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Full-Text Articles in Forest Management

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 …


Past, Present, And Future Old Growth In Frequent-Fire Conifer Forests Of The Western United States, Scott R. Abella, W. Wallace Covington, Peter Z. Fule, Leigh B. Lentile, Andrew J. Sanchez Meador, Penelope Morgan Jan 2007

Past, Present, And Future Old Growth In Frequent-Fire Conifer Forests Of The Western United States, Scott R. Abella, W. Wallace Covington, Peter Z. Fule, Leigh B. Lentile, Andrew J. Sanchez Meador, Penelope Morgan

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

Old growth in the frequent-fire conifer forests of the western United States, such as those containing ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Jeffrey pine (P. jeffreyi), giant sequoia (Sequioa giganteum) and other species, has undergone major changes since Euro-American settlement. Understanding past changes and anticipating future changes under different potential management scenarios are fundamental to developing ecologically based fuel reduction or ecological restoration treatments. Some of the many changes that have occurred in these forests include shifts from historically frequent surface fire to no fire or to stand-replacing fire regimes, increases in tree density, increased abundance of fire-intolerant trees, decreases in understory …


Tree Thinning And Prescribed Burning Effects On Ground Flora In Arizona Ponderosa Pine Forests: A Review, Scott R. Abella Jan 2004

Tree Thinning And Prescribed Burning Effects On Ground Flora In Arizona Ponderosa Pine Forests: A Review, Scott R. Abella

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

Ground flora is an important response variable to monitor after tree thinning and prescribed burning treatments designed to restore Arizona ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa P.& C. Lawson) forests. This paper reviews published literature on the effects of thinning and burning on ground flora in Arizona ponderosa pine forests in five main categories of research: ground flora biomass, species diversity, plant community composition, population processes, and individual species ecology. Research published to date suggests that thinning and burning generally increase ground flora biomass, whereas other categories of research such as community composition and population processes have been little studied in Arizona …