Silvicultural practices (commercial thinning) are influencing the health of natural pine stands in eastern California

Abstract

Overstocked 70- to 90-year-old stands of ponderosa pine on medium to low quality sites were thinned in 1980 to 40, 55, and 70 percent of normal basal area and compareh to an unthinned control. Mortality was recorded annually. Growth was measured every 5 years from 1980 to 1994. After 15 years, mortality, primarily from bark beetles and annosus root disease, was reduced by 100, 96, and 92 percent relative to increasing amounts of reserve basal area. Thinned stands averaged six times more cubic-foot growth than unthinned stands. More growth and less mortality could result from treating similar stands on comparable sites.

Parent Publication

• Forest health through silviculture: Proceedings of the 1995 National Silviculture Workshop

Citation

Fiddler, Gary O.; Hart, Dennis R.; McDonald, Philip M.; Frankel, Susan J. 1995. Silvicultural practices (commercial thinning) are influencing the health of natural pine stands in eastern California. In: L.G. Eskew, comp. Forest health through silviculture: proceedings of the 1995 National Silviculture Workshop, Mescalero, New Mexico, May 8-11, 1995. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-GTR-267. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station: 208-212