Forest dynamics after thinning and fuel reduction in the Pringle Falls Experimental Forest : establishment and early observations of the Lookout Mountain Thinning and Fuels Reduction Study / Lorelle M. Sherman, Paul D. Anderson, and Christopher J. Fettig, technical editors.

Format:

Book

Government document

Contributor:

Sherman, Lorelle M.

Anderson, Paul D.

Fettig, Christopher J.

Audley, Jackson P.

Mortenson, Leif A.

Smith, Jane E.

Lorenz, Teresa J.

Jusino, Michelle A.

Singleton, P. (Peter)

Lehmkuhl, John F.

Burnett, Jonathon

Pacific Northwest Research Station (Portland, Or.), issuing body.

Series:

General technical report PNW ; 1015.

General technical report PNW ; GTR-1015

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Forest dynamics--Oregon.

Forest dynamics.

Forest thinning--Oregon.

Forest thinning.

Fuel reduction (Wildfire prevention)--Oregon.

Fuel reduction (Wildfire prevention).

Genre:

Online resources.

technical reports.

Technical reports

Technical reports.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (165 pages) : illustrations (some color), maps (some color)

Place of Publication:

Portland, OR : United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, August 2023..

Summary:

"The Lookout Mountain Thinning and Fuels Reduction Study is an operational-scale, long-term management experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of silvicultural treatments to mitigate fire risk and the associated implications for ecological processes and functions. The study is being conducted within the Pringle Falls Experimental Forest, which encompasses about 1019 ha of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and mixed-conifer forest originating predominantly from an 1845 wildfire. Study treatments include four levels of overstory thinning, each followed by mastication of understory vegetation and broadcast burning, and an untreated Reference. Thinning treatments target residual tree densities of 50, 75 or 100 percent of the upper management zone (UMZ) and a fourth treatment targeting 75 percent UMZ with gap openings (75 UMZ + Gaps). Treatments were assigned to experimental units in a randomized block design. The study treatments were implemented between 2011 and 2015 in a series of three sales using a combination of conventional timber sale and stewardship contracts. The detection of a pair of nesting northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) and litigation complicated implementation. Court rulings determined that the proposed experimental activities addressing research questions stated in the project purpose and need could fall outside of standard practices employed on other National Forest System lands. The nesting spotted owls were accommodated by establishing a no-treatment buffer around the nest site, reconfiguring some treatment unit boundaries, and eliminating of one replication of the 75 UMZ + Gaps treatment. Initial posttreatment observations indicate that the thinning treatments resulted in stands that compositionally shifted to ponderosa pine dominance with increased average stem diameter. Target basal area densities were met within 88.5 to 180.9 percent. Target stand density indices were met within 51 to 193 percent. Thinning and fuel reduction treatments resulted in decreased shrub and subshrub cover and increased diversity of understory plant species. Posttreatment tree mortality from bark beetles occurred at low frequency and is not expected to confound the reduction of landscape-scale risk, the primary objective of the thinning and fuels reduction treatments. Thinning treatments combined with understory burning resulted in a fivefold increase in woodpecker nest occurrence, suggesting a positive response by cavity excavators. Soil heating experiments demonstrated that the occurrence of extreme soil heating is harmful to soil microorganisms and organic matter-derived nutrients. Understory microclimate varied geospatially in relation to physiography and residual overstory density. Presumed future overstory canopy densification arising from crown expansion will likely further mediate understory temperatures through decreasing incoming solar radiation and insolation of nighttime heat loss.Future monitoring will determine the timing of subsequent, repeated understory fuels reduction and longer term dynamics of vegetation composition and structure, wildfire risk, and ecological and biophysical performance."

Contents:

Chapter 1: Introduction / Lorelle M. Sherman and Paul D. Anderson

Chapter 2. Pringle Falls Experimental Forest Overview / Lorelle M. Sherman and Paul D. Anderson

Chapter 3. Treatments and Layout / Lorelle M. Sherman and Paul D. Anderson

Chapter 4. Environmental Assessment and Northern Spotted Owl Adjustments / Lorelle M. Sherman and Paul D. Anderson

Chapter 5. Harvest and Fuel Contracts / Lorelle M. Sherman and Paul D. Anderson

Chapter 6. Harvest and Prescribed Fire Operations / Lorelle M. Sherman and Paul D. Anderson

Chapter 7. Core Vegetation Study-Methods / Lorelle M. Sherman and Paul D. Anderson

Chapter 8. Core Vegetation Study-Early Observations / Lorelle M. Sherman and Paul D. Anderson

Chapter 9. Short-Term Responses of Bark Beetles to Thinning and Fuel Reduction / Christopher J. Fettig, Leif A. Mortenson, and Jackson P. Audley. Chapter 10. Combustion of Large Downed Wood: Temperature-Related Changes to Soil Nutrients and Microbes / Jane E. Smith, Ariel D. Cowan, and Stephen A. Fitzgerald. Chapter 11. Fungal Communities in Woodpecker Cavities: Preliminary Results from Posttreatment Woodpecker Surveys and Fungal Sequencing / Teresa J. Lorenz and Michelle A. Jusino. Chapter 12. Summary of Impacts of Experimental Thinning and Fuel Reduction Alternatives on Prey Species of the Northern Spotted Owl / Peter Singleton and John F. Lehmkuhl. Chapter 13. Landscape Understory Microclimate Responses to Overstory Thinning and Understory Fuel Reduction Treatments / Paul D. Anderson and Jonathan Burnett. Chapter 14. Summary and Future Work / Lorelle M. Sherman and Paul D. Anderson.

Notes:

"August 2023."

Includes bibliographical references.

Online resource, PDF version; title from title page (USFS, viewed August 14, 2023).

OCLC:

1393435266