Fire-caused tree mortality in thinned Douglas-fir stands in Patagonia, Argentina

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria M. Godoy ◽  
Guillermo E. Defossé ◽  
Lucas O. Bianchi ◽  
Miguel M. Davel ◽  
Tomás E. Withington

In 2003 in a municipal park near Esquel, Patagonia, Argentina, plots within a 21-year-old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) afforested area were subjected to three silvicultural treatments (thinning to Reineke’s Stand Density Index (SDI) of 900, 700, 500). In March 2007 all plots were burned by a wildfire that presented extreme fire behaviour. Three weeks after the wildfire we assessed mortality, height of scorch and percentage of crown scorch, and during three subsequent growing seasons we measured mortality and growth parameters. At the end of the study, mortality differed significantly among treatments and an untreated control, and ranged from 100% in the untreated control to 25, 10 and 5% in the SDI 900, 700 and 500 treatments. The highest growth parameters and lower mortality rates were achieved at SDI indices of 700 or 500 (i.e. in the least dense plots). Trees thinned to these densities not only appear to withstand extreme fires, at least under the conditions presented, but also to achieve the highest growth rates.

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1058-1069 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Hood ◽  
Barbara Bentz

Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) were monitored for 4 years following three wildfires. Logistic regression analyses were used to develop models predicting the probability of attack by Douglas-fir beetle ( Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins, 1905) and the probability of Douglas-fir mortality within 4 years following fire. Percent crown volume scorched (crown scorch), cambium injury, diameter at breast height (DBH), and stand density index for Douglas-fir were most important for predicting Douglas-fir beetle attacks. A nonlinear relationship between crown scorch and cambium injury was observed, suggesting that beetles did not preferentially attack trees with both maximum crown scorch and cambium injury, but rather at some intermediate level. Beetles were attracted to trees with high levels of crown scorch, but not cambium injury, 1 and 2 years following fire. Crown scorch, cambium injury, DBH, and presence/absence of beetle attack were the most important variables for predicting postfire Douglas-fir mortality. As DBH increased, the predicted probability of mortality decreased for unattacked trees but increased for attacked trees. Field sampling suggested that ocular estimates of bark char may not be a reliable predictor of cambium injury. Our results emphasize the important role of Douglas-fir beetle in tree mortality patterns following fire, and the models offer improved prediction of Douglas-fir mortality for use in areas with or without Douglas-fir beetle populations.


2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 768-782 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven R Radosevich ◽  
David E Hibbs ◽  
Claudio M Ghersa

In the Pacific Northwest, a mixture of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) and red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) often results when red alder regenerates naturally in planted conifer stands. The relationships among stand structure, tree mortality, tree size, and understory development in the two species mixtures were explored at two sites for the first 16 years after planting. Treatments included a range of species proportions, and red alder was either planted simultaneously with Douglas-fir or planting was delayed for 5 years. Red alder was also removed from some simultaneously planted proportions. Both replacement effects (total stand density held constant) and additive effects (stand density doubled) of the interaction were considered. Red alder grew relatively better at Cascade Head Experimental Forest in the Coast Range, while Douglas-fir grew better at H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in the less temperate Cascade Mountains. Possible production benefits from mixed plantings were examined using two methods of calculation. Potential production benefits from certain planted proportions of the two species occurred at H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest. No planting time or species proportion resulted in yield improvements over monoculture stands at Cascade Head Experimental Forest. Understory species also varied because of differences in site and stand characteristics that resulted from the differences in planting times and species proportions.


