Reconstructed old-growth forest stand structure and composition of two stands on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington State /
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| Format: | Government Document eBook |
| Language: | English |
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Portland, OR :
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station,
[2010]
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| Series: | Research paper PNW ;
583. |
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| Online Access: | PURL http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rp583.pdf |
| Abstract: | We reconstructed the stand structure and composition for two western Washington old-growth forest stands harvested around 1930 (named Fresca and Rail) from field and historical data. Both old-growth stands had a codominant or dominant 250-year-old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) overstory with a few scattered older Douglas-fir. Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) was codominant at Rail but was predominantly in the mid-story and understory at Fresca. The Fresca site is now dominated by Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.) and western hemlock, whereas Rail has a composition similar to the previous old-growth stand. Events taking place early in succession are probably responsible for the differences between the modern and historical stands. Accelerated restoration of old-growth structural diversity may be possible at both sites through repeated creation of artificial gaps, but Fresca will remain different from its historical composition. |
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| Item Description: | Cover title. "January 2010." |
| Physical Description: | 22 pages : map ; 28 cm. Also available via Internet. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 18-22). |