growth, with seedlings being particularly vulnerable. Seedling drought responses are often species dependent, and even within species different populations may demonstrate a spectrum of responses to drought, from susceptibility to...
It is uncertain how predicted changes in climate will impact vegetation responses and plant species’ distributions because the physiological mechanisms underlying thresholds for damage are not well understood, and responses to stress vary by functional type and developmental stage. Thus, it is crucial to investigate physiological responses to heat and...
Forest soils contain a substantial portion of global terrestrial carbon stores. Forest management can influence the soil carbon pool and how soil organic matter functions. The long-term productivity of forests is an ongoing goal where land managers utilize biomass and timber. A site-specific understanding of intensively managed forests can ensure...
Policy regarding the management of public forests has undergone a drastic shift over the past couple of decades due to the loss old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the United States. For much of the 20th century, forest management on public lands emphasized timber production through the use...
Wood density is controlled to a large extent by the relative widths of earlywood and latewood in the stem, but the mechanisms controlling these amounts are poorly understood in coastal Douglas-fir. To understand the role of climatic factors, one hundred and thirty-six increment cores were collected and measured from the...
Forest soils and topography have long been known to influence forest productivity in complex terrain such as Oregon’s Coast Ranges. Incorporating physical site characteristics into predictions of forest growth and yield, however, has been problematic because of the high spatial variability of soil properties and the challenges associated with representing...
Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is a commercially and ecologically important tree species native to western North America. The foliar pathogens Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii, the causal agent of Swiss Needle Cast, and Rhabdocline species, the causal agents of Rhabdocline needle cast, are two important pathogens specific to Douglas-fir. These pathogens are highly influenced...
Invasive plants have the capacity to transform landscapes and alter ecosystem function, causing significant economic and ecological damage. These effects include displacement and reduction of native flora and fauna, altered fire regimes, modification of biotic and abiotic soil properties, as well as local, regional, and global economic impacts. With such...
Black bears (Ursus americanus) in western Oregon and Washington peel bark from conifers in early spring to forage on the sugar-rich phloem and cambial tissues. This provides important energy at a time when similarly attractive forage is scarce. Bears often damage Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) trees in stands that are intensively...
Accurate measurement of forest productivity is fundamental to understand the carbon balance of forested ecosystems. Recent changes in climate highlight the importance of developing methods to measure forest productivity so that sound economic and environmental decision can be made. Efforts to measure forest productivity across the landscape using remote sensing...
Forest growth and yield models are critical to supporting decision making in forestry, but often lack considerations for wood properties. The feasibility of simulating wood properties in the context of a Douglas-fir individual tree growth and yield model was evaluated. This assessment explored the effect of predicted sapwood width, stem...
The Douglas-fir beetle (Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins) can kill large numbers of Douglas-fir trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco) across a landscape during periods of population outbreaks. High-value individual trees and small stands can be protected from Douglas-fir beetle infestation during outbreaks by applying the anti-aggregation pheromone, MCH (3-methylcyclohex-2-en-1-one). MCH treatments are...