Progress 01/15/10 to 01/14/15
Outputs
Target Audience: 1. Industrial forest landowners/managers 2. Small private forest managers 3. Goverment agencieis (Oregon Dept. Forestry, USFS) 4. Academics 5. Public Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Thomas Stokely - Masters Candidate (Graduated spring 2014) Kristen Jones - Masters Candidate (expected Graduation spring 2015) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Our results have been disseminated using three main methods: 1. Meetings with landowners and forest managers. Many of these meetings have been to both disseminate current results and to plan for the intensive forest management manipulative study that is now underway. We conducted four field days in the summer of 2013 to take managers to the field to see preliminary treatment results. 2. Peer-reviewed scientific literature (see above). 3. Public/ scientific meetings. These include the The Oregon Society for American Foresters meeting, The National Council for Air and Stream Improvement annual meeting, and the Wildlife Society Meeting (national and Oregon). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
It is now the final year of the project, but major impacts are still in the process of occurring. However, our initial work on intensive forest management (IFM) effects combined with our initial extension efforts have resulted in a high degree of success in terms of the application of forest management treatments in our experimental design. To date, we have five government or industrial partners involved. Each has agreed to a defined forest management treatment schedule (decided upon by a collaborative group of industry/government and OSU representatives). These treatments (control, two intermediate , and a high intensity) have been randomly allotted to 32 regnerating stands in the Oregon Coast Range (8 blocks). To our knowledge, this is the most extensive manipulative study in IFM in the world to date. Treatments have been effective at producing a gradient in amount of competing hardwood vegetation. (1) We have now collected one year of bird abundance and reproduction data across all stands. We found that the abundance of some bird species was strongly influenced by IFM treatment (Betts et al. 2013). Also, the species most likely to be negatively affected are the ones with long-term population declines according to the U.S. Breeding Bird Survey Data. (2) We have also collected demographic information for two focal species - the House Wren and the White-crowned Sparrow. Publications on demography are still in preparation, but the overall finding is that reproduction is greater in light treatments and the un-sprayed control. This reflects the differences we are seeing in abundance as a function of treatment. (3) To date, most evidence points toward supporting the hypothesis that food availability - not direct effects of herbicide - is the main driver of differences in bird abundance and reproductive success. Monitored nests indicate food limitation (lower body condition) in nestlings. Also food is in much lower abundance in heavily treated stands (Betts et al. Unpublished). In addition, data on insect biomass and diversity has been collected at all bird survey locations. We are still in the process of measuring tree growth and survival to enable quantification of trade-offs between biodiversity and timber growth. Finally, bird exclosures were constructed in 2012. We now have 28 15 x 30 m exclosures in 7 of 8 research blocks. Our preliminary results indicate that birds have top-down effects on the numerical abundance of large herbivorous arthropods (there are approximately 1.5 x the number of insects in locations where birds have been excluded). Extensive sampling of seedlings will now enable us to determine if this increase in insects results in reduced rates of tree growth, and whether this top-down effect is mediated by forest management intensity.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Yegorova, S., Betts, M.G., Hagar, J., and Puettmann, K.J. 2013. Bird-vegetation associations in thinned and unthinned young Douglas-fir forests 10 years after thinning. Forest Ecology and Management. 15:1057-1070.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Cahall, R.E., Hayes, J.P., and Betts, M.G. 2013. Will they come? Long-term response by forest birds to experimental thinning supports the Field of Dreams hypothesis. Forest Ecology and Management. 304:137-149.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Rivers, J.W., Liebl, A.L., Martin, L.B., and Betts, M.G. 2014. Corticosterone in territorial male Swainson's Thrushes varies in relation to forest age but not vegetation cover. Journal of Ornithology 155(2):539-548.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Betts, M.G., Verschuyl, J., Giovanini, J., Stokely, T., and Kroll, A.J. 2013. Initial experimental effects of intensive forest management on avian abundance. Forest Ecology and Management. 310:1036-1044.
