Managing heart rot in live trees for wildlife habitat in young-growth forests of coastal Alaska

Hennon, Paul E.; Mulvey, Robin L.

doi:10.2737/pnw-gtr-890

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…This may be because economic impacts are not always negative; some heart rots in oak increase the value of stained wood for the furniture trade because the colour of the heart rot is attractive and the mechanical properties of the wood are scarcely affected (Schwarze, Baum, & Fink, ). Additionally, heart rot fungi have an important role in maintaining the ecological diversity of birds, mammals and invertebrates in forests by creating habitat for the animals, as the fungi soften the wood (Hennon & Mulvey, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Early detection of the pathogen is particularly difficult as it produces no external symptoms, and landowners only learn of its presence when they harvest the stand. For this reason, a tool that would enable early detection of the disease would be very helpful to landowners to allow them to make appropriate silvicultural decisions (Hennon & Mulvey, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental and stand conditions related to Fistulina hepatica heart rot attack on Castanea sativa

et al. 2019

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Castanea sativa forests in north‐eastern Spain have historically been healthy and have been good producers of timber and non‐wood forest products. In the last quarter of a century, Fistulina hepatica has gained relevance in this ecosystem and is believed to be responsible for Chestnut Red Stain (CRS), which inflicts heart rot in trees and causes severe economic losses. The fungus grows in the heartwood and produces no external symptoms that would enable early detection. With the objective of developing an inexpensive method to detect heart rot and to discover possible relationships between the severity of F. hepatica attack and the silvicultural management or site characteristics of chestnut stands, 38 pure C. sativa plots were selected, sampled and analysed for the presence of the fungus. DNA was extracted from the heartwood samples, and PCR was used to amplify target sequences with specific F. hepatica primers for non‐homologous ITS1 and ITS2 regions. Correlation analysis was used to inspect the multiple interactions among the environmental and management variables examined, and a predictive model was designed for forest managers to estimate the risk of infection. Both analyses revealed that stress variables were related to CRS severity. This result is especially relevant since temperatures are expected to rise in coming decades throughout the northern rim of the Mediterranean region, where chestnut is an important species. This study provides two tools for better managing chestnut forests in the coming years: an inexpensive and fast tool for diagnosis and a predictive model to estimate the risk of infection.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental and stand conditions related to Fistulina hepatica heart rot attack on Castanea sativa

et al. 2019

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“…The suitability of woody structures (both living and dead trees) as nest or den sites is dependent on the rate of their recruitment (Barry et al 2017), which may be limited in coastal temperate rainforests by extensive logging (Delheimer et al 2019). Live trees, snags, and down logs used as nests and dens by a number of forest birds (Mahon et al 2008) and mammals (Barry et al 2017) are more prevalent in unlogged forests generally >200 years old (Gerzon et al 2011, Hennon and Mulvey 2014). The suitability of these woody structures for wildlife use can also be dependent on their rate of decay (Edworthy and Martin 2013), which may depend on tree species (Parish et al 2010), whether the structure is living or dead (Edworthy and Martin 2014), and whether standing or down (Vanderwel et al 2006).…”

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confidence: 99%

Black Bears Select Large Woody Structures for Dens in Southeast Alaska

et al. 2021

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Timber interests target coastal temperate rainforests, and within them stands composed of large trees potentially selected by American black bears (Ursus americanus) for denning. We identified the location of 75 black bear dens (used ≥14 days) in an intensively logged area on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, USA. We ground‐visited a subset (n = 43) of these sites to measure the diameter of living trees and woody structures used by black bears for denning. We contrasted dens with random trees available in the study area in a series of models to characterize black bear den selection. All but 1 of 43 ground‐visited dens were located within woody structures, and all but 2 of these structures were >1 m diameter at breast height (dbh). We built resource selection functions (RSFs) to investigate black bear den selection across a range of spatial scales, though estimated selection was generally scale invariant. Black bears strongly selected large‐diameter woody structures (dead or alive) as dens at the home‐range scale, with the estimated relative strength of selection (RSS) for a 2‐m‐diameter tree approximately 166 times that of a 1‐m‐diameter tree. The estimated RSS of logged forest was unexpectedly greater (2.75 times) than that of the remaining commercially valuable old‐growth forest. Selection for den structures within stumps in previously logged stands suggests features of the woody structure may be of greater importance to black bears selecting dens than attributes of the surrounding forest. There was no observed correlation between bear den selection and second‐growth age, indicating that stumps may persist as suitable dens well after logging. Because denning is an important part of their life history and the denning structures used by black bears on Prince of Wales Island will eventually decay, retaining habitat value for bears in areas intensively managed for timber harvest requires strategies to recruit very large, old trees throughout the landscape. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.

