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Author(s):
Robert E. Keane, Russell A. Parsons
Year Published:

Cataloging Information

Topic(s):
Fire Ecology
Insects & Disease
Fire & Bark Beetles
Fire History
Fuels
Fuel Treatments & Effects
Management Approaches
Recovery after fire
Ecosystem(s):
Alpine forest/krummholz, Subalpine wet spruce-fir forest, Subalpine dry spruce-fir forest

NRFSN number: 11143
FRAMES RCS number: 8268
Record updated:

Whitebark pine is declining across much of its range in North America because of the combined effects of mountain pine beetle epidemics, fire exclusion policies, and widespread exotic blister rust infections. This management guide summarizes the extensive data collected at whitebark pine treatment sites for three periods: (1) pre-treatment, (2) 1 year post-treatment, and (3) 5 years post-treatment (one site has a 10 year post-treatment measurement). Study results are organized here so that managers can identify possible effects of a treatment at their own site by matching it to the most similar treatment unit in this study, based on vegetation conditions, fire regime, and geographical area. This guide is based on the Restoring Whitebark Pine Ecosystems study, which was initiated in 1993 to investigate the effects of various restoration treatments on tree mortality, regeneration, and vascular plant response on five sites in the northern Rocky Mountains. The objective was to enhance whitebark pine regeneration and cone production using treatments that emulate the native fire regime. Since data summaries are for individual treatment units, there are no analyses of differences across treatment units or across sites.

Citation

Keane, Robert E.; Parsons, Russell A. 2010. Management guide to ecosystem restoration treatments: whitebark pine forests of the Northern Rocky Mountains, U.S.A. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-232. Fort Collins, CO: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 133 p.