Amanda F. Linnell Nemec

Long-term effects of site preparation and postplanting vegetation control on Picea glauca survival, growth and predicted yield in boreal British Columbia

Abstract The 19–20-year effects of mechanical site preparation, windrow burning, chemical site preparation, and postplanting vegetation control on survival and growth of planted white spruce are reported from two boreal sites in British Columbia, Canada. Survival differed between treatments at both sites, but was relatively good (≥77%) even in untreated plots. Current data regarding the proportion of spruce that were physically overtopped by vegetation and previous results from related soils and vegetation studies suggest that lasting reductions in tall shrub and aspen abundance were more important to spruce growth than early microenvironmental effects associated with manipulating the rooting environment. At Inga Lake, postplanting vegetation control produced a 13-fold increase in spruce volume over the control after 19 years, which was statistically equivalent to increases resulting from fine mixing, plow-inverting and windrow burning site preparation treatments. At Iron Creek, chemical site preparation and plow-inverting quadrupled spruce volume, whereas mounding, patch scarification and disc trenching were ineffective. Growth and yield simulations using treatment-specific site index curves for Inga Lake suggested that rotation length could be shortened by 12–16 years through the use of site preparation or postplanting vegetation control. However, untreated areas, due to the relatively good survival of white spruce at age 19, were predicted to produce equivalent volume if left to grow to mean annual increment culmination age.

Twenty-year effects of mechanical site preparation and windrow burning treatments on soil properties and Pinus contorta var. latifolia nutrition in sub-boreal British Columbia

Abstract This study examined mechanical site preparation and windrow burning effects on soil properties and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) foliar nutrients on a sub-boreal site in north–central British Columbia, Canada. After two decades, there were no adverse long-term effects on soil bulk density. Rather, bulk densities to 20 cm depth declined continuously in all treatments including the control. Coarse mixing was associated with lasting increases in organic matter-related properties [total carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), ammonium-N, C/N] compared with the control, whereas plow-inverting, disk trenching, fine mixing and windrow burning had no lasting effects on these attributes. In contrast, windrow burning caused persistent increases in pH and related properties (cation exchange capacity, exchangeable calcium and potassium) relative to the control. Mechanical treatments had more short-lived effects on these properties, with the exception that coarse mixing caused significant 20-year reductions in pH relative to the control. There were slight deficiencies of foliar N, sulfur (S) and boron according to published thresholds. None of the treatments affected foliar N, and the effects on total S and sulfate-S were highly variable and not statistically significant. Boron deficiency in the control and mechanical treatments worsened between years 10 and 20, whereas levels on burned windrows were continuously high.

Terrestrial lichen response to partial cutting in lodgepole pine forests on caribou winter range in west-central British Columbia.

In west-central British Columbia, terrestrial lichens located in older, lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests are important winter forage for woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). Clearcut harvesting effectively removes winter forage habitat for decades, so management approaches based on partial cutting were designed to maintain continuous lichen-bearing habitat for caribou. This study tested a group selection system, based on removal of 33% of the forest every 80 years in small openings (15 m diameter), and two irregular shelterwood treatments (whole-tree and stem-only harvesting methods) where 50% of the stand area is cut every 70 years in 20 to 30 m diameter openings. The abundance of common terrestrial lichens among the partial cutting and no-harvest treatments was compared across five replicate blocks, pre-harvest (1995) and post-harvest (1998, 2000 and 2004). The initial loss of preferred forage lichens (Cladonia, Cladina, Cetraria and Stereocaulon) was similar among harvesting treatments, but there was greater reduction in these lichens in the openings than in the residual forest. After eight years, forage lichens in the group selection treatment recovered to pre-harvest amounts, while lichen in the shelterwood treatments steadily increased from 49 to 57% in 1998 to about 70% of pre-harvest amounts in 2004. Although not part of the randomized block design, there was substantially less lichen in three adjacent clearcut blocks than in the partial cuts. Regression analysis pre- and post-harvest indicated that increased cover of trees, shrubs, herbs, woody debris and logging slash corresponded with decreased forage lichen abundance. In the short-term, forestry activities that minimize inputs of woody debris, control herb and shrub development, and moderate the changes in light and temperatures associated with canopy removal will lessen the impact on lichen. Implementation of stand level prescriptions is only one aspect of caribou habitat management. A comprehensive approach should consider all factors and their interactions to maintain a viable population of woodland caribou in west-central British Columbia.

