Evaluating the ecological trade-offs of riparian thinning for headwater stream ecosystems in second-growth redwood forests

Abstract

After decades of intensive timber harvest and land use change that removed forests from the landscape, recent satellite data show that forest cover has increased in North America (Liu et al. 2015). However, these regenerating forests differ greatly in structure and composition than the forests that preceded them (McIntyre et al. 2015). This has been especially evident on the Pacific coast, where only 3 to 5 percent of old-growth coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl.) forest remains (Russell 2009). To address this, land managers are actively thinning second-growth forests to restore old-growth conditions (O’Hara et al. 2010, Teraoka and Keyes 2011). Whereas most thinning has taken place in upland forests, thinning also could accelerate recovery in second-growth riparian forests (Keyes and Teraoka 2014).

Parent Publication

• Coast redwood science symposium—2016: Past successes and future direction

Citation

Roon, David; Dunham, Jason; Harvey, Bret; Bellmore, Ryan; Olson, Deanna; Reeves, Gordon. 2017. Evaluating the ecological trade-offs of riparian thinning for headwater stream ecosystems in second-growth redwood forests. In: Standiford, Richard B.; Valachovic, Yana, tech cords. Coast redwood science symposium—2016: Past successes and future direction. Proceedings of a workshop. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-258. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: 199-201.