Operational experience at a "dog-hair" site.

Abstract

To monitor consequences of past operational practices, we installed eight 0.05-acre plots in a 9-year-old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii) plantation established after clearcutting a grossly overstocked stand on a poor-quality site. Logging slash was broadcast burned on half this clearcut. One plot sampled the slash-burned portion, and seven sampled the nonburned portion. Of these, two were in areas thinned 3 years earlier by machete combined with pulling smaller seedlings four were in areas thinned by chainsaw, and one was in a nonthinned strip. Depending on past practices, Douglas-fir seedlings ranged between 300 per acre (burned plots) and 860 per acre (nonburned, nonthinned). Stumps with sprouts averaged 5,665 per acre in saw-thinned plots and only 250 per acre in plots thinned by machete and pulling. Most seedlings and sprouts in the 9-year-old stand were western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.). Our data suggest that logging in early summer salvaged seed from the previous year and created favorable conditions for germination and seedling survival. Slash burning in late summer, however, destroyed most new seedlings. The combination of machete cutting and pulling small seedlings proved more effective than chainsaws for reducing stand density.

Citation

Ricketts, Stephen R.; Miller, Richard E. 1995. Operational experience at a "dog-hair" site. Res. Note PNW-RN-514. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 8 p.