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Full-Text Articles in Forest Management

Harvesting Forest Biomass In The Us Southern Rocky Mountains, Lucas Patrick Townsend Jan 2019

Harvesting Forest Biomass In The Us Southern Rocky Mountains, Lucas Patrick Townsend

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and other mixed conifer forests of the United States southern Rocky Mountains (SRM) evolved under a low-severity, high-frequency fire regime. With the arrival of Euro-American colonists, fire was excluded from most forests, causing stands to grow dense and become prone to uncharacteristic high-severity crown fires. To combat wildfire threat, restoration treatments are frequently used to restore historic stand structure and function, effectively reducing high-severity fire risk. However, these treatments may be costly and little information is available regarding the forest operations used in the SRM. In this thesis, five forest operations were studied in 2017 to …


Growth Response Of Whitebark Pine (Pinus Albicaulis) Regeneration To Thinning And Prescribed Burn Release Treatments, Molly L. Mcclintock Retzlaff Jan 2017

Growth Response Of Whitebark Pine (Pinus Albicaulis) Regeneration To Thinning And Prescribed Burn Release Treatments, Molly L. Mcclintock Retzlaff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) plays a prominent role throughout high-elevation ecosystems in the northern Rocky Mountains. It is an important food source for many birds and mammals, as well as a major player in high-elevation watershed maintenance, both slowing snowmelt and stabilizing soils. Whitebark pine is vanishing from the landscape due to three main factors – white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) invasions, mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) outbreaks, and successional replacement by more shade-tolerant tree species historically controlled by wildfire. In the past century, human activity such as fire suppression has altered these …


Long-Term Impacts Of Fuel Treatments On Tree Growth And Aboveground Biomass Accumulation In Ponderosa Pine Forests Of The Northern Rocky Mountains, Kate A. Clyatt Jan 2016

Long-Term Impacts Of Fuel Treatments On Tree Growth And Aboveground Biomass Accumulation In Ponderosa Pine Forests Of The Northern Rocky Mountains, Kate A. Clyatt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In western North America, many low-elevation, dry forest types historically experienced frequent, low-severity fires. However, European settlement and fire suppression policies have contributed to over a century of fire exclusion, substantially altering forest structure and composition. There is considerable interest in restoring fire resilient characteristics to these forests through fuel reduction treatments. One limitation of current research on the impacts of fuel treatments is treatment longevity, as few studies have been able to quantify long-term responses to commonly applied treatments. This research evaluated tree growth and aboveground biomass responses 23 years after treatment in two silvicultural installations with different underburning …


Quantifying Effects Of Quaking Aspen Silvicultural Treatments On Aspen Regeneration And Residual Growth, Philip W. Williams Jan 2016

Quantifying Effects Of Quaking Aspen Silvicultural Treatments On Aspen Regeneration And Residual Growth, Philip W. Williams

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Many quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) populations are in decline across the western United States, a trend likely driven by ongoing climate change and past management that has led to increased competition with conifers. Restoration of aspen is a management goal potentially achievable through active forest management, but treatment effects on regeneration and residual growth have not been comprehensively studied. This project examined if removal of competing conifers altered aspen regeneration density, ungulate browsing, and residual adult aspen diameter growth using a control-impact study design. Sampling occurred at the Burnt Fork (ten treatments, four controls) and Bandy (seven treatments, four controls) …