1993 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 773-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Lilieholm ◽  
Winifred B. Kessler ◽  
Karren Merrill

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Moores ◽  
Klaus Puettmann ◽  
Doug Maguire

Abstract Silvicultural regimes are becoming more intensive in the US Pacific Northwest, incorporating a multitude of treatments over the length of the rotation. Therefore, there is a need to understand not only how individual treatments affect forest productivity, but also how these treatments interact to determine productivity. To help launch the Planted Forest Productivity and Value Enhancement Program at Oregon State University, an extensive literature search was conducted over 9 different classes of silvicultural treatments and 10 different categories of measured responses. The objective was to examine the scope of our current knowledge base about intensive silvicultural practices in the Pacific Northwest, particularly the mechanisms by which various treatment combinations or regimes control the productivity of coastal Douglas-fir stands. The literature, 1984 through 2004, shows that studies were more likely to focus on a combination of silvicultural treatments or practices if they were applied during similar times of stand development. Very little documented research addressed the interactive effects of treatments applied sequentially over the rotation. Although most studies monitored growth, yield, and tree mortality, fewer studies investigated environmental, physiological, and morphological responses that are key to understanding and predicting how both tested and untested silvicultural regimes will affect forest productivity.


2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory M. Filip ◽  
Stephen A. Fitzgerald ◽  
Kristen L. Chadwick ◽  
Timothy A. Max

Abstract Portions of a 30-year-old stand of ponderosa pine were precommercially thinned in 1966 and commercially thinned in 2000 at age 64 years to determine the effects of thinning from below on tree growth and mortality caused by Armillaria root disease in central Oregon. Thirty years after precommercial thinning, leave-tree mortality was significantly less in thinned plots than in unthinned plots, but leave-treeߝdiameter growth was not significantly increased by thinning. Leave-tree basal area (BA) per acre growth, however, was significantly greater in thinned plots.In 2007 at age 71 years, 7 years after commercial thinning of the same plots that were precommercially thinned in 1966, leave-tree mortality was less in thinned plots than in unthinned plots, but more time probably is necessary to adequately assess Armillaria-caused mortality after commercial thinning. Both tree diameter and BA growth were significantly increased by commercial thinning. Hypotheses on fungal-host dynamics are discussed, and recommendations for multiple thinning based on stand density index are given.


1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 121-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose F. Negron ◽  
Willis C. Schaupp ◽  
Kenneth E. Gibson ◽  
John Anhold ◽  
Dawn Hansen ◽  
...  

Abstract Data collected from Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) stands infested by the Douglas-fir beetle (Dendroctonus pseudotsugae) in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah, were used to develop models to estimate amount of mortality in terms of basal area killed. Models were built using stepwise linear regression and regression tree approaches. Linear regression models using initial Douglas-fir basal area were built for all study sites but produce low precision estimates. Regression tree models using initial Douglas-fir basal area or stand density index or both were also built for all sites. Regression tree models provide a more realistic approach to estimate potential mortality by creating more homogenous mortality classes with reduced variance. The models developed provide land managers with a basis for determining the potential mortality should a Douglas-fir beetle outbreak develop. West. J. Appl. For. 14(3):121-127.


2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 136-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory M. Filip ◽  
Helen M. Maffei ◽  
Kristen L. Chadwick ◽  
Timothy A. Max

Abstract In 2005, the 10-year effects of two silvicultural treatments (group-selection and shelterwood) on tree-growth loss and mortality caused by Armillaria ostoyae were compared with no treatment in a mixed-conifer forest in south-central Oregon. Ten years after treatment, Armillaria-caused mortality varied by species and was greatest in Shasta red fir (38% of trees per acre) and white fir (31%) and much less in Douglas-fir (3%) and ponderosa pine (0%). Ten years after harvesting, leave-tree mortality caused by Armillaria root disease was not significantly different in treated than in the unharvested units, nor was there significant diameter-growth response to the harvesting even in large ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir. The silvicultural treatments did have some benefits: (1) leave-tree mortality appeared, at least, not to be exacerbated by harvesting; (2) more disease-resistant pine, cedar, and larch seedlings and saplings survived in the shelterwood-harvest stands and group-selection openings than in comparable areas that were not harvested; and (3) living wood fiber was recovered from the treated stands, as well as dying and dead fuels that could exacerbate wildfire losses. Insights into host-pathogen interactions and recommendations for silvicultural options are presented. This is a case study from a single site and should be interpreted as such.


