Front Range Roundtable – Monitoring Working Group
Draft of Ecological Monitoring Plan Details
4-27-2011
Desired Condition
Restoration Parameter
Restoration Metric
Variable
Establish a complex mosaic of forest density, size and age (at stand scale)
Stand-scale spacial
 Trend toward increase in clumps
 Variation in
heterogeneity
and heterogeneity
structure stage at
Tree Density
sub-stand level
Tree Density
 Trend toward Basal Area
40-80
 Trend toward trees per acre: 40100
 Basal area
 Trees per acre
Method
Jonas recommended
designating area of
structure stage along
transects
CSE (Common Stand
Exam) data
At What Point
Scale of
Analysis
Before treatment
After treatment
Treatment Unit
Before treatment
After treatment
Treatment Unit
Before treatment
After treatment
5 years after treatment
Before treatment
After treatment
Treatment Unit
Tree Size
 Increased Quadratic Mean
Diameter
 Diameter
 Measure down to
seedlings
Tree Age
 Increased ratio of trees older than
200 years of age versus younger
trees
Ratio of older sample
trees to younger
sample trees
CSE: increment
cores for growth/site
trees and visual
references –
morphology.
Before treatment
After treatment
Treatment Unit
Openings / Interspace
 Increased number of openings
that are between .25 to 5 acres
Change in number of
openings
Sample of openings
based on review of
orthophotos in GIS
Before treatment
After treatment
Treatment Unit
Snag: see Wildlife
Treatment Unit
Notes
Needs further
discussion.
 Quadratic Mean
Diameter (QMD) –
Integration of
stems per acre and
diameters –
representative of
average basal area
Suggest that we just
go with change in
ratio of Old Trees
>200 years),
Transitional Trees
(150-200 years), and
Young canopy trees
(<150 years) based
on morphology per
RMRS-GTR-109.
This is for ponderosa
pine but we can also
apply it to DF.
 Anything less than
10% canopy closer
is an “opening”
More characteristic fire regime
Mixed severity that
trends toward surface
fire.
Favorable distribution of species
Tree Species
 Reduced fire crown potential at
90% weather.
 Tree height, stems,
diameter, species,
CBH
 To derive: CBD,
surface fuels
loading, canopy
cover
 Brown’s Transect
Before treatment
After treatment
5 years after treatment
Treatment Unit
 Increased ratio of Ponderosa Pine
to other conifers
Change in ratio of
ponderosa pine and
Douglas-fir cover
type
Cover type
determined by Basal
Area from CSE data
Before treatment
After treatment
Treatment Unit
Treatment Unit
 Decreased ratio of Douglas Fir to
Ponderosa Pine
Diverse native understory communities
Noxious or invasive plant
species
 Reduce occurrence of noxious or
invasive plant species
 Presence and
cover of invasive
 Average cover by
species; use 3
transects per plot
Before treatment
After treatment
5 years after treatment
Treatment Unit
Native grass, forbs and
shrubs.
 Increase cover by Native grass,
forbs and shrubs.
 Presence and
cover of native
plants
 Average cover by
species; use 3
transects per plot
Before treatment
After treatment
5 years after treatment
Treatment Unit
Sara & Claudia
recommended that
we use 3 transects
per plot instead of
large fixed area plots.
Sara & Claudia
recommended that
we use 3 transects
per plot instead of
large fixed area plots.
Occurrence of wildlife species that would be expected in a restored landscape
Evidence of wildlife use
More discussion needed
Treatment Unit
 Increased evidence of wildlife use
At landscape scale: Establish a complex mosaic of forest density, size and age
At landscape level:
Habitat Structure Stage
 Increase larger, more open
structure
 Increased structural stages 4-5-6
 Slight increase of structural stag 1
 Decrease in closed, dense
structure
Change in ratio of
structure stage
Area of structure
stage derived from
existing veg layers
(adjusted for change
by treatments & other
disturbances)
Before treatment
10 years after
treatment
Landscape
 A landscape is
defined in this
context as a 6th or
7th level watershed
or a group of 6th
and 7th level
watersheds