Impacts of Forest Thinning on Regeneration and Species Dispersal in the Southern Rockies
Category: Oral Presentation
Author(s): Lance Goodman
Presenter(s): Lance Goodman
Mentors(s): Jason Sibold
Abstract: Forest management techniques such as various forms of thinning, specifically in the Southern Rockies (Southern Wyoming to northern New Mexico), are widely implemented to influence forest structure to reduce wildfire and manage regeneration rates. These management techniques are not well understood in their long term effects on forest structure and ecosystems especially when considering climate change. Forest regeneration is important for the long term health and ecosystem services a forest provides. A lack of forest regeneration can lead to diminishing groundwater quality, soil erosion, and drought. Understanding the impacts of forest management techniques can help guide better and more sustainable practices for the future. Grounded in disturbance ecology theory, our study investigates whether forest treatments influence regeneration by altering resource availability, and how these effects are mediated by microclimatic variability and topographic features. Using a paired-plot design, we compare regeneration in treated (thinned) and untreated forest plots with similar characteristics across the Southern Rockies. We combined these factors along with site characteristics and moisture indices using boosted regression trees to analyze patterns of regeneration. Based on these variables and disturbance ecology, we hypothesize that treated plots will have more regeneration than their untreated counterparts.