Treesearch

Ecosystem, species and genetic dimensions of biodiversity have eroded since widespread settlement of the Great Plains. Conversion of native vegetation in the region followed the precipitation gradient, with the greatest conversion in the eastern tallgrass prairie and eastern mixed-grass types. Areas now dominated by intensive land uses are "hot spots" for exotic birds. However, species of all taxa listed as threatened or endangered are well-distributed across the Great Plains. These species are often associated with special landscape features, such as wetlands, rivers, caves, sandhills and...

Remote sensing can improve efficiency of statistical information. Landsat data can identify and map a few broad categories of forest cover and land use. However, more-detailed information requires a sample of higher-resolution imagery, which costs less than field data but considerably more than Landsat data. A national remote sensing program would be a major undertaking, requiring unprecedented partnerships between federal programs and stakeholders.

Calibrated Barr & Stroud FP15 and Criterion 400 laser dendrometers were tested for reliability in measuring upper stem diameters and heights under typical field conditions. Data were collected in the Black Hills National Forest, which covers parts of South Dakota and Wyoming in the United States. Mixed effects models were employed to account for differences between users of the dendrometers and to test for significant differences between the heights and diameters measured indirectly (by dendrometer) and directly (by caliper and linear tape). The location at which measurements were taken on...

In much of forested North America, there is little reliable information on changes in vegetation over long periods. An exception is the Lick Creek drainage on the Bitterroot National Forest in west-central Montana, thanks to the foresight of USDA Forest Service personnel who have photographically recorded vegetation over the 88 years between 1909 and 1997. This photographic series provides a unique opportunity to visually interpret changes in a ponderosa pine/ inland Douglas-fir forest. Changes depicted also allow an evaluation of how resource uses and activities have been influenced by...

The Lick Creek timber sale of 1906 attracted much attention because it was the first large National Forest timber sale (2,135 acres) in the ponderosa pine cover type in the USDA Forest Service Northern Region. A total of 37,600,000 board feet (bd ft) was cut (White 1924).

The 1907 to 1911 logging operations and subsequent lack of surface fires dramatically changed the patterns of plant succession at Lick Creek. Large quantities of overstory pines were felled, creating sizable openings. Logs were skidded and slash was burned in piles (Koch 1998) locally scraping off or consuming surface vegetation, pine needle litter, and humus, and exposing mineral soil. The photo sequences covering the next 40 years show that tall shrubs (especially Scouler’s willow) and tree regeneration became established in direct proportion to the amount of stand opening and soil...

This publication gives an overview of structural and other ecological changes associated with forest management and fire suppression since the early 1900's in a ponderosa pine forest, the most widespread forest type in the Western United States. Three sources of information are presented: (1) changes seen in a series of repeat photographs taken between 1909 and 1997 at 13 camera points; (2) knowledge from 19 authors who have investigated effects of recent ecosystem-based management treatments; integrated with (3) findings of forest changes related to earlier treatments and to succession....

“Succession” is the term applied to a change or sequence of vegetation on a given site through time following disturbance. For example, a succession of plant communities that follows clearcutting with broadcast burning of slash might be (1) grass-forb, (2) shrubfield, (3) saplings and shrubs, (4) pole-size trees, (5) mature forest, and (6) old-growth forest. Succession also applies to the sequence of species that dominate a general community type. Thus, a forest stand may initially be dominated by ponderosa pine (a shade-intolerant tree), which gives way to inland Douglas-fir (intermediate...

During the 1907 to 1911 harvest, logs were transported to landings by means of log chutes, horse skidding, and steam donkey yarding. Slash was disposed of by piling and burning, which the purchaser considered to be an unnecessary practice (Koch 1998). Usually this type of logging and postlogging treatment results in relatively light site disturbance, and the photo series tends to corroborate this. Some advance natural regeneration, primarily Douglas-fir, was present in the stand prior to logging; most of it became established in the 10 years prior to logging (Boe 1948). However, opening of...

The prescribed burn treatments were applied to reduce pre-existing and new slash fuel loadings, reduce understory tree density to lower crown fire potential, stimulate vigor of decadent understory vegetation, produce mineral seedbeds for seral species establishment, and increase availability of mineral nutrients. To test the feasibility of prescribed burning under a broad range of conditions without producing undesirable effects, several burn treatments were compared. Three contrasting burn treatments were applied in the shelterwood and commercial thinning studies and two burn treatments...