Salvage Logging and Replanting Reduce Understory Cover and Richness Compared to Unsalvaged-Unplanted Sites at Mount St. Helens, Washington

Abstract

Salvage logging and replanting reduce understory cover and Salvage logging and replanting reduce understory cover and richness compared to unsalvaged-unplanted sites at Mount St. richness compared to unsalvaged-unplanted sites at ABSTRACT.-The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens killed trees in a broad 600-km 2 swath north of the crater. Over most of the blast zone, dead trees were salvage logged and Abies procera was planted, except in areas within the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. We compared salvage-replanted sites and unsalvaged sites in 1 area of the blast zone where the sites were adjacent by using twenty-five 200-m 2 plots for each treatment. Salvaged-replanted plots had significantly lower herb and shrub cover, richness, diversity, litter depth, downed woody debris, nitrate, and phosphate. Salvaged-replanted sites also had significantly more stumps, bare area, and moss cover than unsalvaged plots. Soil organic matter and nonnative species cover did not differ. Nonnative species were not important components of any plots. Nitrate, total nitrogen, organic matter, and litter were correlated with the major patterns of species distribution in a canonical correspondence analysis of the salvaged-replanted plots. In the unsalvaged plots, slope, downed woody debris, and elevation were correlated with the major patterns of species distribution.

Genetic structure among coastal tailed frog populations at Mount St. Helens is moderated by post‐disturbance management

“…Within the national monument, there is currently little forest cover, with primarily a shrub canopy and much coarse woody debris. Outside the national monument, in the managed blast area, nearly all large logs were salvaged and conifers were planted, such that the area now resembles a tree plantation with little understory (Crisafulli et al 2005a, Titus andHouseholder 2007). Our results therefore imply a differential population response to salvage logging compared to natural regeneration, which we hypothesize is due to the importance of biological legacies for increasing gene flow in post-disturbance environments.…”

“…Outside the national monument, in the managed blast area, nearly all large logs were salvaged and conifers were planted, such that the area now resembles a tree plantation with little understory (Crisafulli et al 2005a, Titus andHouseholder 2007). Outside the national monument, in the managed blast area, nearly all large logs were salvaged and conifers were planted, such that the area now resembles a tree plantation with little understory (Crisafulli et al 2005a, Titus andHouseholder 2007).…”

“…As such, the managed area had a significant canopy overstory (density of 19 trees/200 m 2 ), but little coarse woody debris, understory, and litter depth at the time of our study (Titus and Householder 2007). One portion of this area was designated as Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument and was left to develop via natural processes.…”

“…The remainder of the BDSC zone was designated for active management, where dead trees were salvaged for commercial use and young trees were replanted to create conifer plantations (Dale et al 2005b). As such, the managed area had a significant canopy overstory (density of 19 trees/200 m 2 ), but little coarse woody debris, understory, and litter depth at the time of our study (Titus and Householder 2007). The presence of these two post-disturbance management strategies provides a rare opportunity to test population responses in an actively managed vs. a naturally recovering landscape.…”

The impact of salvage logging on herb layer species composition and plant community recovery in Białowieża Forest

“…Outbreaks enhance key ecological processes, and in turn facilitate high diversity of many functional groups of organisms (Beudert et al 2015;Lindenmayer and Noss 2006;Mikusiński et al 2018;Winter et al 2015). In contrast, the sanitary/salvage logging (commercial tree harvesting, from sites affected by disturbance) and planting of trees on sites affected by disturbances substantially reduce understory cover and richness (Fischer and Fischer 2009;Ruben et al 1999;Titus and Householder 2007) and temporarily hamper the recovery of forest plant species. In European forests, clearcutting followed by tree planting often in understory and herbaceous vegetation leads to the dominance of plants from Rubus or Calamagrostis genera (Fischer and Fischer 2009), or dominance of other species which may temporarily inhibit the further stages of forest succession (sensu Connell and Slatyer 1977).…”