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Abstract
Building on information summaries in two previous general technical reports (PSW-GTR-220 and PSW-GTR-237), this chapter focuses on four topics raised by forest managers and stakeholders as relevant to current forest management issues. Recent studies suggest that the gap size in lower and mid-elevation historical forests with active fire regimes was often about 0.12 to 0.32 ha (0.3 to 0.8 ac). This small size was sufficient to facilitate shade-intolerant pine regeneration, probably because the surrounding forest canopy was more open than is common in modern fire-suppressed forests. Treatments that create these regeneration gaps may not significantly reduce canopy cover (a stand-level average), but they will create greater variability in canopy closure (a point-level measure), which may also increase habitat heterogeneity. A review of red fir forest literature suggests that these forests historically had a highly variable fire regime. Red fir in drier conditions and in locations well connected to forests with more frequent fire regimes probably had a shorter fire return interval. These forests may need treatment with managed fire or mechanical thinning to help restore their resilience to fire and potential climate change.
Parent Publication
Keywords
ecological restoration,
socioecological systems,
ecosystem resilience,
forest planning,
fire management,
altered fire regimes,
wildfire,
climate change,
anthropogenic disturbance,
invasive species,
water resources,
species of conservation concern,
California
Citation
North, M. 2014. Forest ecology. In: Long, J.W.; Quinn-Davidson, L.; Skinner, C.N., eds. Science synthesis to support socioecological resilience in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-247. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: 103-126. Chap. 2.1.
