Second-growth redwood forest responses to restoration treatments

FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

卷:496

Article

Soland, Kevin R.¹  Kerhoulas, Lucy P.¹  Kerhoulas, Nicholas J.²  Teraoka, J. R.³ 

[1] Humboldt State Univ, Dept Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1 Harpst St, Arcata, CA 95521 USA

[2] Humboldt State Univ, Dept Wildlife, 1 Harpst St, Arcata, CA 95521 USA

[3] Redwood Natl Pk, 121200 US Hwy 101, Orick, CA 95555 USA

关键词: Biodiversity;    Dendrochronology;    Growth;    Tree physiology;    Understory vegetation;    Wildlife;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119370

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Following 20th century logging, much of the natural coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens [D.Don.] Endl.) range consists of dense second-growth stands with slow tree growth and low biodiversity. There is a landscape-scale effort in much of coastal northern California to increase tree growth rates and ecosystem biodiversity via thinning treatments, thereby hopefully accelerating the development of old-growth forest characteristics. Redwood National Park has been experimenting with thinning in these forest types since the 1970s. This study investigated short- (1 year post-thinning) and long-term (40 years post-thinning) responses of redwood physiology (water potential and stomatal conductance), redwood growth (via tree-rings), and forest biodiversity (understory plants, birds, and mammals) to restoration thinning treatments. We found that thinning secondgrowth redwood forests with 40% basal area reduction treatments 1) did not meaningfully influence tree water potential, 2) increased tree stomatal conductance in the short-term, 3) increased tree growth in the longterm, 4) increased understory plant diversity, and 5) did not affect bird or mammal diversity. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that thinning second-growth redwood forests has the potential to accelerate the development of old-growth characteristics. This verification of the efficacy of restoration treatments is important information for land managers, as plans are currently underway to apply these treatments at the landscape-scale. This study can provide useful baseline data to aid future assessments of long-term forest responses to contemporary restoration efforts.

【 授权许可】

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