Objectives:

• To examine how burning and vegetation control modify seedling environments in the ICHdw
• To determine the effects that environmental changes have on the physiology and growth of four species; interior Douglas-fir, western larch, lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce.

Experimental Design:

Treatments:

• The area was blocked to capture the three different burn intensities and one unburned control.
• Within the blocks, two treatments where vegetation was controlled or not controlled were established randomly.
• The four species of trees were planted into the treatments randomly ensuring that an equal number of each species was represented.

Layout:

History:

• 1986 - Plot layout and initial assessment
• 1987 - Environmental, physiological, and morphological data collected
• 1988 - 90 - Annual remeasurements
• 1998 - Study remeasured

Status: Dormant

Reports and Publications:

Crampton, D 1989. An ecophysiological study of plantation performance in the ICHa1. FRDA Memo. No. 119

Crampton, D. and D.P. Lavender 1990. Morphological and physiological responses of Douglas-fir, western larch, Engelmann spruce, and lodgepole pine to changes in soil moisture potential and light intensity on a burned, mesic, south-exposed site with two levels of vegetation removal. Northwest Sci. 64(2):100

Thompson, C.F. 2001. The effect of burning and manual vegetation control on survival and early growth of four planted species in the ICHdw subzone in southeastern British Columbia. B.C. Min. For. Nelson Region Ext. Note (in press)

Comments:

This project was established by D. Crampton. Since his departure from the Ministry, it has been overseen by different members of the Forest Sciences Section.