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“…Over sufficiently long time periods and broad spatial scales, natural processes of attrition and recruitment should be roughly in equilibriumas trees die, fall to the ground, and rot into the earth, other trees grow in size and eventually take their place. Tree loss can be complete and almost instantaneous, such as in a forest stand that has been clearcut or burned at high intensity; conversely, growth and recruitment of a new cohort of trees to replace those lost can take multiple decades to centuries (Franklin et al 2002, Hennon andMulvey 2014). Tree loss can be complete and almost instantaneous, such as in a forest stand that has been clearcut or burned at high intensity; conversely, growth and recruitment of a new cohort of trees to replace those lost can take multiple decades to centuries (Franklin et al 2002, Hennon andMulvey 2014).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…However, populations of large, old trees are in global decline (Lindenmayer et al 2012a, Lindenmayer andLaurance 2017), driven by loss from timber harvest, disrupted fire regimes, drought, and conversion of forest to agriculture or urban development (Lindenmayer et al 2012b, Jones et al 2016. Tree loss can be complete and almost instantaneous, such as in a forest stand that has been clearcut or burned at high intensity; conversely, growth and recruitment of a new cohort of trees to replace those lost can take multiple decades to centuries (Franklin et al 2002, Hennon andMulvey 2014). Recruitment of large, old trees worldwide appears to be far outpaced by loss, as a result of asymmetry in the amount of time over which these processes, respectively, occur (Lindenmayer et al 2012b, Easterday et al 2018.…”

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confidence: 99%

If a tree falls in a forest: implications of forest structure persistence for the Pacific marten (Martes caurina)

et al. 2019

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Citation: Delheimer, M. S., K. M. Moriarty, M. A. Linnell, and B. V. Woodruff. 2019. If a tree falls in a forest: implications of forest structure persistence for the Pacific marten (Martes caurina).Abstract. A global decline in large trees, largely driven by anthropogenic influences, has potentially dire consequences for cavity-dependent wildlife. For several species of conservation concern in western North America, including Pacific martens (Martes caurina), fishers (Pekania pennanti), and spotted owls (Strix occidentalis), large live and dead trees (snags) with cavities are forest structural elements that are requisite to fulfilling life history requirements. More than a century may be necessary for trees to develop cavities of a suitable size for use by martens, fishers, and owls, yet the relative amount of time that such trees persist as usable prior to senescence is largely unknown, despite the implications for how forests are managed as habitat for these wildlife species. To address this uncertainty, in 2016, we re-located 44 live trees and snags identified as marten rest structures between 2009 and 2012 in the Lassen National Forest, California. Upon re-location, we assessed structure persistence by determining whether structures had changed type (e.g., a live tree that died and transitioned to a snag) or usability (any structure that was degraded to a point where it was no longer usable by a marten). After 5-7 yr, 25% (n = 11) of marten rest structures changed type and 16% (n = 7) appeared to be unusable-a stark contrast compared to a similar study investigating persistence of fisher rest structures, which documented one-third of the change in structure type and no change in usability over roughly twice the return interval (8-12 yr). Our results emphasize the vast disparity between the lengthy period required for trees to become suitable for marten use and the potentially short period for which they may remain usable. We suggest that forest managers consider the importance of these fine-scale forest structural elements when developing broad-scale strategies to reduce fire risk and improve resilience in western North American forests.

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Managing heart rot in live trees for wildlife habitat in young-growth forests of coastal Alaska

Cited by 5 publications

References 20 publications

Environmental and stand conditions related to Fistulina hepatica heart rot attack on Castanea sativa

Environmental and stand conditions related to Fistulina hepatica heart rot attack on Castanea sativa

Black Bears Select Large Woody Structures for Dens in Southeast Alaska

If a tree falls in a forest: implications of forest structure persistence for the Pacific marten (Martes caurina)

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