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Progress 01/15/12 to 01/14/13
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Our results have been disseminated using four main methods: 1. Meetings with landowners and forest managers. Many of these meetings have been to both disseminate current results and to plan for the intensive forest management manipulative study that is now underway. We conducted several field days in the summer of 2012 to take managers to the field to see preliminary treatment results. 2. Peer reviewed scientific literature (see below). 3. Public/ scientific meetings. These include the The Oregon Society for American Foresters meeting, The National Council for Air and Stream Improvement annual meeting, and the Wildlife Society Meeting (both national and regional). 4) Various presentations to a variety of organizations including the research delegation at the Seoul National University, Texas Tech University, Plum Creek Company executives, Forest Ecosystems and Society graduate student symposium and the RAFWE Symposium in the Fish and Wildlife Department at Oregon State University. PARTICIPANTS: 1. Dr. Matthew G. Betts (PI) 2. Dr. Stephen Fitzgerald (co-PI) 3. Thomas Stokely (Masters Student) 4. Dr. Paul Hammond (OSU) Partners 1. Oregon Department of Forestry 2. Plum Creek Timer 3. Weyerhaeuser Inc. 4.Forest Capital Partners 5. Hancock Land Management 6. National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) 7. Boreal Songbird Monitoring Network. Collaborators 1. Dr. Jake Vershyul,NCASI 2. Dr. Erin Bayne, University of Alberta 3. Dr. Marc Andre Villard, Universite du Moncton 4.Dr. John Gunn, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences 5. Dr. Rob Rempel, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources 6. Dr. Ben Wigley, NCASI. Dr. Paul Hammond is an expert entemologist at OSU who will be leading the moth and butterfly identification part of the project. This coming field season we are again doing extensive sampling of both adult and larval butterflies and moths. TARGET AUDIENCES: We now have two years of data, so beginning in the summer of 2013, we will organize two major field days as well as a conference (fall 2013). PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
It is now the third year of the project, so major impacts are still in the process of occurring. However, our initial work on intensive forest management (IFM effects combined with our initial extension efforts have resulted in a high degree of success in terms of the application of forest management treatments in our experimental design. To date, we have five government or industrial partners involved. Each has agreed to a defined forest management treatment schedule (decided upon by a collaborative group of industry/government and OSU representatives). These treatments (control, two intermediate , and a high intensity) have been randomly allotted to 32 regenerating stands in the Oregon Coast Range (8 blocks). To our knowledge, this is the most extensive manipulative study in IFM in the world to date. Treatments have been effective at producing a gradient in amount of competing hardwood vegetation. We have now collected one year of bird abundance and reproduction data across all stands. In addition, data on insect biomass and diversity has been collected at all bird survey locations. We are now in the process of measuring tree growth and survival to enable quantification of trade-offs between biodiversity and timber growth. Finally, bird exclosures were constructed in 2012. We now have 28 15 x 30 m exclosures in 7 of 8 research blocks. Our preliminary results indicate that birds have top-down effects on the numerical abundance of large herbivorous arthropods. Extensive sampling of seedlings will now enable us to determine if this increase in insects results in reduced rates of tree growth, and whether this top-down effect is mediated by forest management intensity.
Publications
- Jones, J., A.J. Kroll, J. Giovanini, S.D. Duke, T.M. Ellis and M.G. Betts. 2012. Avian species richness in relation to forest management practices in early seral tree plantations. PLoS One 7:e43290.
- Rivers, J.W., A.L. Liebl, L.B. Martin and M.G. Betts. 2012. Baseline corticosterone is positively related to juvenile survival in a migrant passerine bird. Functional Ecology 26:1127-1134.
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Progress 01/15/11 to 01/14/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Our results have been disseminated using three main methods: 1. Meetings with landowners and forest managers. Many of these meetings have been to both disseminate current results and to plan for the intensive forest management manipulative study that is now underway. We conducted a major field day in October 2011 to take managers to the field to see preliminary treatment results. 2. Peer reviewed scientific literature (see below). 3. Public/ scientific meetings. These include the Oregon State University Graduate Student Symposium, The Oregon Society for American Foresters meeting, The National Council for Air and Stream Improvement annual meeting. PARTICIPANTS: 1. Dr. Matthew G. Betts (PI) 2. Dr. Stephen Fitzgerald (co-PI) 3. Thomas Stokely (Masters Student) 4. Dr. Paul Hammond (OSU - new) Partners 1. Oregon Department of Forestry 2. Plum Creek Timer 3. Weyerhaeuser Inc. 4.Forest Capital Partners 5. Hancock Land Management 6. National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) 7. Boreal Songbird Monitoring Network. Collaborators 1. Dr. Jake Vershyul,NCASI 2. Dr. Erin Bayne, University of Alberta 3. Dr. Marc Andre Villard, Universite du Moncton 4.Dr. John Gunn, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences 5. Dr. Rob Rempel, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources 6. Dr. Ben Wigley, NCASI. Dr. Paul Hammond is an expert entemologist at OSU who will be leading the moth and butterfly identification part of the project. This coming field season we are doing extensive sampling of both adult and larval butterflies and moths. TARGET AUDIENCES: We do not have extensive results to report to target audiences because we only have one year of data. However, as expected our efforts to implement the manipulative part of the IFM study have resulted in extensive knowledge transfer (in both directions) between industry, government and OSU scientists. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: We have managed to obtain funding from NCASI for the first and second seasons of bird research. We indicated that this might be a possibility in our initial grant application. We would like to request a no-cost extension to our AFRI grant that will enable us to continue sampling for an additional two years. This will not require additional funding from USDA as we will be able to obtain funding from NCASI. This will substantially increase the quality of research as some of the most interesting ecological effects are likely to occur in years 4-5 post clearcut.
