Doc Smith
Northern Arizona University
Ecological Restoration Institute
6/29/2016
1
Focus is on the TREES

Perhaps too much or at least not enough
elsewhere
Focus also needs to be on the
UNDERSTORY

This is where the diversity is!!
Huge change in plant diversity


Perhaps 95 spp. of plants in the restored
areas (diversity)
Hundreds (thousands?) of more plants in
the restored areas (abundance)
Steps Toward Reducing Catastrophic Wildfire And Restoring
Keystone Ecosystem Processes
Results
Thinning Small Trees
Reduces “Ladder” Fuels
Broadcast Burning
Reduces “Ground” Fuels
Thinning (Logging) Trees
in Understory
Restoration Thinning
(Logging)
Time (100 Years +)
Decreasing Catastrophic Fire
Risk
Increasing Tree Density
Actions
Reduces Continuous Tree
Canopy (“Aerial” Fuels)
Restores More Natural Tree
Patterns and Densities and
Natural Fire Regime
Old Growth Forest With Natural
Fire Processes
Restoration of Other Natural
Processes as an Associated Benefit
Coconino National Forest 2001
Full Restoration
Burned October 1999
Minimal Thinning
Burn Only
Fulé, P.Z., W.W. Covington, H.B. Smith, J.D. Springer,
T.A. Heinlein, K.D. Huisinga, and M.M. Moore. 2002.
Testing ecological restoration alternatives: Grand
Canyon, Arizona. Forest Ecology and Management
170:19-41.
Big Changes in the UNDERSTORY


About 4 times as many spp. of butterflies
(Diversity)
About 6 times as many butterflies
(Abundance)
8
Number of species
7
6
5
Control
4
Treated
3
2
1
0
May May May May Jun
14
18
28
30
13
Jun
25
Jun
28
Aug Aug Aug
6
7
21
Enormous increase in carabib
beetles


Increase in spp. --perhaps an increase of a
dozen or more. (Diversity)
Increases in total numbers is huge
(Abundance)
Synuchus dubius
(10-13 mm)
•Indicator species
UN and TH
•forest generalist
Cyclotrachelus constrictus
(10 mm)
•Indicator species
of TB
•forest specialist
Amara spp.
(3.9- 13 mm)
•Indicator species
of WF
•open-habitat
Harpalus spp.
(5.8-25 mm)
•Indicator species
of WF
•open-habitat
More passerine birds


Some studies at Mount Trumbull indicate
something like 6 times the nesting rate in
treated areas
Some studies indicate more hatchlings but
an increase in parasites (bluebirds)
More mice (and hantavirus?)

There is more grain in the form of grass
seeds for mice
Food for deer, elk, cattle

Increases in forage
from <30 lbs/acre to
as much as 800
lbs/acre
Change in balance in squirrel
habitat



Creates a better
balance in open vs.
closed areas
Squirrels seem to like
a 40% open and 60%
canopy area (ROMPA)
Also more goshawk
chow
`
mycorrhizal
respond rapidly to thinning
 Arbuscular
Steve and Heather Germaine found
more abundance of two lizards in
the open areas at Mt. Trumbull
Soils and Plants

In presettlement times the openings in
grasses and the clumps of trees were in
place for a long time


Soil phytoliths as well as other soil
characteristics point to development of
grassland soils in the openings and forest
soils in the clumps.
Becky Kerns at NAU ERI confirmed this
Summary





Understory provides a large part of the
diversity in the system
It is “pretty”
It is appealing
It provides the fuel for the return of fire to
the ecosystem
It is “home” to a lot of critters


It has been open with clumps for a long
time
Groceries are in the understory for critters
and then those critters are groceries for
others
It is NOT JUST ABOUT THE TREES