scholarly journals Occurrence of shrubs and herbaceous vegetation after clear cutting old-growth Douglas-fir in the Oregon Cascades /

Author(s):  
Vern P. Yerkes ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 1204-1215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen C Sillett ◽  
Matthew N Goslin

Alternatives to clear-cutting are being implemented to increase biodiversity of managed forests in the Pacific Northwest. Lichens are an integral component of old growth, but lichen biomass develops slowly in forests. We evaluated the long-term potential of live tree retention for lichen conservation in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) forests. We sampled lichen litterfall in a 2-ha stand that contained 200- to 600-year-old remnant trees scattered in a forest composed mostly of 100-year-old trees that established following fire. We used association, principal components, and regression analyses to relate lichen litterfall biomass to the proximity of remnant trees. Two epiphytic lichens were strongly associated with remnant trees: the foliose cyanolichen Lobaria oregana (Tuck.) Müll. Arg. and the fruticose green algal lichen Sphaerophorus globosus (Hudson) Vainio. Biomass of both species was highest near remnant trees, and biomass was slightly higher within groves of remnant trees than it was at the edges of these groves or near isolated trees. Lichens appear to have persisted on remnant trees through the last fire and are slowly recolonizing younger trees from this source of propagules. Retention of live trees, maintenance of hardwoods, and longer rotation periods have great potential to maintain old-growth-associated lichens in at least some managed forests.


1982 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Meyer Schoenberger ◽  
D. A. Perry

In a greenhouse bioassay of soils from the central Oregon Cascades, Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco) seedlings had the most total and ectomycorrhizal root tips when grown in soil from an unburned clear-cut and the least when grown in soil from (i) a 20-year-old plantation that had been clear-cut and burned in the late 1950's and (ii) one old-growth forest. Tip formation was intermediate in soil from a second old-growth forest, a recently burned clear-cut, and a 40-year-old natural burn. Root weights followed the same trend, but top weights did not differ among the various soils. Ectomycorrhizal and total root tips of western hemlock (Tsugaheterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) were lowest in soils from the plantation and recently burned clear-cut. Unlike Douglas-fir, western hemlock's tip production was not greater in the unburned clear-cut than in the old-growth forest soils. In this species, both top and root weights varied according to soil, with the largest seedlings produced in soil from the unburned clear-cut. With both species, there was a significant interaction between ectomycorrhizal type and soil type. Cenococcumgeophilum Fr. predominated on western hemlock and was reduced in soils from the burned clear-cut and plantation. In comparison with the mean for all soils, ectomycorrhizal types that predominated on Douglas-fir were enhanced in the unburned clear-cut soil and reduced in one old-growth soil, an effect apparently related to litter leachate.


1977 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
pp. 644-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary E. Bernstein ◽  
George C. Carroll

Culture of surface-sterilized needles from a stand of old-growth Douglas fir trees on the western slope of the Oregon Cascades revealed the presence of latent fungal infections in all needles examined older than 3 years. Scanning electron micrographs of cut needle surfaces seen in transverse section showed occasional intercellular fungal hyphae in the needle parenchyma. Two species of fungi, Phyllosticta sp. and a suspected member of the Hemiphacidiaceae, appeared as the major colonizers of the needle blade; a third species, as yet unidentified, commonly grew out from the needle petiole. Endophytes were widespread in needles throughout the watershed regardless of the elevation and exposure of the individual trees sampled. Similarly, height of the needles in the tree canopy showed little correlation with the frequency of internal infections. Individual needles were cut into 10 segments before culture, and patterns of endophyte distribution within the needles were observed. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that needles are multiply infected during their 1st year. The initial rise in endophyte frequency occurs between November and March on 1st-year needles, a pattern suggesting waterborne spores as agents of infection. Both Phyllosticta and the hemiphacidiaceous fungus are known to produce gloeoid conidia, which are thought to be dispersed by rain. With increasing age, all needle segments become infected with endophytes.


Author(s):  
Eric K. Zenner ◽  
JeriLynn E. Peck

Structural variability in natural Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco) forests hinders restoration targets for the full old-growth developmental sequence. To guide stage-specific restoration, we present a new approach toward developing a simple index of the vertical diversification (VD) stage. VD-associated sub-stand structures were objectively identified by quantifying the size structures of live trees across a developmental sequence of 10 pristine stands in the Oregon Cascades, USA. Floating neighborhoods were used to delineate natural tree neighborhoods based on triangulated irregular networks in five concentric rings of ever-greater spatial extent (averaging 60–2060 m2). Diameter distributions summarized the most frequently encountered tree size structures among neighborhoods, with increasing deviation from the neutral multi-variate core. Of 18 observed diameter distribution types (DDTs), the core DDT characterized all-sized tree neighborhoods reflective of vertical diversification, which was most abundant in early old-growth (VD) stands and least abundant at the extremes of the sequence. VD declined in older stands, whose more distinct DDTs had peaks in larger trees and multiple size classes, likely reflecting horizontal diversification (HD). This new approach illustrates that structural restoration of VD stands could be facilitated by the single-tree selection method, while that of HD stands may be promoted with both single-tree and group selection as well as targeted release.


Ecology ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 975-979 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Marshall ◽  
R. H. Waring

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1057-1070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda E Winter ◽  
Linda B Brubaker ◽  
Jerry F Franklin ◽  
Eric A Miller ◽  
Donald Q DeWitt

The history of canopy disturbances over the lifetime of an old-growth Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) stand in the western Cascade Range of southern Washington was reconstructed using tree-ring records of cross-dated samples from a 3.3-ha mapped plot. The reconstruction detected pulses in which many western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) synchronously experienced abrupt and sustained increases in ringwidth, i.e., "growth-increases", and focused on medium-sized or larger ([Formula: see text]0.8 ha) events. The results show that the stand experienced at least three canopy disturbances that each thinned, but did not clear, the canopy over areas [Formula: see text]0.8 ha, occurring approximately in the late 1500s, the 1760s, and the 1930s. None of these promoted regeneration of the shade-intolerant Douglas-fir, all of which established 1500–1521. The disturbances may have promoted regeneration of western hemlock, but their strongest effect on tree dynamics was to elicit western hemlock growth-increases. Canopy disturbances are known to create patchiness, or horizontal heterogeneity, an important characteristic of old-growth forests. This reconstructed history provides one model for restoration strategies to create horizontal heterogeneity in young Douglas-fir stands, for example, by suggesting sizes of areas to thin in variable-density thinnings.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document