The increasing human demands on natural resources, in combination with uncertainties about ecosystem dynamics due to global change, has led the scientific community to conclude that new approaches in understanding of ecological systems are needed to tackle environmental issues in an efficient manner. One development that has received more attention...
A trait based approach was used to assess impacts of overstory density and thinning on understory vegetation components related to wildlife habitat. The relationship between overstory basal area and understory vegetation for species grouped by traits, such as production of flowers, fleshy-fruit and palatable leaves, was characterized in thinned and...
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Klaus J. Puettmann
A trait based approach was used to assess impacts of overstory density
The contribution of delayed adaptive reiteration to crown maintenance was explored across a wide range of adjacent open space conditions in early-mature (approximately 60 year old) Douglas-fir located on the eastern slope of Oregon’s Coast Range. The stands had experienced uniform thinning in 1964-65 and 1980-81 to release dominant and...
Small, private forestland owners own about 12% of Oregon’s forestland and have the unique ability to implement innovative forest management activities. In southwest Oregon, extreme ecological variability occurs over small spatial scales and requires fine-scale silvicultural treatments that match the precise ecological setting and management objectives of the forests in...
Since the early 1900s, widespread agricultural abandonment has occurred in western New York leading to a general increase in forested areas through old-field succession. Even-aged stands typically follow these large-scale disturbances, resulting in a pattern of development with identifiable stages (Oliver 1980). At each stage, changes in vegetation dynamics encourage...
When Douglas-fir and red alder grow in mixture, interactions between the two species can be competitive, facilitative, or a combination of both over time. A number of factors have recently led to increased interest in managing these two species together for commercial production, and ongoing investigations are yielding important information...
The increased interest in red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) management instigated research in growth and yield and stand development of red alder in pure and mixed red alder/Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) stands. This study had the goa1s of evaluating the accuracy of the currently existing growth and yield tools...
The objective of this dissertation was to examine trade-offs and synergies between multiple ecosystem services derived from plantation forests in the coastal Pacific Northwest. I accomplished this in five chapters. In the first chapter I provided background information for the study. In the next chapter I set the context for...
Forest management is rapidly undergoing a transformation from a discipline based on efficient commodity production to one for multiple uses, especially on federally managed land in the United States. This new management paradigm has challenged silviculturists to develop and adapt forest management techniques that can deal with increased demands. Using...
This study characterized the nature and dynamics of interference in mixed red alder
(Alnus rubra Bong.)/Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) stands in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Long-term spatial and tree measurements from the Cascade Head (CH) and H.J. Andrews (HJA) Experimental Forests in western Oregon and Delezene Creek (DC), Washington...
Across western Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, forest management practices over the past century reduced the amount of late-successional forest while
simultaneously increasing the amount of young (less than 80 years old), managed
Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) dominated forests. Recently, concerns over loss of late-successional habitat pushed management objectives on public...
Canopy gap formation is a major factor contributing to maintenance of overstory species diversity and stand structure in forests and may be integral to development of understory shrub and herb layers as well. Acknowledgement of gap formation as a fundamental feature of natural forests has led to consideration of gaps...
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Klaus J. Puettmann
Canopy gap formation is a major factor contributing to maintenance of
Reforestation-based restoration of severely burnt plantations is one of the primary management activities following wildfire on U.S. federal lands. Restoration effects on early-seral plant and cryptogam communities have not been documented. The objectives of this study were, in severely burnt plantations two to four years post-fire, to examine the: (1)...
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...
Bird-vegetation associations are a base for bird conservation and management, as well as for predictions of the effects of resource management and climate change on wildlife populations. A recent shift in forest management priorities from timber production to native species' habitat conservation on federal lands has emphasized the need to...
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Klaus J. Puettmann Matthew G. Betts
Bird-vegetation associations are a base for bird
Changes to disturbance regimes resulting from shifts in forest management practices have created novel landscape conditions in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). I analyzed the implications of changes to landscape conditions caused by forest management for the spread of a native root disease: black stain root disease (BSRD) of Douglas-fir. BSRD...
Recent shifts from clearcutting to partial retention harvesting on many ownerships and the importance of microclimate dynamics on biotic responses to regional climate highlight the need to understand how microclimate conditions in forest understories differ across gradients of partial overstories. This study compares below-canopy near-surface temperatures at 2cm above ground...
