Browsing by Subject "Forest Management"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Estimation And Analysis Of Total Suspended Solid Yields From The Mica Creek Experimental Watershed, Idaho
    (2016-08) Elverson, Charlie
    Transport and concentration of Total Suspended Solids (TSS) in forested streams play an important role in ecosystem health, affecting the health of fish populations and playing a role in nutrient delivery to floodplains. Despite a long history of studying TSS yields, estimates of TSS yields remain uncertain. Multiple methods have been commonly used to estimate time-aggregated TSS yields from water samples. This study investigated the effects of contemporary timber harvest practices on TSS yields as well as the robustness of conclusions to different methods of TSS yield calculation. TSS yields were calculated using linear interpolation, flow-weighted averaging, and statistical regression. The study utilized a paired-watershed design, with 6 years of calibration data between the control watershed and 2 treatment watersheds. One watershed was clearcut across 50% of its area and allowed to recover for the remaining 12 years of the study period. The other treatment watershed had 50% of basal area removed across 50% of it's total area. After the thinning treatment, the watershed was allowed to recover for 9 years before being clearcut across 46% of the area which was originally thinned. The watershed was then allowed to recover for the remaining 3 years of the study. Harvest impacts on TSS yield varied between treatment watershed and season, with the most significant changes occurring during spring (March through June). Furthermore, the different methods of TSS yield estimation provided different conclusions about TSS yield trends as well as total yields, with statistical regression providing the most consistently defensible estimates.
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    Influence of Eastern Dwarf Mistletoe and Fungi on Regeneration Health and Composition in Lowland Black Spruce Post-Harvest
    (2022-06) Gorman, Alexander
    Black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill] Britton, Sterns & Poggenb) is a dominant and wide-ranging North American boreal forest species. It reaches its southwestern range limit in Minnesota, USA. Forest managers in Minnesota have become increasingly aware of how eastern dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium pusillum [Peck]) (EDM) may be influencing the ability of black spruce to regenerate after harvest naturally. This study aimed to explore regeneration dynamics in black spruce stands, quantify residual tree density and impact from EDM, and quantify EDM infestation in neighboring stands. Ten stands were surveyed over three years in northern Minnesota pre-and post-harvest. Eastern larch comprised almost 70% of the regeneration in EDM infected stands and over 50% of the regeneration in the uninfected stands, suggesting that the light intensive environment is favorable for eastern larch regeneration. A significant difference was observed between the total percentage of black spruce regeneration recorded, with uninfected stands having a higher proportion of black spruce (p = 0.06). The diameter at breast height in inches and the square feet of basal area per acre were greater in stands with EDM infections due to residual trees left in clumps. While clear-cuts are a viable option for mitigating EDM, the disease will continue to occur if the 5-foot cutting rule is not followed. Likewise, neighboring stands can be a source of future EMD infections even if the 5-foot cutting rule is efficiently applied within a stand. Management decisions for EDM should consider infection both within the stand and at the broader landscape level (neighboring stands) when developing management recommendations. Additionally, twelve actively managed black spruce stands in Northern Minnesota, USA, were sampled to understand better the diversity and abundance of fungi present in black spruce bogs affected by eastern spruce dwarf mistletoe. The twelve stands were divided evenly between recently harvested (six stands) and unharvested (six stands); additionally, half of the harvested and unharvested stands were infected with eastern spruce dwarf mistletoe, and half were uninfected. Due to the potential for fungal infections to act as secondary disturbance agents that could expedite black spruce mortality, an emphasis was placed on investigating the presence of fungal pathogens in the Basidiomycota. Forty distinct fungal species were identified across all twelve study stands. Of all the species identified, less than half (43%) were determined to be fungal pathogens. No significant differences in fungal diversity were found between the study treatments. Additional work in black spruce systems should increase understanding of potential above and below ground disturbance agents.
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    University of Minnesota Cloquet Forestry Center Programmatic Burn Plan 2020
    (2020-10) Godwin, Daniel; Lasky, Dave; Graeve, Matt; Johnson, Lane B; Gill, Kyle G; Priestly, Paul; Lynch, Mike
    This programmatic burn plan identifies resources and conditions necessary to bring prescribed fire (also known as planned or controlled fire) back the University of Minnesota Cloquet Forestry Center (CFC). The primary objective for all prescribed burning operations is to reintroduce fire as an ecological and cultural process to promote and maintain historically fire-dependent forest communities. The plan contains twenty-one elements following the standard established in the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) Prescribed Fire Plan Template, PMS 484-1. Elements that are addressed include, but are not limited to, burn unit descriptions, prescriptions and objectives, safety hazards, resources needed for ignition, holding, and contingency, and a Go/No-go checklist for the day of burns. Seven burn units are identified across the CFC totaling 201.4 acres. The burn units range in size from 3.6-53.7 acres. Four units, totaling 75.2 acres, are identified as priority units and have site-specific information for prescribed fire implementation including maps. These units require minimal preparation to be ready for burning as of 2020; preparation primarily requires fire line establishment or refreshing where the unit perimeter is not already bounded by a road. Three additional units, totaling 126.2 acres, are identified as secondary units. These units require structural modification, primarily forest canopy density reduction through thinning, prior to being burned. This plan will serve as an umbrella document for the development of site-specific materials for these remaining units. For all units, appendices can be added, as necessary, with updated burn unit structure and fuel conditions.
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    Using a Modified Delphi in Rapidly Changing Times-- Ash Management Guide
    (St. Paul, MN: University of Minnesota Extension Service, 2011-10) Gupta, Angela; Mayer, Amy; Miedtke, Julie
    The world is changing quickly; however, delivering scientific information takes time. A modified-Delphi approach offers those of us working in Extension a way to address methodological constraints to our ability to provide research-based, credible information under rapidly changing conditions. In 2011, the authors used a modified-Delphi technique facilitated by Survey Monkey to create a systematic, interactive, structured survey process to engage a panel of experts from many different areas of expertise. A careful administration of the survey over three distinct rounds generated sound management recommendations from which the publication Ash Management Guidelines for Private Forest Landowners was produced. The process used could be applied in varied disciplines when there is a desire to find meaningful answers to difficult questions in an efficient, timely manner. The modified-Delphi process enabled natural resource professionals and other stakeholders to share management recommendations in a quickly changing world of invasive species, climate change, and an increasingly unknown future. Respondents provided survey-based feedback in three rounds. Their responses, stripped of identifiers, were used to generate each subsequent survey round.