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Abstract
Side-by-side comparisons were made in an operational-sized, replicated experiment, installed in 1980-81 on four areas in the Coast Ranges of Oregon, to determine the effects of six methods of site preparation on the subsequent survival and growth of Douglas-fir (
Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) and associated vegetation. A decade later, tree survival, total height, and stem caliper were significantly greater after site preparation by broadcast burning, slashing and burning, spraying Tordon 101 and burning, or aerial spraying of glyphosate than for manually pot-clearing vegetation at planting time, or no site preparation, and the differences were still increasing. Protecting seedlings from animals, primarily mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa), with plastic mesh tubing resulted in 13 percent higher survival; and protected trees averaged 6 percent taller, 9 percent larger in stem diameter, and 49 percent more in volume than unprotected trees at 10 years. Protection improved seedling performance in every site-preparation treatment.
Keywords
Reforestation,
Pacific Northwest,
Coast Ranges,
clearcutting,
Douglas-fir,
red alder,
salmonberry,
groundsels,
site preparation,
broadcast burning,
slash and burn,
spray and burn,
manual spot-clearing,
Tordon 101,
glyphosate,
planting,
seedling protection,
seedling survival,
seedling growth,
plastic mesh tubes,
vegetation succession,
species diversity,
relative costs
Citation
Stein, William I. 1995. Ten-year development of Douglas-fir and associated vegetation after different site preparation on coast range clearcuts. Res. Pap. PNW-RP-473. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 129 p