Arboreal forage lichen response to partial cutting of high elevation mountain caribou range in the Quesnel Higland of east-central British Columbia

Group selection silvicultural systems have been recommended for managing mountain caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) habitat in high elevation Engelmann spruce – subalpine fir forests in east-central British Columbia. We measured the response of arboreal lichen (a key winter forage) to harvesting of 30% of the forested area using three partial cutting treatments, which created small (0.03 ha), medium (0.13 ha), and large (1.0 ha) openings, and a no-harvest treatment. Treatments were replicated on four sites, and monitored over a ten year post-harvest period. The short-term loss of lichen associated with removal of approximately one third of the trees was partially offset by a significant (P=0.01) increase in lichen abundance on trees in the caribou feeding zone (up to 4.5 m) in the three partial cutting treatments relative to trees in the uncut forest. Differences among treatments in the change in lichen composition, as measured by the percentage of Alectoria sarmentosa and Bryoria spp., were marginally significant (P=0.10). The partial cutting treatments showing a greater likelihood of shifting towards more Bryoria spp. than no-harvest treatment (P=0.04). In the year of harvest (1993), larger trees were found to hold more lichen than smaller trees (P=0.04), and live trees supported more lichen than dead trees (P=0.01), but lichen loading was similar among tree species (P=0.51). Tree fall rates were similar among treatments, based on the ten year average (0.6–0.8% of sample trees per year). The results indicate that caribou foraging habitat is maintained in the residual forest when group selection systems that remove only 30% of the trees are applied. Information on the distribution of lichen is useful for developing stand level prescriptions. Providing lichen bearing habitat meets just one of the needs of caribou. A comprehensive approach that considers all factors and their interactions is essential to maintain and recover the threatened mountain caribou.

Soil Characteristics and Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) Performance Two Decades after Disk Trenching of Unburned and Broadcast-Burned Plots in Subboreal British Columbia

We examined the effects of low-impact broadcast-burning and disk-trenching planting position (control, hinge, trench) on soil characteristics and lodgepole pine foliar nutrition and growth over two decades at a subboreal site in British Columbia, Canada. Broadcast burning had virtually no effect on either the bulk density or chemical properties of soil. In contrast, significant reductions in soil bulk density and increases in soil nutrient availability persisted for 20 years in hinge position soils relative to undisturbed (control) soil between trenches. These effects on bulk density and nutrient availability are associated with significant differences in pine size by year 6. Burning and planting positions interacted significantly in their effect on pine height, diameter, and stem volume for at least 19 years. Pine survival was high regardless of burning or planting position. Neither broadcast burning nor planting position significantly affected lodgepole pine foliar nutrient status in this study.

Identifying and Characterizing Important Trembling Aspen Competitors with Juvenile Lodgepole Pine in Three South-Central British Columbia Ecosystems

Critical height ratios for predicting competition between trembling aspen and lodgepole pine were identified in six juvenile stands in three south-central British Columbia ecosystems. We used a series of regression analyses predicting pine stem diameter from the density of neighbouring aspen in successively shorter relative height classes to identify the aspen-pine height ratio that maximized R2. Critical height ratios varied widely among sites when stands were 8–12 years old but, by age 14–19, had converged at 1.25–1.5. Maximum R2 values at age 14–19 ranged from 13.4% to 69.8%, demonstrating that the importance of aspen competition varied widely across a relatively small geographic range. Logistic regression also indicated that the risk of poor pine vigour in the presence of aspen varied between sites. Generally, the degree of competition, risk to pine vigour, and size of individual aspen contributing to the models declined along a gradient of decreasing ecosystem productivity.

A Gamma-Poisson model for vertical location and frequency of buds on lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) leaders

The aim of this work was to model the vertical location and number of branch primordia (buds) on the leader of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Doug. ex Loud.) trees in central British Columbia. For ...