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Restoring Mixed-Conifer Forests with Fire and Mechanical Thinning: Effects on Soil Properties and Mature Conifer Foliage

Miesel, Jessica Rae
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1239375425

Abstract Details

2009, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology.
The forests of northern California experienced frequent, low-intensity fire prior to Euro-American settlement, but more than a century of grazing, logging and fire suppression has resulted in changes in tree community structure that contribute to infrequent, high-intensity fires in these forests today. Although ecosystem restoration for reduction of wildfire hazard has received substantial attention in recent years, many ecological questions remain unanswered. For example, it is not yet clear how large-scale forest manipulations, such as reduction of tree density via forest thinning or prescribed fire, differentially affect soil fertility, nor how impacts on soil nutrient availability in turn affect forest productivity. My research in the Klamath National Forest of northern California investigates the impacts of experimental restoration treatments (prescribed fire, mechanical thinning, and their combination) on soil physical, chemical and microbial parameters and forest floor C and N content, and the time lag and duration of response of leaf nutrient concentrations of two dominant tree species to each treatment. Results showed that significant differences existed among treatments in terms of soil nutrient status and microbial activity, with the effect of fire either mediated or enhanced by thinning; however, for most variables the magnitude of effect was small. Prescribed fire had different effects on soil nutrients and microbial activity in unthinned areas than in areas that had been mechanically thinned prior to fire, and the species composition of trees that remain following thinning significantly affected soil nutrient availability and forest floor C and N content. Thinning also affected conifer needle nutrient concentration and size whereas fire alone does not, and the time since treatment as well as the magnitude and direction of response differed between tree species and among treatments. These results provide an intermediate-term evaluation of the effects of fire and thinning on soil and vegetation, and increase understanding of the link between the above- and belowground components of a mixed-conifer ecosystem. This study contributes to an ecosystem-level understanding of forest restoration strategies, and provides information that is directly applicable to fire and forest management policies in the western United States.
Ralph E.J. Boerner, PhD (Advisor)
Roger A. Williams, PhD (Committee Member)
Peter S. Curtis, PhD (Committee Member)
209 p.
Biology; Ecology; Forestry
fire; thinning; mixed-conifer; soil; foliage; forest; restoration; Fire and Fire Surrogate

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Miesel, J. R. (2009). Restoring Mixed-Conifer Forests with Fire and Mechanical Thinning: Effects on Soil Properties and Mature Conifer Foliage [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1239375425

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Miesel, Jessica. Restoring Mixed-Conifer Forests with Fire and Mechanical Thinning: Effects on Soil Properties and Mature Conifer Foliage. 2009. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1239375425.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Miesel, Jessica. "Restoring Mixed-Conifer Forests with Fire and Mechanical Thinning: Effects on Soil Properties and Mature Conifer Foliage." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1239375425

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.