Long‐term ecological responses to landscape‐scale restoration in a western United States dry forest

Tree thinning and the application of prescribed surface fire are widespread forest restoration strategies used to regain ecological structure and function throughout dry forests of the western United States. Though such treatments are increasingly applied to broad extents, their effects on forest ec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Restoration ecology Vol. 32; no. 7
Main Authors: Roccaforte, John P., Huffman, David W., Rodman, Kyle C., Crouse, Joseph E., Pedersen, Rory J., Normandin, Donald P., Fulé, Peter Z.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Malden, USA Wiley Periodicals, Inc 01.09.2024
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects:
Arizona
Coniferous forests
Coniferous trees
conifers
Controlled burning
Dry forests
Ecological effects
Environmental restoration
Evergreen trees
Fires
Forest ecosystems
forest restoration
forest structure
Forests
Hardwoods
mechanical thinning
Mortality
Oak
old‐tree mortality
Pine
Pine trees
Pinus ponderosa
Ponderosa pine
Prescribed fire
Quercus gambelii
Regeneration (biological)
Restoration strategies
Seedlings
Structure-function relationships
Terrestrial ecosystems
tree growth
tree regeneration
Trees
Western states
United States > US
Arizona
ISSN:1061-2971, 1526-100X
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Summary:Tree thinning and the application of prescribed surface fire are widespread forest restoration strategies used to regain ecological structure and function throughout dry forests of the western United States. Though such treatments are increasingly applied to broad extents, their effects on forest ecosystems are commonly evaluated at individual experimental sites or treatment units rather than large, operational landscapes. We evaluated the responses of forest structure, regeneration, old‐tree mortality, and tree growth to forest restoration for 21 years in a landscape‐scale (2114 ha) experiment in a Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)‐Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) forest in northern Arizona, United States. Relative to the start of the experiment in 1996, tree density and basal area (BA) in the treated area were reduced by 56 and 38%, respectively, at the end of the study period compared to the untreated control. Conifer seedling densities generally declined and sprouting hardwoods increased following treatment. Mortality of old oak trees was significantly higher in the treated area compared to the control, likely due to fire‐caused injury during the prescribed burning. Mean annual BA increment of individual trees was 93% higher in the treated area than in the control. Our study provides new information on Ponderosa pine forest responses to restoration treatments at broad spatial scales and under realistic operational conditions. Results from this study can help inform landscape‐scale restoration projects in dry, fire‐dependent forests.
Bibliography:Author contributions: JPR, DWH, PZF conceived and designed the research; JPR, DWH, KCR, JEC, RJP, DPN analyzed the data; JPR, KCR, JEC created tables and figures; JPR, DWH, KCR wrote and edited the manuscript.
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ISSN:1061-2971
1526-100X
DOI:10.1111/rec.14181