Parcellization of the rural landscape threatens the provision of social, ecological and economic benefits to society due to loss of economies of scale. A continued provision requires new approaches to forest management for multiple, interconnected goals. I used interviews, archival records and field measurements to learn how select, experienced owners...
Mohonk Preserve intends to manage their forestland more actively with the mission of promoting forest health, climate-adaptation, and overall ecosystem health for the benefit of their community and recreational users. Climate-adaptive management recommendations (recommendations that address climate change vulnerabilities —by promoting either resistance, resilience, or transition— while helping to meet...
The public concern for clearcutting in the United States in the 1970s pushed for changes in the natural resources policies. A facet of forest management that came under scrutiny was forest aesthetics. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess the impact of harvest designs on stand aesthetics using...
Members of the family Sciomyzidae, known as snail-killing or marsh flies, are unique amongst insects in that the vast majority of reared species feed exclusively on mollusks and as a result their biological control potential has been well documented in the scientific literature. However, in North America there is a...
Knowledge of stand structure, stand dynamics, and production ecology of species mixtures lags well behind that of single-species, even-aged stands. Two mixed-species spacing trials in central Oregon allowed investigation of mixed-species dynamics in a controlled experimental setting. The first site, Pringle Butte, is a mixture of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa...
Soil is the largest terrestrial store of carbon (C) making it a critical component of the global C cycle. To model global carbon budgets more accurately we need to understand dynamics and turnover of the many different functional soil C pools that exist in soil. Many different methods are used...
Winter squash is an important late winter vegetable crop for local and regional markets; however, farmers in western Oregon report that this crop is marginally profitable due to losses in storage and relatively low yields for the high culinary value kabocha and buttercup types. In order to increase the sales...
Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are medium sized mustelids endemic to North America. Two fisher populations persist in Oregon: an indigenous population in southwestern Oregon, and a reintroduced population in the southern Cascade Mountains. Despite candidacy for listing under the Endangered Species Act, current information on fisher populations in Oregon is scarce....
In response to concerns about excessive stand densities and high-severity wildfires, land managers in the western United States are carrying out extensive programs of fuel reduction thinning. How will these sudden reductions in canopy cover and associated changes in habitat affect native and exotic herbaceous vegetation and canopy species regeneration?...
The Demonstration for Ecosystem Management Options (DEMO) study originated out of the changing management priorities associated with federal forest lands in the Pacific Northwest which included an objective to maintain mature and old-growth forest characteristics in managed stands. The DEMO project examines the effects that different levels and patterns of...
The interactive impact of overstory canopy closure, understory brush control, and simulated white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann) herbivory (i.e., clipping) on growth and survival of underplanted white pine (Pinus strobus L.) seedlings was examined. Clipping was conducted in April 1996 and 1997 at three intensities (control, 0% previous year’s growth...
Silvicultural regimes that aim at an increased stand structural diversity typically promote small-scale heterogeneity in horizontal and vertical structures, e.g. through the creation of gaps. We used terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) to investigate impacts of altered growing conditions on trees adjacent to artificial gaps as compared to responses of trees...
Snags and hardwoods contribute to biological, structural, and functional diversity in old-growth forests. In the US Pacific Northwest, only general knowledge about regional patterns is available to determine target density of snags and hardwood trees. To investigate their variability at relevant scales for silviculture, we examined snag and hardwood densities...
Although science is widely accepted as a fundamental source of information underlying decisions about forest management and conservation, considerably less attention has been paid to the inevitable role that normative values and beliefs play in such decisions. This thesis highlights the normative dimensions of "ecological forestry," a strategy of forest...
Since the 1930's, many fields on the Crooked River National grasslands have been seeded to crested wheatgrass (Agropyron desertorum). While some of these fields remain dominated by crested wheatgrass others had a greater presence of deep rooted native perennial grasses such as bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata). Twenty eight fields previously...
The sustainable use of wood for rail ties requires chemical treatment to increase service life and maintain structural integrity. Treatment can only be applied after lengthy air-seasoning to reduce moisture content in wood, but seasoning leaves ties exposed to attack by decay fungi for up to a year. One factor...
School garden programs have become increasingly popular for their diverse, positive benefits. School gardens are often promoted as a relatively low cost means to offer hands-on learning opportunities that may foster academic achievement, particularly in the sciences, however only six studies have been published on the impact of garden education...
