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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Managing Gambel Oak In Southwestern Ponderosa Pine Forests: The Status Of Our Knowledge, Scott R. Abella Nov 2008

Managing Gambel Oak In Southwestern Ponderosa Pine Forests: The Status Of Our Knowledge, Scott R. Abella

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) is a key deciduous species in southwestern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests and is important for wildlife habitat, soil processes, and human values. This report (1) summarizes Gambel oak’s biological characteristics and importance in ponderosa pine forests, (2) synthesizes literature on changes in tree densities and fire frequencies since Euro-American settlement in pine-oak forests, (3) suggests management prescriptions for accomplishing various oak management objectives (for example, increasing diameter growth or acorn production), and (4) provides an appendix containing 203 Gambel oak literature citations organized by subject. Nine studies that reconstructed Gambel oak density changes since settlement …


Gambel Oak Growth Forms: Management Opportunities For Increasing Ecosystem Diversity, Scott R. Abella Sep 2008

Gambel Oak Growth Forms: Management Opportunities For Increasing Ecosystem Diversity, Scott R. Abella

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) clones have several different growth forms in southwestern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests, and these growth forms each provide unique wildlife habitat and resource values. The purposes of this note are to review published growth-form classifications for Gambel oak, provide examples of ecological effects of different growth forms, and summarize management strategies for promoting desired growth forms. Four different growth-form classifications have been published, which generally recognize variants of three basic forms: shrubby thickets of small-diameter stems, pole-sized clumps, and large trees. These growth forms exemplify ecological and management tradeoffs. For example, shrubby forms provide browse …


Tb197: Forest Biomass Estimates In Maine:Statewide, County, And Spatial, Kenneth M. Laustsen Jun 2008

Tb197: Forest Biomass Estimates In Maine:Statewide, County, And Spatial, Kenneth M. Laustsen

Technical Bulletins

In Maine, statewide biomass estimates have increased from 752 million dry tons in 1982 to 980 million dry tons in a 2003 estimate. These estimates are produced using Forest Inventory & Analysis (FIA) data collected during Maine’s periodic and now annualized inventory design. The Maine Forest Service began tracking and reporting on wood flows of biomass in 1986. For the last 20 years (1986–2005) the total annual harvesting of all products has ranged between 6 and 7 million cords, extracted from a standing inventory that is currently estimated to be 277 million cords. The objectives of this current study were …


Relative Fitness And Behavioral Compensation Of Amphibians In A Managed Forest, Sean Michael Blomquist Jan 2008

Relative Fitness And Behavioral Compensation Of Amphibians In A Managed Forest, Sean Michael Blomquist

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Habitat loss and degradation are two of the most important factors leading to the imperilment of species worldwide including amphibians, but mechanisms underlying these changes are poorly understood. To understand the fitness potential of harvested forests, I conducted studies of a forest specialist, Rana sylvatica (Wood Frogs) and compared these results with those from identical studies with an open canopy specialist, R. pipiens (Northern Leopard Frogs) in response to an unharvested control and three forest harvesting treatments: clearcutting (with removal of all merchantable timber > 10 cm diameter), clearcutting with coarse woody debris retention, and partial harvesting with removal of < 25% canopy cover. First, I used radio-telemetry data collected on 72 adult R. …