Management Implications of Using Tree Shelters for Restoration of High Elevation Spruce-Fir Forests in the Rocky Mountains
Jacobs, D. F. National Proceedings: Forest and Conservation Nursery Associations - 2011, p.79-81. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Proceedings RMRS-P-68. 2012.
This paper presents a summary of a research project designed to study the use of tree shelters as a means to provide initial shade for planted Engelmann spruce (Picea englemannii Parry ex Engelm.) seedlings on a reforestation site in southwestern Colorado where several past planting attempts had failed. Study results following 2, 6, and 11 growing seasons were formally published elsewhere. Four different shelter colors providing various shading levels and a control, consisting of shading using debris within the site, were included when the study was initiated in 1996. The darkest shelter color was excluded after two years due to high mortality. Half of the shelters were removed in 2000 to examine seedling response to tree shelter removal. In 2007, control seedlings had lower survival (35%) than any other treatment (ranging from 59 to 78%). Shelter removal in the lightest two shelter color treatments did not reduce survival, suggesting that seedlings can grow in full sun after four years of shading. The lightest shelter color with shelters removed produced the best overall seedling development. This paper elaborates on site- and landscape-level management implications surrounding results of this research.
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Author(s): Douglass F. Jacobs
Publication: National Nursery Proceedings - 2011
Event:
Annual Meeting of the Western Forest and Conservation Nursery Association
2011 - Denver, Colorado
