Whitebark Pine Inventory & Monitoring Inyo National Forest

Transcription

1 Whitebark Pine Inventory & Monitoring Inyo National Forest Marc Meyer and Hugh Safford Region 5 Ecology Program USDA Forest Service Beverly Bulaon and Martin MacKenzie Forest Health Protection USDA Forest Service

2 Outline Background Objectives Approach Results Conclusions Next steps

3 Background Whitebark pine decline throughout range Mountain pine beetle, WPBR, climate change Sierra Nevada populations relatively stable Southern Sierra lower WPBR incidence and climate change projections suggest climate refugia

4 Background Recent MPB impacts observed in the eastern Sierra Nevada Inyo NF and Warner Mountains (Modoc NF) No confirmed incidence of WPBR on Inyo NF

5 Objectives Inventory Tree mortality Regeneration Stand structure and composition Monitoring Status-and-trend of MPB impacted & control stands Effectiveness of whitebark pine restoration treatments at June Mountain ski area

6 Approach Site attributes (e.g., topography) Tree attributes and health Vegetation and ground cover (e.g., canopy cover) Tree size class structure Tree regeneration density, age, and health

7 Approach Total of 72 plots (0.05 ha) established on INF Focus on 3 locations June Mountain White Wing Mountain Hilton Lakes/Rock Creek Data collected Data analysis ongoing June Mountain White Wing Mountain Hilton Lakes- Rock Creek

8 Results

9 Basal Area - % Reduction High surface and ladder fuel loading Increased tree densities Recent sign on increased mortality in largest diameter Jeffrey pine trees Jeffrey pine regeneration mostly in patches of open canopy

10 Tree Density - % Reduction High surface and ladder fuel loading Increased tree densities Recent sign on increased mortality in largest diameter Jeffrey pine trees Jeffrey pine regeneration mostly in patches of open canopy

11 Live & Dead WBP Trees by DBH Class High surface and ladder fuel loading Increased tree densities Recent sign on increased mortality in largest diameter Jeffrey pine trees Jeffrey pine regeneration mostly in patches of open canopy

12 Max DBH

13 Decrease in Tree Diameter classes

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15 Live and Dead Stems per Cluster High surface and ladder fuel loading Increased tree densities Recent sign on increased mortality in largest diameter Jeffrey pine trees Jeffrey pine regeneration mostly in patches of open canopy

16 Severity of MPB Attack vs. DBH

17 WBP Regeneration

18 Live & Dead Regeneration per Cluster

19 WBP Regeneration and Dead Overstory Cover

20 Conclusions Large loss of WBP basal area and tree densities in MPB stands WBP mortality greatest in larger diameter (>20 cm) stems WBP mortality not contingent on the no. of trees per cluster Shift in the size class distribution to smaller diameter classes (<15 cm dbh) Declines in mean and max tree diameter and reduced size class diversity Severity of MPB attack positively related to the mean diameter in WBP stands Suggests stands with larger WBP trees were more susceptible to attack

21 Conclusions Relatively stable production of WBP regeneration (past 50+ years) at all sites Density of young WBP seedling clusters positively associated with % dead canopy cover and severity of MPB attack Suggests increased WBP regeneration in response to stand impacts by MPB Results suggest low resistance but potential high resilience to initial MPB attack but more data needed!

22 Next Steps Implement WBP Monitoring Protocol for R5 Status and trend monitoring Effectiveness monitoring of restoration treatments Develop regional, collaborative approach to monitoring with clear objectives

23 Next Steps Devise climate adaptation strategies based on inventory and monitoring information Consider inclusion of other high-elevation white pines (e.g., foxtail or bristlecone pine)

24 Acknowledgements Big thanks to the following: USFS FHP Whitebark Pine Restoration Program Lisa Zander Stephanie Eyes Victor Biasotti Amy Brown Ed Stephan Ray Gutierrez Katie Kiehl Shana Gross

25 Questions?