Author(s):  
Thomas Assinger ◽  
Stefano F. F. Torriani ◽  
Salvatore Accardo ◽  
James Fountaine ◽  
Siegrid Steinkellner

AbstractRamularia collo-cygni B. Sutton and J.M. Waller is a major disease in Austrian barley-growing regions. To date, fungicide application is the most effective method to manage the disease; however, fungicide resistance to demethylation and succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors has developed over the last few years. In the growing seasons 2016/2017 and 2017/2018, field trials were carried out to analyze the efficiency of fungicide strategies based on different fungicide classes. Disease development, growth parameters and monitoring of CYP51 and sdh mutations were determined. Fungicide treatments resulted in higher disease control, green leaf area and grain yield. In Austrian R. collo-cygni field populations, the frequency of the mutations CYP51-I325T and CYP51-I328L was low to moderate. Frequency of mutations sdhC-H146R and sdhC-H153R was low. Frequencies of CYP51-I325T and -I328L were similar and increased following DMI application. Frequency of sdhC-H146R was higher compared to sdhC-H153R. The SDHI benzovindiflupyr showed a higher selection rate for sdh mutations compared to bixafen. These sdh mutations were not selected if chlorothalonil was used as mixing partner, leading to a stable composition of sdh resistance alleles over the last two years. Chlorothalonil was proven to be an effective tool for anti-resistance strategies. Currently, SDHIs and DMIs are the backbone of Ramularia leaf spot control in Austria; however, the level of resistance is likely to increase in absence of suitable anti-resistance strategies and following the ban of chlorothalonil.


1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
pp. 1424-1435 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Mailly ◽  
J. P. Kimmins

Silvicultural alternatives that differ in the degree of overstory removal may create shady environments that will be problematic for the regeneration of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco). Gradients of light in the field were used to compare mortality, growth, and leaf morphological acclimation of two conifer species of contrasting shade tolerances: Douglas-fir and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.). Results after two growing seasons indicated that Douglas-fir mortality occurred mainly at relative light intensity (RLI) below 20%, while western hemlock mortality was evenly distributed along the light gradient. Height, diameter, and biomass of the planted seedlings increased with increasing light for both species but at different rates, and maximum biomass accumulation always occurred in the open. Douglas-fir allocated more resources to stem biomass than western hemlock, which accumulated more foliage biomass. Increases in specific leaf area for Douglas-fir seedlings occurred at RLI ≤ 0.4 and red/far red (R/FR) ratio ≤ 0.6, which appear to be the minimal optimum light levels for growth. Conversely, western hemlock seedlings adjusted their leaf morphology in a more regular pattern, and changes were less pronounced at low light levels. These results, along with early mortality results for Douglas-fir, suggest that the most successful way to artificially regenerate this species may be by allowing at least 20% of RLI for ensuring survival and at least 40% RLI for optimum growth. Key words: light, light quality, leaf morphology, acclimation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 921-929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernani Lopes Possato ◽  
Natalino Calegario ◽  
Gilciano Saraiva Nogueira ◽  
Elliezer de Almeida Melo ◽  
Joyce de Almeida Alves

ABSTRACT The Reineke stand density index (SDI) was created on 1933 and remains as target of researches due to its importance on helping decision making regarding the management of population density. Part of such works is focused on the manner by which plots were selected and methods for the fit of Reineke model parameters in order to improve the definition of SDI value for the genetic material evaluated. The present study aimed to estimate the SDI value for Eucalyptus urophylla using the Reineke model fitted by the method of linear regression (LR) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). The database containing pairs of data number of stems per hectare (N) and mean quadratic diameter (Dq) was selected in three intensities, containing the 8, 30 and 43 plots of greatest density, and models were fitted by LR and SFA on each selected intensities. The intensity of data selection altered slightly the estimates of parameters and SDI when comparing the fits of each method. On the other hand, the adjust method influenced the mean estimated values of slope and SDI, which corresponded to -1.863 and 740 for LR and -1.582 and 810 for SFA.


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