Treesearch

Nutrient levels as a result of experimental clearcutting, shelterwood cutting, and group selection cutting - each with three levels of harvesting intensity - were studied in a larchfir forest in northwest Montana, experimentally logged with a skyline system. None of the treatments altered nutrient levels in an intermittent stream, nor were excessive amounts of nutrients lost in soil below the root zone. Under conditions on this site, skyline logging did not result in surface erosion or nutrient losses that would affect forest management.

Discusses studies made from 1967 through 1977 that show seepage from the no longer operating Blackbird Mine in east central Idaho has resulted in acidic waters high in sediment and heavy metals. Suggests high concentrations of cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, lead, and zinc in the Panther Creek drainage are the probable cause of diminished insect and fish populations in the area. Contends that pollution from the mined area will remain a problem in the drainage until rehabilitative measures are taken.

First-season lodgepole pine seedlings only had an average rooting depth of 3.8 inches (9.6 cm), 26 branch roots, and a total root length of 9.8 inches (24.9 cm). Seedlings were field-grown in 1977 on scarified-unshaded seedbeds in the central Rocky Mountains, Colorado.

First year erosion from fill slopes ranged from 5.1 to 9.9 cubic feet per 100 feet of road. Approximately 50 percent of the eroded material was deposited within 20 feet of the toe of fill slope. However, material was transported as far downslope as 437 feet. The placement of filter windows on the fill slopes proved effective in minimizing material leaving the fill slope.

Radioactive phosphorus (P32) was used to measure root depth and lateral spread of tour native plant species which had been subjected to heavy grazing for many years. Compared with root excavation measurements from an earlier study on the same area, rooting depths of all species tested were found to be quite similar by the two methods. Lateral spread differed substantially, however. Roots were found to have a greater lateral spread by the P32 estimate. The isotope method using autoradiography was found to be a sensitive method of determining depth and lateral spread of in situ plant roots...

Dwarf mistletoe [Arceuthobium vaginatum subsp. cryptopodum (Engelm.) Hawksworth and Wiens] distribution and the role of birds as vectors of the parasite were studied in a Colorado ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Laws.) forest. Occurrence of the parasite at distances from a source greater than those attributable to explosive seed discharge was erratic and infrequent. In 24 cases, ages of initial infections in single or multiple tree infection centers were determined. Age analyses indicated that long-distance seed transmission followed by successful infection occurred on an average once...

Water yield from forest and rangelands can be augmented by managing vegetation and snow to reduce evapotranspiration. Some arbitrary goals to increase water yield were chosen to illustrate the potential for increasing water yield, and treatments were hypothesized to get these increases.

A procedure was developed for surveying cross sections using a sag tape with unequal end elevations. The procedure is as accurate as traditional engineer's level surveys, is faster and easier, and can be programed for a digital computer by following the flow diagram which is provided.

Describes a theoretical model for calculating thermochemical properties of the gaseous fuel that burns in the free flame at the edge of a spreading fire in fine forest fuels. Predicted properties are the heat of combustion, stoichiometric air/fuel mass ratio, mass-averaged temperature, and mass fraction of unburned fuel in the gas mixture emitted from the flame-producing zone. These variables depend upon readily determined intrinsic properties of the fuel, the fuel moisture content, fuel particle surface/volume ratio, particle mass density, and fuel loading. Numerical examples are given...

Reports and evaluates the significance of weather conditions and logging activities on elk distribution. Recommendations for reducing the effects of disturbance on elk are presented.