Tree growth responses to extreme drought after mechanical thinning and prescribed fire in a Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest, USA

被引:32
|
作者
Zald, Harold S. J. [1 ]
Callahan, Chance C. [2 ]
Hurteau, Matthew D. [3 ]
Goodwin, Marissa J. [3 ]
North, Malcolm P. [4 ]
机构
[1] US Forest Serv, USDA, Pacific Northwest Res Stn, Corvallis, OR 97333 USA
[2] Cal Poly Humboldt, Dept Forestry & Wildland Resources, Arcata, CA 95521 USA
[3] Univ New Mexico, Dept Biol, Albuquerque, NM 87131 USA
[4] US Forest Serv, USDA, Pacific Southwest Res Stn, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546 USA
关键词
Drought; Mechanical thinning; Prescribed burning; Tree growth; Tree-rings; LOW ELEVATION FORESTS; PONDEROSA PINE; CLIMATE-CHANGE; CALIFORNIA DROUGHT; STAND DEVELOPMENT; SPATIAL-PATTERNS; MORTALITY-RATES; DIE-OFF; RESISTANCE; SOIL;
D O I
10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120107
中图分类号
S7 [林业];
学科分类号
0829 ; 0907 ;
摘要
An estimated 128 M trees died during the 2012-2016 California drought, largely in the southern Sierra Nevada Range. Prescribed burning and mechanical thinning are widely used to reduce fuels and restore ecosystem properties, but it is unclear if these treatments improve tree growth and vigor during extreme drought. This study examined tree growth responses after thinning, prescribed burning, and extreme drought at the Teakettle Experimental Forest, a historically frequent fire mixed-conifer forest in the southern Sierra Nevada of California, USA. Mechanical thinning (no thin, understory thin, and overstory thin) and prescribed burning (unburned, fall burning) were implemented in 2000-2001. Using annual growth data from increment cores, over 10,000 mapped and measured trees, and lidar-derived metrics of solar radiation and topographic wetness, we had two primary questions. First, what were the growth responses to thinning and prescribed burning treatments, and did these responses persist during the 2012-2016 drought? Second, what tree-level attributes and environmental conditions influenced growth responses to treatments and drought? Thinning increased residual tree growth and that response persisted through extreme drought 10-15 years after treatments. Growth responses were higher in overstory versus understory thinning, with differences between thinning types more pronounced during drought. Species-specific growth responses were strongest with overstory thinning, with sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) and incense-cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) having higher growth responses compared to white fir (Abies concolor) and Jeffery pine (Pinus jeffreyi). For individual trees, factors associated with higher growth responses were declining pretreatment growth trend, smaller tree size, and post-treatment low neighborhood basal area. Growth responses were initially not influenced by topography, but topographic wetness became important during extreme drought. Mechanical thinning resulted in durable increases in residual tree growth rates during extreme drought over a decade after thinning occurred, indicating treatment longevity in mitigating drought stress. In contrast, tree growth did not improve after prescribed burning, likely due to fire effects that reduced surface fuels, but had little effect on reducing tree density. Thinning treatments promoted durable growth responses, but focusing on stand-level metrics may ignore important tree-level attributes such as localized competition and topography associated with higher water availability. Mechanical thinning was effective at improving growth in trees that had been experiencing declining growth trends, but was less effective in improving growth responses in large old trees of higher ecological importance.
引用
收藏
页数:13
相关论文
共 50 条
  • [21] Fuel dynamics and reburn severity following high-severity fire in a Sierra Nevada, USA, mixed-conifer forest
    Jamie M. Lydersen
    Brandon M. Collins
    Michelle Coppoletta
    Melissa R. Jaffe
    Hudson Northrop
    Scott L. Stephens
    Fire Ecology, 15
  • [22] The Post-Fire Assembly Processes of Tree Communities Based on Spatial Analysis of a Sierra Nevada Mixed-Conifer Forest
    Tamjidi, Jelveh
    Lutz, James A.
    FIRE-SWITZERLAND, 2020, 3 (04): : 1 - 19
  • [23] Plant community response to thinning and repeated fire in Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest understories (vol 495, 119361, 2021)
    Odland, M. C.
    Goodwin, M. J.
    Smithers, B. V.
    Hurteau, M. D.
    North, M. P.
    FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, 2021, 496
  • [24] Pyrosilviculture: Combining prescribed fire with gap-based silviculture in mixed-conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada
    York, Robert A.
    Noble, Hunter
    Quinn-Davidson, Lenya N.
    Battles, John J.
    CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH, 2021, 51 (06) : 781 - 791
  • [25] Prescribed fire lessens bark beetle impacts despite varied effects on fuels 13 years after mastication and fire in a Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest
    Birch, Joseph D.
    Reiner, Alicia
    Dickinson, Matthew B.
    Miesel, Jessica R.
    FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, 2023, 550
  • [26] Thinning and prescribed burning increase shade-tolerant conifer regeneration in a fire excluded mixed-conifer forest
    Zald, Harold S. J.
    May, Carolina J.
    Gray, Andrew N.
    North, Malcolm P.
    Hurteau, Matthew D.
    FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, 2024, 551
  • [27] Fire and fire surrogate treatment effects on leaf litter arthropods in a western Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest
    Apigian, KO
    Dahlsten, DL
    Stephens, SL
    FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, 2006, 221 (1-3) : 110 - 122
  • [28] Prescribed fire mortality of Sierra Nevada mixed conifer tree species: effects of crown damage and forest floor combustion
    Stephens, SL
    Finney, MA
    FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, 2002, 162 (2-3) : 261 - 271
  • [29] A forest reconstruction model to assess changes to Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest during the fire suppression era
    Barth, Molly A. F.
    Larson, Andrew J.
    Lutz, James A.
    FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, 2015, 354 : 104 - 118
  • [30] Thinning, tree-growth, and resistance to multi-year drought in a mixed-conifer forest of northern California
    Vernon, Michael J.
    Sherriff, Rosemary L.
    van Mantgem, Phillip
    Kane, Jeffrey M.
    FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, 2018, 422 : 190 - 198