Temporal trends in bird abundance in response to thinning of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta)

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (10) ◽  
pp. 1917-1927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Bayne ◽  
Bruce Nielsen

Forest managers are continually seeking methods of extracting more timber from the land base while maintaining appropriate wildlife habitat. A 7-year before–after control–impact (BACI) experiment was conducted in 60-year-old lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon) to determine the effects of thinning on forest birds. One year of pretreatment data was compared with 6 years of posttreatment data. Using linear trend analysis corrected for detection error, we found that Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina (Bechstein, 1798)), Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758)), and Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus (Linnaeus, 1766)) increased over time in thinned stands and declined in control stands. Alder Flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum Brewster, 1895), Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus (Pallas, 1811)), Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus (Linnaeus, 1766)), and Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius (Wilson, 1810)) decreased in control and thinned stands but declined more in controls. Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius (J. F. Gemlin, 1789)) and White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera Gemlin, 1789) increased in control stands relative to thinned areas, where they were stable or declined. A significant interaction between treatment and year was observed for 24 species when year was categorical. Of these, species more likely found in control stands were Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus (J.R. Forster, 1772)), Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa Lichtenstein, 1823), and Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus (W.M. Baird & S.F. Baird, 1843)), whereas Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus (Linnaeus, 1766)), Tennessee Warbler (Vermivora peregrina (A. Wilson, 1811)), and Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus (Vieillot, 1808)) were more likely in thinned stands. Total bird abundance was higher in thinned stands, which is consistent with 83% of thinning studies in western coniferous forests. Thinning can be a useful tool for achieving wildlife management goals and increasing timber yields.


The Condor ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 232-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam M. Siepielski

Abstract Nest predation is thought to play an important role in structuring certain breeding bird communities. One potential consequence of nest predation is lower recruitment in breeding birds, which may be manifested as lower breeding bird abundance. Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta ssp. latifolia) forests east and west of the Rocky Mountains became isolated following glacial retreat 12 000 years ago and differ in whether or not red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), which are a key nest predator, are present. Breeding bird abundance in lodgepole pine forests was compared between four ranges with red squirrels and four ranges without red squirrels. Species grouped into canopy and understory nesting guilds were, on average, two and three times more abundant, respectively, in forest ranges without red squirrels than in ranges with red squirrels; no statistically significant differences were found for midstory, ground, or cavity nesters. These results suggest that geographic variation in the presence or absence of red squirrels is likely important in structuring breeding bird communities in lodgepole pine forests across the landscape.



1979 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 102-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Blackmore ◽  
Wm. G. Corns

Perennial herbaceous vegetation, mainly marsh reed grass, (Calamagrostis canadensis (Michx) Beauv.), was sprayed with glyphosate on the day before planting one-year-old plugs of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) on cutover forest land north of Edson, Alberta. Spraying at 4.5 kg ai/ha, included spot and strip applications in June 1976, compared with unsprayed scalps and controls. At the same time, all treatments were repeated plus a 9 g, 22-8-2 fertilizer tablet for each seedling. Another experiment at the same site, begun on August 1, 1976, compared scalp, unfertilized control and glyphosate strip treatments, followed by planting of pine seedlings the day after spraying 4.5 kg ai/ha glyphosate. An adjacent experiment, also commenced on August 1, included dosages of 1.1 to 5.6 kg ai/ha with planting of pine seedlings in 4.5 kg/ha and in control plots in May 1977. August application of 2.2 kg/ha provided excellent initial vegetation control, as effective as the larger amounts applied at that time, and was superior during the first 12 months to 4.5 kg/ha applied in June. Twenty-six months after the spring planting new shoot growth of fertilized pine in the glyphosate strips was statistically significantly greater than that for all other treatments and growth in fertilized scalps was also very good. At the same time leader growth of spruce in fertilized scalps was significantly greater than that for other treatments but growth in glyphosate strips did not exceed that of unfertilized controls. Contrary to results of spring planting, there was marked injury and mortality of pine planted in August in glyphosate plots which had been sprayed on the preceding day. Seedlings planted in glyphosate-treated strips nine months after the August spraying exceeded the growth of control plants but not until the year after they were planted.



