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Abstract
Old-growth forests provide important structural habitat elements for many species of wildlife. These forests, however, are rare where lands are managed for timber. In commercial forests, large and old trees sometimes exist only as widely-dispersed residual or legacy trees. Legacy trees are old trees that have been spared during harvest or have survived stand-replacing natural disturbances. We define legacy trees as having achieved near-maximum size and age, which is significantly larger and older than the average trees on the landscape. This distinguishes them from other ‘residual’ trees, which may also have been spared from harvest but are not always larger and older than the average trees in the landscape. The value of individual legacy trees to wildlife has received little attention by land managers or researchers within the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) region where 95 percent of the landscape is intensively managed for timber production.
Parent Publication
Keywords
basal hollows,
bats,
small mammals,
and birds,
biodiversity,
biological legacy,
forest management,
legacy tree,
managed forests,
northwestern California,
redwood,
Sequoia sempervirens,
wildlife communities
Citation
Mazurek, M.J.; Zielinski, William J. 2007. Individual Legacy Trees Influence Vertebrate Wildlife Diversity in Commercial Forests. In: Standiford, Richard B.; Giusti, Gregory A.; Valachovic, Yana; Zielinski, William J.; Furniss, Michael J., technical editors. 2007. Proceedings of the redwood region forest science symposium: What does the future hold? Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-194. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; p. 237-240
