Juniper Control Aspen Restoration

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Juniper Control Aspen Restoration
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Aspen, Northern Great Basin
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Aspen Restoration Selective Juniper Cutting and
Prescribed Fire
Location Steens Mountain, Oregon Cutting
Treatment 1/3 of mature junipers cut for
developing fuels base in spring
2001. Fall Burns applied October 2001 Spring
Burn applied April 2002 Cooperators Bureau of
Land Management, Burns, Oregon
Otley Brothers, Inc., Diamond, Oregon
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Experimental Design 5 treatment replications. 3
treatments (Control (no treatment), cut fall
burn, cut spring burn).
Cut fall burn
Cut spring burn
Control
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• Measurements
• Project has evaluated
• - Effectiveness of treatments at removing all
  juniper, from seedling to mature age classes.
• - Aspen recruitment
• - Shrub cover and density
• - Understory cover, density, and diversity

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Selective Cut and Fall Fire
Intense fire September or October burns Burned
with soils dry Higher risk of fire escape
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Selective Cut and Spring Fire
Less intense fire Late April burn Burned with
soils frozen and at field capacity No risk of
fire escape
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• Results
• FALL BURNS
• - 99.9 juniper kill
• - increased aspen suckering 6 fold (10,000 ha in
  2004)
• sagebrush lost, most other shrubs resprouted.
• - increased bareground.
• lost most of the perennial understory except for
  plants with growth points below ground and with
  fire resistant seed.
• stimulated TE species

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• Results
• SPRING BURNS
• - 10 of mature juniper remain.
• - 50 of juniper seedlings survived. Enough to
  fully restock site in 70-80 years.
• - Increased aspen to 5,000 ha
• - Sagebrush lost only under burned trees, other
  shrubs resprouted or not effected.
• Understory remained largely intact. Understory
  cover and diversity increased 300.

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Conclusions

• Cut and Fall Burn
• most effective method for removing juniper.
• greatest aspen recruitment
• greater disturbance severity
• understory
• hydrology

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Conclusions

• Cut and Spring Burn
• less effective method for removing subcanopy and
  seedling juniper.
• increased aspen recruitment . . . but . . .
• reduced disturbance severity
• understory
• hydrology
• aspen