Natural Regeneration In Partial Cuts And Mature Forests After Mountain Pine Beetle Infestation In The West Chilcotin

The Itcha-Ilgachuz Research Project was initiated in the west Chilcotin region of central British Columbia to test variants of group selection and irregular group shelterwood silvicultural systems for managing lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) forests for timber and northern caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou Gmelin, northern ecotype) winter habitat. The results presented in this report are from three assessments that have been completed since the start of the mountain pine beetle outbreak, and are provided in context with the results from the earlier natural regeneration study. The results provide insight into how successfully the study sites and surrounding forests, which have sustained variable levels of mortality, regenerate naturally.--Includes text from document.

The objectives of this study were to: 1. compare the key environmental variables between blocks (elevational effect) and treatments (clearcut and irregular group shelterwood with whole-tree harvesting partial cut), and between microsites within partial cut openings (north and south edges and centre); and 2. examine temporal changes occurring to environmental variables in the context of the changing biological environment. This document includes an introduction, methods, results and discussion, and a summary.--Includes text from document.

Under the federal Mountain Pine Beetle Program, research is being implemented to study the economic and ecological characteristics of mountain pine beetle-damaged stands in British Columbia and Alberta. Stand development projections following mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) (MPB) attack will depend upon the ability to accurately project natural regeneration following attack. In this study, stand structure measured on affected stands shortly after attack was used to estimate the abundance and composition of natural regeneration a number of years following attack. Specific objectives were: to assess natural regeneration development in stands that have sustained mortality during current and/or previous MPB outbreaks; to develop a natural regeneration database for use in connection with the PrognosisBC growth and yield simulator; to use imputation techniques to extend the existing natural regeneration model to MPB-affected stands in the southern and central interior of the province; and to develop and enhance the software necessary to allow reasonable projections of MPB-affected stands.--Document.

We developed a decision-support framework that integrates scenario analysis and multi-criteria decision analysis and used it to analyze forest renewal in the study area of the Quesnel Timber Supply Area. Two consensus-based scenarios were constructed to represent the target future conditions: strong forest sector and forest resilience/economic diversification. Renewal strategies were constructed using multi-criteria decision analysis and sets of criteria specific to each scenario. Impacts of the renewal strategies are measured in terms of several timber and non-timber indicators. The key economic and timber-related impacts are linked to merchantable volume. Ecological impacts are assessed by analyzing wildlife communities associated with the broad habitat categories. None of the strategies generated for the scenarios was acceptable in terms of all criteria and outcomes. Further revisions of the scenarios and criteria, with the involvement of local stakeholders, is therefore recommended for decision-making. The integrated framework developed for this study is general and allows for other community and forest management concerns to be incorporated. The framework demonstrates how the stakeholders' goals regarding their community's future are formulated and how the conflicts between multiple criteria may be addressed. Impacts of the renewal strategies are measured in terms of several timber and non-timber indicators. The key economic and timber-related impacts are linked to merchantable volume. Ecological impacts are assessed by analyzing wildlife communities associated with the broad habitat categories. None of the strategies generated for the scenarios was acceptable in terms of all criteria and outcomes. Further revisions of the scenarios and criteria, with the involvement of local stakeholders, is therefore recommended for decision-making. The integrated framework developed for this study is general and allows for other community and forest management concerns to be incorporated. The framework demonstrates how the stakeholders' goals regarding their community's future are formulated and how the conflicts between multiple criteria may be addressed.

This study is part of a series of research papers that explore the biological, social, and economic aspects of British Columbia's mountain pine beetle epidemic. The purpose of this report is to examine document changes in stand characteristics of pine dominated stands following mountain pine beetle (MPB) attack and to assess the potential of stand development after MPB attack without management intervention.--Includes text from Government of Canada publications site and from document.

"British Columbia is amid the largest recorded mountain pine beetle outbreak in North American history. To minimize timber losses, large-scale salvage operations are underway to utilize the merchantable pine. However, large-scale salvage operations can have negative impacts on a variety of forest values, including the potential to diminish mid-term timber supply opportunities. One option is to reserve stands with adequate advance regeneration for the mid-term timber supply. Another option is to salvage harvest dead trees in a way that protects the advanced regeneration. However, the health, vigour, form, and mortality rate of advance regeneration, through time, has not been well studied. To incorporate these stands into timber supply analyses and subsequent management decisions regarding reservation, mortality and forest health factors must be evaluated. We assessed the forest health of 90 residual stands over a range of stand types with varying lengths of time since attack by mountain pine beetle (MPB). Analysis of the forest health survey data showed that current damage from forest health agents was relatively low. Physical damage was the most common issue, but even in that case, the incidence ranged from

Over the past 15 years, selective cutting prescriptions have been applied by forest operations in southeastern British Columbia as part of a strategy to reduce landscape-level susceptibility to damage from mountain pine beetle outbreaks. The prescriptions have been applied in stands where maintenance of some mature forest cover is needed to meet management objectives for viewscapes, recreation and habitat or to hold some pine volume during periods of rising beetle activity until it is required or available for harvest. In this study, we examined 10 of these sites 5 to 14 years after harvest, and determined current stand composition and structure from direct sampling and pre- and post-treatment stand characteristics from stand reconstruction. We then related these characteristics to original treatment specifications; the volume removed during harvest and remaining on site after treatment; subsequent losses to wind, snow or bark beetle damage; current stocking status; radial growth rates of residual overstorey trees; and the nature of fuel complexes created and effects of treatment on potential fire behaviour.