Principal Investigator: Jake Verchuyl, PhD, NCASI /Director of Forestry Research, Western U.S & B.C.

Collaborator: Oregon State University

Supported by: Western Trade Association Member Companies

Project Summary: Federal forest management and intensification of management on private lands have reduced availability of complex early seral ecosystems, contributing to calls for forestry approaches to help balance the aims of wood production and biodiversity conservation. A next step for early seral science and policy in the Pacific Northwest is a carefully designed research program focused on a deeper understanding of spatial and temporal variability in early seral biodiversity along a gradient from more naturally regenerating through intensively managed forest landscapes. We will compare 1) pre-forest community development on public lands after stand-replacing fire; 2) after wildfire and timber salvage/management on public lands; and 3) managed regeneration associated with plantation forestry on private lands at three different periods of early stand growth.

Contact Jake Verschuyl at jverschuyl@ncasi.org