Juniper Control Aspen Restoration
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Transcript of Juniper Control Aspen Restoration
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Juniper Control Aspen Restoration
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Aspen, Northern Great Basin
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Location; Steens Mountain, Oregon
Cutting Treatment – 1/3 of mature junipers cut for developing fuels base in spring 2001.
Fall Burns – applied October 2001Spring Burn – applied April 2002
Cooperators; Bureau of Land Management, Burns, Oregon Otley Brothers, Inc., Diamond, Oregon
Aspen Restoration: Selective Juniper Cutting and Prescribed Fire
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Experimental Design
5 treatment replications.
3 treatments (Control (no treatment), cut & fall burn, cut & spring burn).
ControlCut &
fall burnCut &
spring burn
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Measurements:
Project has evaluated …
- Effectiveness of treatments at removing all juniper, from seedling to mature age classes.
- Aspen recruitment
- Shrub cover and density
- Understory cover, density, and diversity
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Selective Cut and Fall Fire
Intense fire
September or October burns
Burned with soils dry
Higher risk of fire escape
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Selective Cut and Spring Fire
Less intense fire
Late April burn
Burned with soils frozen and at field capacity
No risk of fire escape
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Results
FALL BURNS
- 99.9% juniper kill
- increased aspen suckering 6 fold (10,000 ha in 2004)
- sagebrush lost, most other shrubs resprouted.
- increased bareground.
- lost most of the perennial understory except for plants with growth points below ground and with fire resistant seed.
- stimulated T&E species
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Results
SPRING BURNS
- 10% of mature juniper remain.
- 50% of juniper seedlings survived. Enough to fully restock site in 70-80 years.
- Increased aspen to 5,000 ha
- Sagebrush lost only under burned trees, other shrubs resprouted or not effected.
- Understory remained largely intact. Understory cover and diversity increased 300%.
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Conclusions
• Cut and Fall Burn
– most effective method for removing juniper.– greatest aspen recruitment– greater disturbance severity
• understory• hydrology
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Conclusions
• Cut and Spring Burn
– less effective method for removing subcanopy and seedling juniper.
– increased aspen recruitment . . . but . . .– reduced disturbance severity
• understory• hydrology• aspen