New_Optrials

Operational Research Trials

Develop a strategy for testing a variety of harvesting and silvicultural approaches in target forest types.
Complete assessment of Port Simpson mounding trial.
Establish additional operational harvesting trials within the North Coast TSA.

Port Simpson:

The Port Simpson trial was initiated in 1990 to examine second-growth productivity in the poor cedar – hemlock forest types common throughout the north coast. The study area is located 30 km northwest of Prince Rupert near the village of Port Simpson, within the very wet, hypermaritime Coastal Western Hemlock subzone, central variant. The study area is largely dominated by the Redcedar-Hemlock-Salal site series. The major tree species prior to harvest were western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), western redcedar (Thuja plicata), yellow cedar or cypress (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis), with minor amounts of mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), and shore pine (Pinus contorta var. contorta). Variability in soil composition and thickness is common on the outer north coast but, in general, the soils of the study area are made up of deep surface organic horizons (average depth 52 cm) overlaying a thin mantle of mineral soil often less than 50 cm deep. The study area was skidder logged in the late summer / early fall of 1990. Following harvest, treatment plots were mounded using a John Deere 790 DLC excavator equipped with a bucket and thumb attachment. Mounding site prep.

Excavator creating mixed mineral/organic mounds.

In the spring of 1991, mounded and unmounded plots were planted with equal proportions of western hemlock, western redcedar and shore pine. Height and calliper of planted trees were measured in 1991, 1992, 1994, and 1996. In 1997, 63 trees were manually excavated to compare root development between the mounded and unmounded plots.

The 5 year results of the Port Simpson trial have been analyzed and preliminary results for tree height, calliper, root development, and tree/soil nutrition indicate that, on specific soil types, initial second-growth tree productivity could be improved by mounding and other site treatments aimed at soil mixing and improving soil drainage/aeration. Performance of western hemlock and shore pine was considerably better on excavator-mounded sites than on unmounded sites. A more complete description of the results of this trial is provided in 2 extension notes: #44 - Excavator mounding to enhance productivity in hypermaritime forests: Preliminary results and #45 - Seedling nutrient response to soil mixing and mounding treatments on a lower productivity hypermaritime site in north coastal British Columbia.

6 years of post-mounding tree growth at Port Simpson.

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In the spring of 1991, mounded and unmounded plots were planted with equal proportions of western hemlock, western redcedar and shore pine. Height and calliper of planted trees were measured in 1991, 1992, 1994, and 1996. In 1997, 63 trees were manually excavated to compare root development between the mounded and unmounded plots.
	The 5 year results of the Port Simpson trial have been analyzed and preliminary results for tree height, calliper, root development, and tree/soil nutrition indicate that, on specific soil types, initial second-growth tree productivity could be improved by mounding and other site treatments aimed at soil mixing and improving soil drainage/aeration. Performance of western hemlock and shore pine was considerably better on excavator-mounded sites than on unmounded sites. A more complete description of the results of this trial is provided in 2 extension notes: #44 - Excavator mounding to enhance productivity in hypermaritime forests: Preliminary results and #45 - Seedling nutrient response to soil mixing and mounding treatments on a lower productivity hypermaritime site in north coastal British Columbia.
6 years of post-mounding tree growth at Port Simpson.