Age structure, developmental pathways, and fire regime characterization of Douglas-fir/western hemlock forests in the central western cascades of Oregon.
- Resource Type
- Theses
- Authors
- Tepley, Alan J.
- Source
- Dissertation Abstracts International; Dissertation Abstract International; 71-12B.
- Subject
- Agriculture, Forestry and Wildlife
Environmental Sciences
- Language
- English
Summary: The theoretical modeling exercises provide insight into historical trends in the study area. Compiled across all sample sites, the age distribution of Douglas-fir trees was strongly bimodal. Peaks of establishment dates in the 16th and 19th centuries were synchronous between the two study areas, and each peak of Douglas-fir establishment coincides with one of the two periods of region-wide extensive fire identified in a previous synthesis of fire-history studies. The modeling exercises support the development of such a bimodal age distribution in response to centennial-scale changes in fire frequency, and they illustrate how the relative abundance of different stand-structure types may have varied over the last several centuries.