A landscape view of southwest Oregon chaparral and conifer communities. Photo by K. Sikes.
Publications
This page will be updated with new documents as they are published.
Posters
Fuel-reduction treatments: Treatment types and a landscape strategy to achieve restoration and a fire-safe landscape in the Applegate valley of southwest Oregon (PDF)
Al Mason , Paul Hosten, Greg Chandler, and Jerry Serabia
Ashland Field Office, Medford District Bureau of Land Management, Medford, Oregon
The Ashland BLM Field Office has actively pursued fuel reduction since 1996. Treatment types include hand-cut pile and burn (HPB), mechanical mastication, and prescribed fire. Fuels treatment objectives can include fuel hazard reduction, forest health, fish and wildlife habitat enhancement, restoration (grass, shrub, and oak woodland communities), and commercial thinning. This poster describes some of the processes and tools utilized to achieve fuel hazard reduction objectives on the landscape and within the Wildland Urban Interface.
Lessons learned after 10 years of fuel-reduction and monitoring in woodlands/chaparral of the Lower Thompson creek, Applegate valley, southwest Oregon (PDF)
Greg Chandler, Paul Hosten, and Al Mason
Ashland Resource Area, Medford District Bureau of Land Management, Medford, Oregon
The woodland/chaparral of Lower Thompson creek are patchy with varied domination by whiteleaf manzanita, buckbrush, and multi-aged Oregon white oak. Prior to fuels reduction, vegetation usually consists of 100% woody canopy cover by 6 to15 foot shrubs and trees, with a sparse understory dominated by blue wildrye, Idaho fescue, cats ears, and blue-dicks. The objective of fuel-reduction initiated in 1996 was to create low-fuel Oregon white oak savanna to facilitate a fire-safe landscape. This poster describes the site impacts of the fuel-reduction program, how vegetation has developed since treatment, and adaptations to the program that have resulted from ongoing monitoring and analysis.
Vegetation response to wildfire across an elevation gradient in Southwest Oregon (PDF)
Linda Mazzu and Paul Hosten
Medford District Bureau of Land Management, Medford, Oregon
Recent wildland fires on Medford District Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land offer an opportunity to compare vegetation recovery of plant communities found in southwestern Oregon along an elevational gradient. The Quartz fire (2001) and Squires Peak fire (2002) represent the lower elevation plant communities (chaparral, oak woodland, and mixed conifer). The Timbered Rock Fire (2002) is intermediate in elevation and is comprised more of mixed hardwood-conifer and white fir communities. The higher elevation portion of the Biscuit Fire (2002) that burned on Medford District is dominated by white fir and tanoak communities. Vegetation response to wildfire was examined by comparing burned and unburned plant communities using paired point cover transects and repeat photos. Response in re-seeded versus unseeded areas within each of the fires was also compared.
Theses
Landscape-scale Patterns of Grassland, Shrubland, and Woodland Vegetation in Relation to Environment and Disturbance (PDF)
Eric Pfaff
Southern Oregon University, Masters thesis
This study assessed the relationships of environmental and disturbance variables to current vegetation composition in grassland, shrubland, and woodland vegetation types. Field surveys were used to define and map 13 plant assemblages. GIS was used to investigate patterns of assemblage occurrence on the landscape in relation to site conditions and disturbance history. This benchmark assessment provides detailed vegetation maps and baseline data important for monitoring change over time, and aids in understanding and conservation of unique vegetation types.
Impacts of Fuel Reduction Thinning Treatments on Oak and Chaparral Communities of Southwestern Oregon (PDF)
Keith Perchemlides
Oregon State University, Masters thesis
How do fuel reduction treatments affect understory plant communities and site conditions? Do treatments favor native species or foster expansion or invasion of exotics? Do different plant trait groups respond differently to treatment? Do effects differ between treatment types (hand-cut and pile-burn versus mechanical mastication)? To answer these questions, vegetation and abiotic characteristics were measured along paired transects in thinned and unthinned chaparral and oak-shrub communities. The central goal of this study was to provide information on responses of these communities to fuel reduction treatments to assist land managers who want to design treatments that achieve fuel-reduction or restoration goals without exacerbating problems with invasive species.
Books
"Oak Woodland and Savanna Restoration."
Hosten, P.E., Gene Hickman, Frank Lake, Frank Lang, and Dave Vesely
In RESTORING THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. The Art and Science of Ecological Restoration in Cascadia
Dean Apostel and Marcia Sinclair, Editors
Merit Award winner from the American Society of Landscape Architects!
From the publishers: "The Pacific Northwest is a global ecological "hotspot" because of its relatively healthy native ecosystems, a high degree of biodiversity, and the number and scope of restoration initiatives that have been undertaken there. Restoring the Pacific Northwest gathers and presents the best examples of state-of-the-art restoration techniques and projects. It is an encyclopedic overview that will be an invaluable reference not just for restorationists and students working in the Pacific Northwest, but for practitioners across North America and around the world." Available through Island Press.
Journal Articles
Several articles are in review. Please check back for new postings!
Perchemlides, KA, PS Muir, and PE Hosten. 2008. "Responses of chaparral and oak woodland plant communities to fuel reduction thinning in southwestern Oregon." Journal of Rangeland Ecology and Management 61: 98-109. (PDF)
ABSTRACT. Fire suppression has led to large fuel accumulations in much of the United States. In response to concerns about associated wildfire hazards, land managers in the western United States are carrying out extensive programs of fuel reduction thinning. While reductions in cover by woody vegetation seem likely to cause changes in herbaceous communities, few published studies have reported on consequences of such treatments for native or exotic plant species. We compared vegetation and abiotic characteristics between paired thinned and unthinned chaparral and oak woodland communities of southwestern Oregon 4 to 7 years post-treatment, and contrasted impacts of manual vs. mechanical treatments. Herbaceous cover increased on thinned sites, but species richness did not change. Herbaceous communities at thinned sites had an early-post-disturbance type of composition dominated by native annual forbs and exotic annual grasses; cover by annual species was nearly twice as high on treated as on untreated sites. Absolute and proportional cover of native annual forbs increased more than any other trait group, while exotic annual forbs and native perennial forbs declined. Exotic annual grass cover (absolute and proportional) increased while cover by native perennial grasses did not. Shrub re-establishment was sparse in thinned areas, probably due to a lack of fire-stimulated germination. Manual and mechanical treatment impacts on abiotic site conditions differed, but differences in their impacts on vegetation were not statistically significant. Fuel-reduction thinning may have some unintended negative impacts, including expansion of exotic grasses, reductions in native perennial species cover, persistent domination by annuals, and increased surface fuels. Coupled with sparse tree or shrub regeneration, these alterations suggest that ecological state changes may occur in treated communities. Such changes might be mitigated by retaining more woody cover than is currently retained, seeding with native perennials after treatment, or other practices; further research is needed to inform management in these ecosystems.
Key Words: Arctostaphylos, Ceanothus, exotic annual grasses, mastication.
Page by Olivia Duren. Updated 1/2008.
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Responses of chaparral and oak woodland plant communities to fuel reduction thinning treatments in SW Oregon
Dr. Pat Muir and Dr. Paul Hosten, Principal Investigators