1971 ◽  
Vol 103 (6) ◽  
pp. 908-918 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Powell

AbstractOne hundred and sixty species of arthropods, representing 137 insects, 19 mites, and 4 spiders, were collected or reared from the cankers of the comandra blister rust, Cronartium comandrae Peck, on lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm., in southwestern Alberta. The insects damaged 40 to 60% of the cankers observed in any one year and reduced aeciospore production by 10%. Eleven orders of insects were represented, of which the Coleoptera (29 species), Lepidoptera (14), Diptera (21), and Hymenoptera (38) were the most important. Epuraea obliquus Hatch, Paracacoxenus guttatus Hardy and Wheeler, and a Mycodiplosis species appeared to be true mycetobionts. Several others which damaged the cankers, such as Pissodes schwarzi Hopk., Cylindrocopturus deleoni Buchanan, Ernobius sp., Corticaria sp., Bradysia spp., Dioryctria spp., Laspeyresia sp., Grapholitha sp. prob. caeruleana Wlshm., Eucordylea spp., Cinara spp., and Diapterobates principalis (Berlese) could be classied as mycetophiles. About half the species appeared to be mycetoxenes. New habitat or host information was obtained and several new species were collected. Several of the genera represented have been reported to occur on other pine stem rusts, which indicates that the rust cankers provide a suitable habitat for development.



1987 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick W. Smith ◽  
James N. Long

Abstract We present a technique to evaluate how ungulate hiding and thermal cover guidelines affect density management of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) stands. Modification of a lodgepole pine density management diagram results in a graphical tool useful to forest managers interested in wildlife habitat evaluation. This technique can be used to determine the amounts of cover provided by silvicultural prescriptions and to evaluate cover status of existing stands. Stand structures that meet the guidelines were determined by simulation modeling and field sampling. Current hiding cover requirements were met when summed dbh was above about 5,000 in./ac or when summed crown diameters were greater than 630 ft/ac. The thermal cover requirement was determined to be the most restrictive element of the guidelines. West. J. Appl. For. 2:6-10, January 1987.



1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
S M Bradbury

Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.) seedlings, originating from seed in three southwestern Alberta cut blocks, were sampled to identify their ectomycorrhizal associates. Fourteen ectomycorrhizal taxa were identified, 10 were common to all three cut blocks, and 12 to two cut blocks. Individual seedlings were colonized by two fungal associates on average and never had more than six fungal associates at one sampling time. Total percent colonization of seedling roots was greater than 50% one year after seed germination and greater than 90% two years after seed germination. Species richness increased throughout the course of the study; however, all but two ectomycorrhizal taxa were found in mature forests nearby. Typical late-stage ectomycorrhizal fungi colonized regenerating lodgepole pine seedlings in the absence of refuge host plants; therefore, either these fungi remained viable in situ between harvesting and regeneration or they migrated back into the cut block once revegetation was initiated.Key words: lodgepole pine seedlings, ectomycorrhiza, percent relative abundance, Alberta cut blocks.



Author(s):  
Sharon Eversman

The fires of 1988 in Yellowstone National Park burned 1.1 million acres (1719.4 square miles) within the park boundaries, about 44.5% of the park. Six per cent of the area burned was meadow­grassland and 94% was forests. Most of the forested areas that burned were dominated by lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud), with smaller tracts of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco)), Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii Parry) and whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.). The burns were mosaic in nature, leaving different sizes of areas severely burned, moderately burned and unburned, and adjacent patches of mostly ground fires, mostly canopy fires, both ground and canopy fires or unburned stands (Rothermel et al., 1994). Many park projects have documented recovery of vascular plants, especially lodgepole pine and the understory perennials (Anderson & Romme, 1991; Baskin, 1999; Foster, et al, 1999; Reed, et al ,1999; Tomback, et al, 2001; Turner et al, 1994, 1997). The conclusions were that lodgepole pine has regenerated itself, as expected, from seed sources in adjacent unburned patches. Herbaceous and shrubby understory regeneration has depended primarily on the plants that were present at the study sites before the fires, with regrowth from surviving underground parts as well as from nearby seed sources. This study investigates the initial return of non-vascular vegetation, lichens and mosses, all of which were presumably destroyed when their substrates were burned. None of the other Yellowstone studies included cryptogam observations. Studies concentrating on recolonizing cryptogamic crusts, including mosses, algae and lichens, on dryland soil after fires, have occurred in Utah (Johansen, et al, 1984) and Australia (Eldridge & Bradstock, 1994). Algae tended to return before lichens and mosses, especially during wet years, and after five years the lichens and mosses were recovering but not yet to pre-burn cover. Researchers have found that, on limestone, two lichen species colonized after four years. Thomas, et al. (1994) found that Ceratodon purpureus appeared to be insensitive to pH differences of burned peat surfaces and readily colonized ashed surfaces within one year after fire; Polytrichum piliferum was dominant after three years.