Impacts
It is now the third year of the project, so major impacts are still in the process of occurring. However, our initial work on intensive forest management (IFM effects combined with our initial extension efforts have resulted in a high degree of success in terms of the application of forest management treatments in our experimental design. To date, we have five government or industrial partners involved. Each has agreed to a defined forest management treatment schedule (decided upon by a collaborative group of industry/government and OSU representatives). These treatments (control, two intermediate , and a high intensity) have been randomly allotted to 32 regnerating stands in the Oregon Coast Range (8 blocks). To our knowledge, this is now the most extensive manipulative study in IFM in the world to date. Treatments have been effective at producing a gradient in amount of competing hardwood vegetation. We have now collected one year of bird abundance and reproduction data across all stands. In addition, data on insect biomass and diversity has been collected at all bird survey locations. We are now in the process of measuring tree growth and survival to enable quantification of trade-offs between biodiversity and timber growth. Finally, bird exclosures were constructed last field season. We now have 28 15 x 30 m exclosures in 7 of 8 research blocks. This coming season we will begin to test the top-down effect of birds in affecting insect abundance and subsequent tree herbivory.
Publications
- Ellis, T.M., A.J. Kroll and M.G. Betts. 2012. Early seral hardwood vegetation increases adult and fledgling bird abundance in Douglas-fir plantations of the Oregon Coast Range. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. (In Press).
- Jones, J., A.J. Kroll, J. Giovanini, S.D. Duke and M.G. Betts. 2011. Estimating occupancy thresholds with imperfect species detection. Ecology 92:2299-2309.
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Progress 01/15/10 to 01/14/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Our results have been disseminated using three main methods: 1. Meetings with landowners and forest managers. Many of these meetings have been to both disseminate current results and to plan for the intensive forest management manipulative study that is now underway. 2. Peer reviewed scientific literature (see below). 3. Public/ scientific meetings. These include the Oregon State University symposium on Forest Health and the Society for American Foresters - Wildlife Society of Oregon Joint Meeting. PARTICIPANTS: 1. Dr. Matthew G. Betts (PI) 2. Dr. Stephen Fitzgerald (co-PI) 3. Thomas Stokely (Masters Student - new) Partners 1. Oregon Department of Forestry 2. Plum Creek Timer 3. Weyerhaeuser Inc. 4.Forest Capital Partners 5. Hancock Land Management 6. National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) 7. Boreal Songbird Monitoring Network Collaborators 1. Dr. Jake Vershyul,NCASI 2. Dr. Erin Bayne, University of Alberta 3. Dr. Marc Andre Villard, Universite du Moncton 4.Dr. John Gunn, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences 5. Dr. Rob Rempel, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources 6. Dr. Ben Wigley, NCASI Thomas Stokely was recently brought on as a Masters student. He will be focusing on the portion of the project that tests for ecosystem services provided by birds. Currently, he is constructing the bird exclosures and will be conducting bird observations and plant measurements this coming field season. TARGET AUDIENCES: We are only in year two of the project so we do not have extensive results to report to target audiences. However, as expected our efforts to implement the manipulative part of the IFM study have resulted in extensive knowledge transfer (in both directions) between industry, government and OSU scientists. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: We have managed to obtain funding from NCASI for the first season of bird research. We indicated that this might be a possibility in our initial grant application. We would like to request a no-cost extension to our AFRI grant that will enable us to continue sampling for an additional two years. This will not require additional funding from USDA as we will be able to obtain funding from NCASI. This will substantially increase the quality of research as some of the most interesting ecological effects are likely to occur in years 4-5 post clearcut.
Impacts
It is now only the second year of the project, so major impacts have yet to occur. However, our initial work on intensive forest management (IFM0 effects combined with our initial extension efforts have resulted in a high degree of success in terms of the application of forest management treatments in our experimental design. To date, we have five government or industrial partners involved. Each has agreed to a defined forest management treatment schedule (decided upon by a collaborative group of industry/government and OSU representatives). These treatments (control, two intermediate, and a high intensity) have been randomly allotted to 32 regnerating stands in the Oregon Coast Range (8 blocks). To our knowledge, this is now the most extensive manipulative study in IFM in the world to date.
Publications
- Ellis, T. and M.G. Betts. 2011. Bird abundance and diversity across a hardwood gradient within early seral plantation forest. Forest Ecology and Management 261(8):1372-1381. doi:10.1016/ j.foreco.2011.018.
- Betts, M.G., J. Hagar, J. Rivers, J. Alexander, K. McGarigal and B.C. McComb. 2010. Thresholds in songbird occurrence in relation to early seral broadleaf forest. Ecological Applications 20:2116-2130.
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