Treesearch

Site preparation following timber harvests is widely used to increase seedling establishment postharvest. Historically, dozer piling and ripping were the most common forms of site preparation in the Intermountain West. Less commonly, terracing of hill slopes was another form of site preparation on the Bitterroot National Forest in western Montana from 1961-1970 on marginally productive lands. Our objective was to compare soil physical and chemical properties as well as timber productivity as evidenced by diameter-at-breast height (dbh) between terraced and standard-site preparation methods...

Many public land management agencies monitor forest soils for levels of disturbance related to management activities. Although several soil disturbance monitoring protocols based on visual observation have been developed to assess the amount and types of disturbance caused by forest management, no common method is currently used on National Forest lands in the United States. We present data on relative soil disturbance based on harvest system from National Forests throughout Montana and Idaho. Because each National Forest uses its own method for data collection, we developed a common,...

During the rotary peeling of veneer for plywood or the laminated veneer lumber manufacture, checks are formed in the veneer that are as deep as 70 – 80 % of the veneer thickness. The results of this study show that, during adhesive bond testing, deep lathe checks in birch (Betula pendula Roth.) veneer significantly reduce the shear strength and the percent wood failure of phenolformaldehyde (PF) – bonded plywood. The results also show that specimens tested with the checks pulled open or closed can fail by different mechanisms. Dried rotary peeled birch veneers were sanded to create uniform...

Knowledge of space use by wildlife that are a conservation concern is critical to ensure that management and conservation provides adequate resources to ensure survival and reproductive success. We radio tracked 13 pregnant and 12 lactating Myotis sodalis (Indiana bat) during the maternity season in northern Missouri. Mean (± SE) home range area for all individuals based on the fixed kernel method for the 50% and 95% probability contours was 204.52 ± 28.87 ha and 1137.13 ± 144.06 ha, respectively. Home range size did not differ significantly (P > 0.16) between pregnant and lactating...

The use of native plants in wildland restoration is critical to the recovery and health of ecosystems. Information from genecological and reciprocal transplant common garden studies can be used to develop seed transfer guidelines and to predict how plants will respond to future climate change. Tools developed from these data, such as universal response functions and trait shift maps, can help managers make informed decisions regarding restoration strategies, such as assisted migration, in the face of climate change.

Assisted migration may be necessary as a climate change adaptation strategy for native plant species that are less adaptive or mobile. Moving plants has been practiced a long time in human history, but movement of species in response to climate change is a new context. First proposed in 1985, assisted migration has gained attention since 2007 as a strategy to prevent species extinction, minimize economic loss, and sustain ecosystem services. We present a synthesis of proposed assisted migration guidelines and provide resources for nurseries, landowners, and researchers.

Phytosanitation is not a new concept but has received renewed attention due to the increasing threat of nursery spread Phytophthora ramorum (PRAM), the fungus-like pathogen that causes Sudden Oak Death. This disease has the potental to become the most serious forest pest since white pine blister rust and chestnut blight. Phytosanitation can help prevent the spread of this and other pathogens to or from nursery operations. Phytosanitation can most simply be viewed as an input-output model: prevent pests from entering your nursery and make certain that your plants are not carrying pests when...

Four field experiments were conducted over various fuel and terrain to investigate turbulence generation during the passage of wildland fire fronts. Our results indicate an increase in horizontal mean winds and friction velocity, horizontal and vertical velocity variances as well as a decreased degree of anisotropy in TKE during fire front passage (FFP) due to fire-induced winds. Vertical velocity and temperature variances observed during FFP approached the local free convection prediction when represented as a function of stability parameter z/L under very unstable conditions. The results...

Propagation environments are areas that have been modified for plant growth, and can be designed using the law of limiting factors. Identifying critical factors that are most limiting to optimal plant growth is helpful when developing both bareroot and container nurseries. Propagation environments can be categorized into minimally-controlled, semi-controlled, and fully-controlled. The defining characteristics of each are discussed. When planning a nursery, three things should be considered: the type of crop, local soil and climate conditions, and available budget.

This paper reviews research on improving the basic technique of cold stratification for tree and shrub seeds. Advanced stratification techniques include long stratification, stratification re-dry, or multiple cycles of warm-cold stratification. Research demonstrates that careful regulation of moisture levels and lengthening the stratification period have produced a more vigorous response in several species. Advanced stratification techniques have also produced more uniform germination in species that, when treated in the basic manner, have failed to germinate or have germinated erratically....