Forest Research and Ecosystems of the
Western Cascades
Thomas Spies
USDA Forest Service
PNW Research Station
Major Research Themes
Climate
Topography/
soils
Disturbance
Land management/
Social systems
Succession
Structure/
composition
Function
Water
Small Watersheds
Forest-Stream Interactions
Large Dead Trees
Long-Term Ecological Research
Ecosystem Management
Projected Temperature
Changes
under Climate Change
Topographic
influences
Daly et al. 2010
Portland
Portland
Eugene
Examples of High Elevation at-Risk Tree Species
Pinus
albicaulis
Chamaecyparis
nootkatensis
Abies
procera
Dry Douglas-fir/Mixed Conifer/Hardwood-Mixed severity fire
Examples of classifications of Douglas-fir stand development
Typical Age
Oliver and Larson 1990 Franklin et al. 2002
0
Legacy
20
Pioneer Establish
Stand initiation
30
Stem exclusion
Canopy closure
80
Understory rein.
Maturation
150
Old-growth
Vertical divers.
300
Horizontal divers.
800-1200
Pioneer loss
Legacy/Disturbance
HOH Fire
Canopy Closure/Competitive
Exclusion stages
Horizontal Diversity/Pioneer loss
70
Old-Growth Forest
Age Distribution
Watershed 10, HJA
Number of trees
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
575
475
375
275
Tree age (25 yr classes)
175
75
Franklin and Hemstrom 1981
Mixed/High Severity Fire Regimes
80 to >200 year return
Interval
Fire Synchrony in Western
Oregon and Washington
Desolation Peak (Agee et al. 1990)
Mt. Rainier (Hemstrom & Franklin 1982)
Bull Run (Agee & Krusermark 2001)
Humbug Creek (Garza 1995)
Blue River (Weisberg 1998)
Bear-Marten (Weisberg 1997)
Coast Range (Impara 1997)
Augusta Creek (Cissel et al. 1998)
Little River (Van Norman 1998)
Oregon Caves (Agee 1991)
Percent of Study Area Burned in 25-year Intervals
20–29%
30–49%
>50%
Impara and Swanson
Weisberg
and Swanson
Occurrence of Low Intensity Fire In Old-Growth
Douglas-fir in Washington and Oregon
% of Old-growth Stands
100
50
0
R. River NF
South
Willamette NF
Latitude
Mt Rainier NP
North
PDO < 0.5 SD below mean
Ring-Width Index
PDO > 0.5 SD above mean
PDO (MacDonald & Case 2005)
2
in the central western Cascades
0
-2
1800
1900
16
8
0
2000
1800
1900
2000
-4
S
-6
Percent of
Sampled Trees
1200
6
1300
1400
1500
1600
Year
1700
# of Stands
With Cohort
Initiation
Departure
from Mean
Ring-Width Index and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation
of Douglas-fir Trees
AAAG
4 Age Distribution
Douglas-fir Establishment
4
2
“Super Old Growth”
0
1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
Establishment Date
Alan Tepley in prep
PDO < 0.5 SD below mean
Ring-Width Index
PDO > 0.5 SD above mean
PDO (MacDonald & Case 2005)
Ring-Width Index and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation
2
0
-2
1800
1900
16
8
0
2000
1800
1900
2000
-4
-6
Percent of
Sampled Trees
1200
6
1300
1400
1500
1600
Year
1700
Douglas-fir Establishment
4
2
0
1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
Establishment Date
# of Stands
With Cohort
Initiation
Departure
from Mean
4
Where is the super old growth?
Slope Degrees
Giglia 2004
Aspect
Changing Federal Forest
Management
Outcomes of Litigation Against Forest Service
By National Region 1989-2002
PNW
Forest Service National Regions
Keele et al. 2006
Change
in Timber
Harvest
On National
Timber
Harvest
on National
Forests
(Westside)
Billion board feet
5
4
14
3
10
7
2
3
1
0
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
Year
Million cubic meters
Forests in the Pacific Northwest (west)
Northwest Forest Plan
Allocations
Blue River Alternative
NWF Plan
Adaptive Management--Retention
Silviculture
Current and Future Emphasis
Topographic influences on ecosystems
and interactions with climate change
Ecosystem Services
Linkages between science-humanities