Treesearch

Summarizes a series of comprehensive reports on watershed management in five major vegetation zones: (1) the coniferous forest subalpine zone; (2) the Front Range ponderosa pine zone; (3) the Black Hills ponderosa pine zone; (4) the alpine zone; and (5) the big sagebrush zone. Includes what is known about the hydrology of these lands, what hydrologic principles are important for multiresource management, and what additional information is needed for each vegetation type.

Wildfires play a multiple role in the distribution of dwarf mistletoes - they may either inhibit or encourage these parasites depending primarily on the size and intensity of the burn. Many reports suggest that fire exclusion policies of the past half century have resulted in increased dwarf mistletoe levels as, well as increased fire behavior potential. Prescribed burning as a supplemental method of dwarf mistletoe control has been little used, but seems to be applicable in some forest types and stand conditions both to eliminate infected residuals in cutover areas and to eliminate...

Functional forms of equations were derived for predicting 10-year periodic height increment of forest trees from height, diameter, diameter increment, and habitat type. Crown ratio was considered as an additional variable for prediction, but its contribution was negligible. Coefficients of the function were estimated for 10 species of trees growing in 10 habitat types of northern Idaho and northwestern Montana.

Chaparral in Arizona is used far below its potential. Conversions to grass can greatly increase water and grass production, and improve wildlife habitat. Management options include conversion to grass, maintaining shrubs in a sprout stage, changing shrub composition, reseeding, and using goats to harvest shrub forage.

The workshop, summarized in this Proceedings, represented a joint effort by personnel from Research, National Forest System, and State and Private Forestry, to review the state-of-the-art knowledge about the applicability of uneven-aged silviculture and management in the eastern United States. One major objective of this review was to develop a much better mutual understanding of the definition of uneven-aged silviculture and management. A number of research gaps and research needs were also identified. Many of these needs are already being incorporated into the program planning for...

Seed collection zones are subdivisions of land areas established to identify seed sources and to control the movement of seed and planting stock. Seed zones are needed for many species because of the genetic variation associated with their geographic distribution. Zone boundaries may be delineated from experimental data that identify genetic variation, or by analysis of the environmental factors that most likely acted as selective forces in creating such genotypic variation.

Extracts of green foliage of Arizona fescue and mountain muhly significantly reduced germination of ponderosa pine seeds, and retarded speed of elongation and mean radicle length. Three possible routes of release of the inhibitor were investigated: (1) leaching from live foliage, (2) root exudation, and (3) overwinter leaching from dead residues. The principal route remains uncertain. The ecological implications of the inhibitory substance are discussed.

For reasons of economy it may be necessary to close one or several fire-weather stations in a protection area. Since it is logical to close those stations that will have the least impact on the ability of the fire manager to assess overall fire danger, it is desirable to know if there is duplication in monitoring fire climate, and to what degree. A method is proposed for determining this duplication, based on an analysis of six elements of fire climate. Stations are grouped on the basis of similarity of sequences of these fire climate elements over the fire season.

Describes the status of our knowledge about mixed conifer silviculture in the interior Southwest. Ecological background is reviewed first, followed by description of silvicultural methods. Relevant literature is discussed, along with observations, experience, and results of unpublished research. Contains unpublished input by subject-matter specialists and southwestern forest managers, largely as feedback from their reviews of a working draft. Research needs are also considered. Aspen forests are included; in the Southwest they are usually succeeded by mixed conifers.

This study was conducted at the Manitou Experimental Forest in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station and the Range Science Department of Colorado State University. The Experimental Forest is located in the montane zone of the Colorado Front Range about 28 miles northwest of Colorado Springs at 8,000 feet in elevation. Various understory and environmental factors were correlated with the understory herbage production on 14 permanent sample plots. The overstory parameters of trees/acre, basal area, crown canopy cover and crown canopy...