We examined the potential of using upslope density management to influence growth and drought tolerance of trees in untreated downslope riparian forests. Increment cores from Douglas-fir trees in three mature stands in western Oregon, USA, were collected and measured. Trees responded to an apparent edge effect up to 15 m...
Forested riparian buffer zones are used in conjunction with upland forest management, in part, to provide for the recruitment for large wood to streams. Small headwater streams account for the majority of stream networks in many forested regions. Yet, our understanding of how riparian buffer width influences wood dynamics in...
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streams
Julia I. Burton1*, Deanna H. Olson2 and Klaus J. Puettmann
Table A.1. Alternative models
Western forests have become increasingly fragmented landscapes dominated by young stands. Given that western Oregon forests largely consist of headwater systems, there is a need to better understand how headwater forest taxa and their habitats are impacted by forest management practices. Several amphibian species associated with forested headwater systems have...
Quantitative associations between animals and vegetation have long been used as a basis for conservation and management, as well as in formulating predictions about the influence of resource management and climate change on populations. A fundamental assumption embedded in the use of such correlations is that they remain relatively consistent...
We evaluated effects of top-soil scarification by heavy machinery on growth of two valuable and shade-intolerant tree species - Nothofagus dombeyi (evergreen and considered very plastic to different soil fertility levels) and Nothofagus alpina (deciduous and considered sensitive to soil fertility) - seedlings underplanted in Nothofagus old-growth forests subjected to...
We examined natural regeneration following operational-scale variable density retention treatments in 40-60 year old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) forests at seven sites for a decade following treatment. Treatments included residual overstory densities of 300, 200, and 100 trees/ha, with leave islands and gaps of three sizes (0.1, 0.2, and...
Forest understory vegetation is influenced by broad-scale variation in climate, intermediate-scale variation in topography, disturbance and neighborhood interactions. However, little is known about how these multi-scale controls interact to influence observed spatial patterns. We examined relationships between the aggregated cover of understory plant species (%C[subscript U]) and multi-scale controls using...
Because forest ecosystems have the capacity to store large quantities of carbon
(C), there is interest in managing forests to mitigate elevated CO[subscript 2] concentrations and
associated effects on the global climate. However, some mitigation techniques may contrast
with management strategies for other goals, such as maintaining and restoring biodiversity....
Fuelwood harvesting can not only yield an income but also improve the quality of your woodlot at the same time. It can pay for the cost of removing undesirable trees.
Forested riparian buffer zones are used in conjunction with upland forest management, in part, to provide for the recruitment for large wood to streams. Small headwater streams account for the majority of stream networks in many forested regions. Yet, our understanding of how riparian buffer width influences wood dynamics in...
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), dedeolson@fs.fed.us
(D.H. Olson).
Julia I. Burton a,⇑, Deanna H. Olson b, Klaus J. Puettmann a
aDepartment
Mortality from Armillaria root rot is a major concern of forest management. Field experiments were conducted in Minnesota to evaluate interspecific differential susceptibility and to assess whether density or species composition, specifically the proportion of conifers in a plot, influences seedling mortality from Armillaria spp. Seedlings of 10 tree species...
We investigated impacts of harvesting on soil disturbance and vegetation in the aspen cover type of northern
Minnesota, United States. The soil disturbance (resistance to penetration) and understory vegetation were characterized
for 19 sites on five 60-m2 plots placed along a disturbance gradient: landings (high harvesting traffic), skid trails (intermediate...
There is concern that the conifer component of mixed conifer-deciduous forests in the Great Lakes region is on the decline, possibly the result of insufficient conifer regeneration. Limitations on conifer regeneration that occur during the first 18 months of seedling emergence and establishment were examined for Abies balsamea (L.) Mill....
Forested riparian buffer zones are used in conjunction with upland forest management, in part, to provide for the recruitment for large wood to streams. Small headwater streams account for the majority of stream networks in many forested regions. Yet, our understanding of how riparian buffer width influences wood dynamics in...
Our diagram is intended to provide general guidance in density management of red alder. The management zone defines a reasonable compromise between individual-tree and stand growth and mortality. Factors considered in its formation include desired tree size at harvest, growth rate, and yield per acre. Social and legal constraints, as...
Many land managers in the Pacific Northwest have the goal of increasing late-successional forest structures. Despite the documented importance of Douglas-fir tree bark structure in forested ecosystems, little is known about factors influencing bark development and how foresters can manage development. This study investigated the relative importance of tree size,...