landscape photo from john prince research forest showing trees in front of a lake

Monitoring & Next Steps

Monitoring:

Monitoring is an essential component of the ASCC study. Research partners from many institutions are working together to investigate the effectiveness of different silvicultural treatments aimed at creating adaptive ecosystems. Some of the monitoring items include: 

  • Regeneration of planted seedlings
  • Residual tree survival and growth
  • Microclimate conditions
  • Culturally important understory species
  • Overstory species mixture
  • Endemic and novel pest presence and levels

Progress & Next Steps:

The 4 adaptation treatments (control, resistance, resilience, and transition), as well as a clear-cut with retention treatment, where replicated 4 times across a 490-acre (200-hectare) area on the John Prince Research Forest. During the summer of 2021 field crews collected pre-harvest, baseline data on forest overstory, midstory, shrub layer, understory, regen, and CWD. Winter harvesting was preformed in January and February 2022. During the summer of 2022 field crews established permanent sample plots and re-measured stand structure and the vegetation communities immediately following harvest. 

Planting across all treatments was completed in 2023. Species included in experimental plantings across all treatments are hybrid spruce, Douglas-fir and lodgepole pine. The resistance and resilience also included ponderosa pine while the transition included ponderosa pine plus four additional species, western hemlock, western redcedar, western white pine and western larch. Individual seedling data is being collected in the experimental plantings; baseline forest health data is being collected on the permanent sample plots.

 

Drone Imagery at JPRF
Drone imagery of treatment hexagons following harvest (April 2022). Treatments can be differentiated based on the amount and spatial distribution of retained tree. Photo Provided By: John Prince Research Forest ​​​​team