Effect of Simulated Browsing on Aspen Regeneration: Implications for Restoration

Jones, Bobette E.; Lile, David F.; Tate, Kenneth W.

doi:10.2111/.1/rem-d-09-00082.1

Cited by 22 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Current trends in aspen populations in northern California are negative, and land management agencies are developing and implementing aspen-focused restoration activities (Jones et al 2005(Jones et al , 2010Shepperd et al 2006). We encourage land management approaches that reintegrate natural disturbance regimes or more directly seek to preserve or restore distinct aspen plant communities in our study region.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Aspen itself is an important browse species for ungulates, and is a major focus of feeding by deer, elk, and cattle in the late summer and fall (Jones et al 2010). Aspen understory species are also an important source of food for many vertebrates, and provide equal if not higher payoff than meadow vegetation in fiber, crude protein, phosphorus, and calcium (Jones et al 2010). Of the 63 species we found only in aspen stands, more than 20% of the genera represented have documented use as foodstuffs by indigenous North Americans (Weeden 1996).…”

Section: Aspen Contributions To Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent findings indicate drivers of aspen decline or persistence are spatially and temporally heterogeneous across the West (Rogers et al 2010). Incidents of aspen decline have been attributed in part to reduction in fire frequency and introduction of livestock grazing during the past 150 years, which have the synergistic effect of suppressing aspen sucker recruitment and facilitating successional conversion of shade-intolerant aspen to more shade-tolerant conifer species (Bartos 2001;Kilpatrick and Abendroth 2001;Shirley and Erickson 2001;Jones et al 2010). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands and their contribution to plant diversity in a semiarid coniferous landscape

et al. 2011

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We conducted a field study to determine the relative contributions of aspen (Populus tremuloides), meadow, and conifer communities to local and landscape-level plant species diversity in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range, northeastern California, USA. We surveyed plant assemblages at 30 sites that included adjacent aspen, conifer, and meadow communities across a 10,000-km 2 region. We statistically investigated patterns in local and landscape-scale plant diversity within and among the three vegetation types. Summing across sites, aspen stands supported more plant species overall and more unique plant species than either meadow or conifer communities. Local richness and diversity did not differ between aspen and meadow plots; conifer forest plots were significantly lower in both measures. Heterogeneity in species composition was higher for aspen forest than for meadows or conifer forest, both within sites and between sites. Plant communities in aspen stands shared less than 25% of their species with adjacent vegetation in conifer and meadow plots. Within aspen forest, we found a negative relationship between total canopy cover and plant diversity. Our results strongly support the idea that plant communities of aspen stands are compositionally distinct from adjacent meadows and conifer forest, and that aspen forests are a major contributor to plant species diversity in the study region. Current patterns of aspen stand succession to conifer forest on many sites in the semiarid western US are likely to reduce local and landscape-level plant species diversity, and may also have negative effects on other ecosystem functions and services provided by aspen forest.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Aspen Contributions To Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands and their contribution to plant diversity in a semiarid coniferous landscape

et al. 2011

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“…Browsing by wildlife and livestock has been shown to inhibit successful regeneration in aspen stands (Bartos and Campbell 1998;Kay and Bartos 2000;Kaye et al 2005;Jones et al 2009). Growth of aspen suckers is reduced when browsing results in the removal of terminal leaders and large amounts of branch biomass (Jones et al 2009).…”

Section: Aspen Stressorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Growth of aspen suckers is reduced when browsing results in the removal of terminal leaders and large amounts of branch biomass (Jones et al 2009). Consecutive years of mid-season browsing and repeated browsing in the same growing season should be avoided in areas where aspen regeneration is a management goal (Jones et al 2009). Aspen regeneration is particularly affected within elk (Cervus elaphus) winter range in areas when elk populations are high (Hart and Hart 2001).…”

Section: Aspen Stressorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term monitoring of western aspen—lessons learned

Strand

Bunting

Starcevich

et al. 2015

Environ Monit Assess

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Aspen woodland is an important ecosystem in the western United States. Aspen is currently declining in western mountains; stressors include conifer expansion due to fire suppression, drought, disease, heavy wildlife and livestock use, and human development. Forecasting of tree species distributions under future climate scenarios predicts severe losses of western aspen within the next 50 years. As a result, aspen has been selected as one of 14 vital signs for long-term monitoring by the National Park Service Upper Columbia Basin Network. This article describes the development of a monitoring protocol for aspen including inventory mapping, selection of sampling locations, statistical considerations, a method for accounting for spatial dependence, field sampling strategies, and data management. We emphasize the importance of collecting pilot data for use in statistical power analysis and semi-variogram analysis prior to protocol implementation. Given the spatial and temporal variability within aspen stem size classes, we recommend implementing permanent plots that are distributed spatially within and among stands. Because of our careful statistical design, we were able to detect change between sampling periods with desired confidence and power. Engaging a protocol development and implementation team with necessary and complementary knowledge and skills is critical for success. Besides the project leader, we engaged field sampling personnel, GIS specialists, statisticians, and a data management specialist. We underline the importance of frequent communication with park personnel and network coordinators.

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Ungulate herbivores as drivers of aspen recruitment and understory composition throughout arid montane landscapes

2022

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Herbivory by wild and domestic ungulates can influence tree recruitment and understory forest communities throughout the world. Herbivore-driven declines in tree recruitment have been observed for quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), a foundation species whose health and management is recognized as a critical priority throughout much of its range. Livestock fencing is commonly used to promote aspen regeneration, but its effectiveness is rarely assessed, especially across large spatial scales. Using a livestock-reduction experiment, we evaluated the effects of ungulate herbivory on aspen in the Great Basin and southern Cascades, an expansive and environmentally heterogeneous region where aspen faces the interacting threats of climate change, conifer encroachment, and herbivory. We found that livestock fencing only reduced the intensity of herbivore browsing on aspen when wild ungulate abundance was low and did not increase stem densities of aspen recruits. Contrary to expectations, wild ungulate abundance was a strong driver of browsing intensity on juvenile aspen within fenced, but not unfenced, aspen stands, and when the abundance of these herbivores was high, browsing intensity in fenced stands exceeded that in unfenced stands. The density of aspen recruits decreased with browsing intensity on juvenile aspen and with the density of both adult aspen and conifers, suggesting that both herbivory and intraand interspecific competition are important drivers of recruitment. Fire history was also an important driver of recruitment, with stands that burned 10-20 years ago having the greatest density of aspen recruits. Finally, in the stand understory, we found that livestock fencing decreased forb cover, increased shrub species richness, and increased the cover of exotic annual grasses, a group dominated by Bromus tectorum. This latter finding suggests that livestock fencing may not be appropriate in areas where controlling the spread of this invader is a priority. In sum, our findings indicate that aspen recruitment is limited by browsing by both wild and domestic ungulates, is mediated by competition with neighboring trees and fire history, and will

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Effect of Simulated Browsing on Aspen Regeneration: Implications for Restoration

Cited by 22 publications

References 31 publications

Aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands and their contribution to plant diversity in a semiarid coniferous landscape

Aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands and their contribution to plant diversity in a semiarid coniferous landscape

Long-term monitoring of western aspen—lessons learned

Ungulate herbivores as drivers of aspen recruitment and understory composition throughout arid montane landscapes

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