2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (10) ◽  
pp. 1894-1906 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Bulmer ◽  
K. Venner ◽  
C. Prescott

We evaluated soil conditions of rehabilitated log landings in the Interior Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone of British Columbia during the first 3 years after treatment and the growth of lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. var. latifolia Engelm.) on these log landings over 8 years. Rehabilitation treatments included combinations of tillage and the addition of either stockpiled topsoil or one of three organic amendments: hog fuel, sort-yard waste, and a wood waste – biosolids compost. The woody amendments were either applied as a surface mulch or incorporated into the soil after tillage. Tillage and addition of wood waste reduced soil bulk density and increased carbon content. Daytime soil temperatures in summer were lower under a hog fuel mulch than for the other treatments. The plots receiving hog fuel also had higher soil moisture content. One year after treatment, soil mechanical resistance for untreated soils, and those that were simply tilled, exceeded 2500 kPa for much of the growing season. Plots receiving wood waste had lower mechanical resistance. Use of wood waste in rehabilitation improved soil conditions and contributed to improved survival rates for planted lodgepole pine seedlings. Height growth after 8 years was not significantly affected by the treatments.



2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (12) ◽  
pp. 2403-2412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Kashian ◽  
Rebecca M. Jackson ◽  
Heather D. Lyons

Extensive outbreaks of the mountain pine beetle ( Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) will alter the structure of many stands that will likely be attacked again before experiencing a stand-replacing fire. We examined a stand of lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm. ex S. Watson) in Grand Teton National Park currently experiencing a moderate-level outbreak and previously attacked by mountain pine beetle in the 1960s. Consistent with published studies, tree diameter was the main predictor of beetle attack on a given tree, large trees were preferentially attacked, and tree vigor, age, and cone production were unimportant variables for beetle attack at epidemic levels. Small trees killed in the stand were killed based mainly on their proximity to large trees and were likely spatially aggregated with large trees as a result of the previous outbreak. We concluded that the driving factors of beetle attack and their spatial patterns are consistent across outbreak severities but that stand structure altered by the previous outbreak had implications for the current outbreaks in the same location. This study should catalyze additional research that examines how beetle-altered stand structure affects future outbreaks — an important priority for predicting their impacts under climate change scenarios that project increases in outbreak frequency and extent.



2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 1314-1318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter V Blenis ◽  
Wuhan Li

Infection of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. var. latifolia Engelm.) by western gall rust has been shown to decrease with tree height and age, but the effects of those two factors have not been separated. Five replicate artificial inoculations were done on a total of 327 trees of different ages in two height classes. Temperature and percentage of spore germination at the height of inoculation, shoot development (stem elongation at the time of inoculation as a proportion of final shoot elongation), main stem leader length at the time of inoculation, tree height, and tree age were measured. Modeled percentages of infected trees and the number of galls per 10 cm of shoot length decreased by 85% and 88%, respectively, as tree age increased between 2 and 10 years, indicating the undesirability of early, aggressive precommercial thinning of lodgepole pine stands in areas where western gall rust is common. By controlling and (or) statistically accounting for inoculum, microclimate, and phenological factors, it was possible to demonstrate that changes in susceptibility with tree age are sufficient to account for the reduction in infection with tree height.



2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. A. H. SMITHWICK ◽  
M. G. RYAN ◽  
D. M. KASHIAN ◽  
W. H. ROMME ◽  
D. B. TINKER ◽  
...  


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