Pothole Creek
Study Area

• Site Description

Related Work

Interior Douglas-fir forest.

TASS simulation of the Pothole Creek Study Area Permanent Sample Plot

Uneven-aged interior Douglas-fir (IDF) is a highly variable forest type composed of stands which exhibit a wide range of stocking, disturbance history, tree age and spatial distribution. B.C. interior foresters have long debated the potential productivity and appropriate management strategies for Douglas-fir stands. With the ongoing disturbance to lodgepole pine forests in the Interior from mountain pine beetle, pressure on the resources of other forest types, such as the IDF, is increasing, as is the need for scientific information to support management. Better growth information and decision support tools are clearly needed for IDF forests in the southern interior.

At the Ministry of Forests and Range, the development of growth and yield projection systems for complex stands such as these is well underway. PrognosisBC shows promise for uniformly-treated stands which reflect our growth and yield data base. The Tree and Stand Simulator (TASS), with its biological and spatial foundation, will be applicable to a greater range of silvicultural systems and is being expanded to include uneven-aged and multi-species stands.

However, we have limited understanding of the biology of tree growth in uneven-aged stands and few long-term studies of IDF uneven-aged stand development to help us evaluate the yield predictions of any of our models. Forests and Range researchers established the Pothole Creek Study Area, to address these needs, with support from Forest Renewal BC and the Cascades Forest District.

The 5 ha study area is located in an uneven-aged Douglas-fir stand in the IDFdk1 biogeoclimatic variant that was diameter-limit logged around 1966-1967. It is typical of cut over, multi-cohort stands in the area, and the study will provide needed growth and yield information for the Cascades Forest District as well as baseline information for modelling. The results will complement larger-scale projects that have tested innovative silviculture systems and inventory methods in the surrounding Pothole Creek Demonstration Area.