Journal
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
Volume 468, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118182
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Funding
- US Department of Agriculture funds through the US Forest Service Chief's Emergency Funds
- Experimental Forest Network
- Rocky Mountain Research Station
- Colorado Water Conservation Board
- Bioenergy Alliance Network of the Rockies Project (USDA) [2013-68005-21298]
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Recent mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae; MPB) outbreaks have caused one of the most widespread and dramatic changes in forest condition in North American forests in more than a century and highlighted challenges facing resource managers. To address uncertainty regarding the consequences of post-harvest woody residue management on soil productivity and tree regeneration following MPB outbreaks in lodgepole pine-dominated forests we compared three treatment prescriptions (bole-only harvest, whole-tree harvest, and whole-tree harvest with scarification) and uncut stands. The study was replicated at twelve sites across a range of operational project areas and stand conditions in northern Colorado. Salvage logging generated a new cohort of lodgepole pine at densities far above the threshold considered adequate to develop into well-stocked stands (1700-2300 t ha(-1) in logged compared to 537 t ha(-1) in uncut areas). Regeneration density was generally highest in whole-tree harvested areas. Growth of planted and naturally regenerating lodgepole pine recruits was best in the bole-only, residue-retention treatment, where soil moisture and inorganic nitrogen supply was also highest. However, we found no indication that whole-tree harvesting lowered soil moisture, soil nitrogen supply or pools relative to uncut stands. The density of trees regenerating beneath uncut stands indicates that post-outbreak forest structure should recover without management in these forests. The cohort of trees that regenerated following MPB-related overstory mortality, but prior to harvesting, comprise the fastest-growing component of the growing stock and 30% of its density. The broader watershed-scale outcomes of these treatments and their implications for wildfire behavior and other effects remain uncertain. However, the soil and tree patterns we report during the initial post-treatment period inform on-going decisions regarding harvest and residue retention and create a platform to guide future forest management research.
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