Forest Sciences Commons^™

Reconstruction Of Piñon-Juniper Forest Structure To Examine Historic Wildlife Habitat Characteristics In The Davis Mountains, Usa, Brian P. Oswald, John R. Lanham, James C. Kroll, Mohammed M. Bataineh, Yanli Zhang

Faculty Publications

Changes in piñon-juniper (Pinus spp., Juniperus spp.) communities across the southwestern United States have often decreased ecological diversity of the understory and increases of exotic species. Reconstructing age and establishment patterns provides essential understanding to guide treatments and management for anthropogenically-altered forests. The goal of this study was to determine how patterns of piñon and juniper growth in the Davis Mountains, Texas, varied over time and how this pattern influenced wildlife habitat of several indicator species. Establishment patterns and basal area growth progression were identified, canopy cover estimates regressed from pre-developed canopy regression equations to re-construct historic forest stand …