Effects of post-fire logging on fuel dynamics in a mixed-conifer forest, Oregon, USA: a 10-year assessment

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 646 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Campbell ◽  
Daniel C. Donato ◽  
Joseph B. Fontaine
Keyword(s):  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Salvage Logging ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest ◽  
Live Fuels ◽  
Biscuit Fire ◽  
Fuel Dynamics ◽  
Fine Fuels ◽  
Sclerophyllous Vegetation ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Or Modelling

Removal of fire-killed trees (i.e. post-fire or salvage logging) is often conducted in part to reduce woody fuel loads and mitigate potential reburn effects. Studies of post-salvage fuel dynamics have primarily used chronosequence or modelling approaches, with associated limitations; longitudinal studies tracking fuels over time have been rare. We resampled a network of post-fire plots, comprising a range of logging intensities, 10 years after the 2002 Biscuit Fire (Oregon, USA). For surface woody fuels, which started from large treatment differences immediately following logging (stepwise increases with harvest intensity), we found converging trends among treatments at 10 years, with convergence nearly complete for fine fuels but not for coarse fuels. Fire-killed snags for the dominant species (Pseudotsuga menziesii) decayed while standing at a statistically significant rate (single-exponential k = 0.011), similar to or only slightly slower than down wood, suggesting that not all snag biomass will reach the forest floor. Live vegetation (largely resprouting sclerophyllous vegetation) is beginning to dominate surface fuel mass and continuity (>100% cover) and likely moderates differences associated with woody fuels. Post-fire logging had little effect on live fuels or their change over time, suggesting high potential for stand-replacing early-seral fire regardless of post-fire harvest treatments.

Positive effects of fire on birds may appear only under narrow combinations of fire severity and time-since-fire

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Hutto ◽  
David A. Patterson
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Detection Rates ◽  
Salvage Logging ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Time Since Fire ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest

We conducted bird surveys in 10 of the first 11 years following a mixed-severity fire in a dry, low-elevation mixed-conifer forest in western Montana, United States. By defining fire in terms of fire severity and time-since-fire, and then comparing detection rates for species inside 15 combinations of fire severity and time-since-fire, with their rates of detection in unburned (but otherwise similar) forest outside the burn perimeter, we were able to assess more nuanced effects of fire on 50 bird species. A majority of species (60%) was detected significantly more frequently inside than outside the burn. It is likely that the beneficial effects of fire for some species can be detected only under relatively narrow combinations of fire severity and time-since-fire. Because most species responded positively and uniquely to some combination of fire severity and time-since-fire, these results carry important management implications. Specifically, the variety of burned-forest conditions required by fire-dependent bird species cannot be created through the application of relatively uniform low-severity prescribed fires, through land management practices that serve to reduce fire severity or through post-fire salvage logging, which removes the dead trees required by most disturbance-dependent bird species.

scholarly journals Fuel dynamics after reintroduced fire in an old-growth Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest

Fire Ecology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Alina Cansler ◽  
Mark E. Swanson ◽  
Tucker J. Furniss ◽  
Andrew J. Larson ◽  
James A. Lutz
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest ◽  
Fuel Dynamics

scholarly journals Effects of post-fire management on dead woody fuel dynamics and stand structure in a severely burned mixed-conifer forest, in northeastern Washington State, USA

2020 ◽  
Vol 470-471 ◽  
pp. 118190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morris C. Johnson ◽  
Maureen C. Kennedy ◽  
Sarah C. Harrison ◽  
Derek Churchill ◽  
James Pass ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fire Management ◽  
Stand Structure ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest ◽  
Fuel Dynamics

Salvage logging reduces wild bee diversity, but not abundance, in severely burned mixed-conifer forest

2019 ◽  
Vol 453 ◽  
pp. 117622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara M. Galbraith ◽  
James H. Cane ◽  
Andrew R. Moldenke ◽  
James W. Rivers
Keyword(s):  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Salvage Logging ◽  
Wild Bee ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest ◽  
Bee Diversity

scholarly journals The Effects of Postfire Salvage Logging on Cavity-Nesting Birds

The Condor ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (4) ◽  
pp. 817-831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Hutto ◽  
Susan M. Gallo
Keyword(s):  
Nest Site ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Salvage Logging ◽  
Northern Rocky Mountains ◽  
Bird Populations ◽  
Cavity Nesters ◽  
Cavity Nesting ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest ◽  
Management Area ◽  
Minimum Number

Abstract Abstract We investigated the effects of postfire salvage logging on cavity-nesting birds by comparing nest densities and patterns of nest reuse over a three-year period in seven logged and eight unlogged patches of mixed-conifer forest in the Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area, Montana. We found 563 active nests of 18 cavity-nesting birds; all species were found nesting in the uncut burned forest plots, but only eight nested in the salvage-logged plots. All except one species nested at a higher density in the unlogged areas, and half of the species were significantly more abundant in the unlogged plots. Every timber-drilling and timber-gleaning species was less abundant in the salvage-logged plots, including two of the most fire-dependent species in the northern Rocky Mountains—American Three-toed (Picoides dorsalis) and Black-backed (P. arcticus) Woodpeckers. Lower abundances in salvage-logged plots occurred despite the fact that there were still more potential nest snags per hectare than the recommended minimum number needed to support maximum densities of primary cavity-nesters, which suggests that reduced woodpecker densities are more related to a reduction in food (wood-boring beetle larvae) than to nest-site availability. Because cavities were present in only four of 244 randomly selected trees, and because frequency of cavity reuse by secondary cavity-nesters was higher in salvage-logged than in unlogged plots, nest-site limitation may be a more important constraint for secondary cavity-nesters in salvage-logged areas. These results suggest that typical salvage logging operations are incompatible with the maintenance of endemic levels of most cavity-nesting bird populations, especially populations of primary cavity-nesting species.

Spatial variability in microclimate in a mixed-conifer forest before and after thinning and burning treatments

2010 ◽  
Vol 259 (5) ◽  
pp. 904-915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siyan Ma ◽  
Amy Concilio ◽  
Brian Oakley ◽  
Malcolm North ◽  
Jiquan Chen
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest ◽  
Before And After

Development of the mixed conifer forest in northern New Mexico and its relationship to Holocene environmental change

2008 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Scott Anderson ◽  
Renata B. Jass ◽  
Jaime L. Toney ◽  
Craig D. Allen ◽  
Luz M. Cisneros-Dozal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest ◽  
Jemez Mountains

Chihuahueños Bog (2925 m) in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico contains one of the few records of late-glacial and postglacial development of the mixed conifer forest in southwestern North America. The Chihuahueños Bog record extends to over 15,000 cal yr BP. AnArtemisiasteppe, then an openPiceawoodland grew around a small pond until ca. 11,700 cal yr BP whenPinus ponderosabecame established. C/N ratios,δ13C andδ15N values indicate both terrestrial and aquatic organic matter was incorporated into the sediment. Higher percentages of aquatic algae and elevated C/N ratios indicate higher lake levels at the opening of the Holocene, but a wetland developed subsequently as climate warmed. From ca. 8500 to 6400 cal yr BP the pond desiccated in what must have been the driest period of the Holocene there. C/N ratios declined to their lowest Holocene levels, indicating intense decomposition in the sediment. Wetter conditions returned after 6400 cal yr BP, with conversion of the site to a sedge bog as groundwater levels rose. Higher charcoal influx rates after 6400 cal yr BP probably result from greater biomass production rates. Only minor shifts in the overstory species occurred during the Holocene, suggesting that mixed conifer forest dominated throughout the record.

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