Partial Harvest in Paludified Black Spruce Stand: Short-Term Effects on Water Table and Variation in Stem Diameter
Open Access
- 26 February 2021
- Vol. 12 (3), 271
- https://doi.org/10.3390/f12030271
Abstract
The boreal forest is considered to be a low productivity forest due to its cold climate and poorly drained soils promoting paludification. These factors create conditions favouring accumulation of undecomposed organic matter, which causes declining growth rates of forest stands, ultimately converting mature stands into peatlands. Under these conditions, careful logging is conducted during winter, which minimizes soil disturbance in northwestern Quebec boreal forest. This results in water table rise, increased light availability and paludification. Our main objective was to evaluate the short-term effect of partial harvesting as an alternative method to careful logging in winter to mitigate water table rise on black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.) stands. We quantified tree stem diameter variation and daily variation in water table depth in mature spruce stands before and after partial harvest (basal area reduction of 40%) and girdling (same basal area reduction with delayed mortality) during 2016 and 2017 growing seasons. Water table variation prior to and following silvicultural treatments did not differ one year after treatment. Daily stem diameter variation in black spruce did not differ between treatments and control. Furthermore, temperature exerted a positive effect on variation in water table and on stem diameter. These results suggest that partial harvest could be more effective than clearcutting to mitigate negative effects of a high water table while limiting paludification.Keywords
Funding Information
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (25K)
- Mitacs (10K)
This publication has 53 references indexed in Scilit:
- Variable density thinning promotes variable structural responses 14 years after treatment in the Pacific NorthwestForest Ecology and Management, 2018
- Does partial harvesting promote old-growth attributes of boreal mixedwood trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) stands?Forest Ecology and Management, 2015
- Spruce budworm, windthrow and partial cutting: Do different partial disturbances produce different forest structures?Forest Ecology and Management, 2011
- Forest management is driving the eastern North American boreal forest outside its natural range of variabilityFrontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 2009
- Effects of fire severity and initial tree composition on stand structural development in the coniferous boreal forest of northwestern Québec, CanadaÉcoscience, 2006
- Stand-landscape integration in natural disturbance-based management of the southern boreal forestForest Ecology and Management, 2002
- Stratégies d'aménagement forestier qui s′inspirent de la dynamique des perturbations naturelles : considérations à l'échelle du peuplement et de la forêtThe Forestry Chronicle, 1999
- Effects of Fire Regime on the Serotiny Level of Jack PineJournal of Ecology, 1996
- Preserving Biodiversity: Species, Ecosystems, or Landscapes?Ecological Applications, 1993
- Streamflow Chemistry and Nutrient Yields from Upland-Peatland Watersheds in MinnesotaEcology, 1975