Assessing the effects of manual tree removal as a grassland restoration treatment in the Churn Creek protected area
Philip, Kathleen (author) Cohen-Fernandez, Anayansi (thesis advisor) Cohen-Fernandez, Anayansi (chair) Ransome, Douglas (committee member) British Columbia Institute of Technology School of Construction and the Environment (Degree granting institution) Simon Fraser University Faculty of Environment (Degree granting institution)
Research paper/project
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ © Kathleen Philip, 2024. All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means – graphics, electronic, or mechanical including photocopying, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems – without written permission of the author.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
British Columbia Institute of Technology
2024-04-24
86 pages
High-elevation grasslands in the Churn Creek Protected Area of the British Columbia Interior are being lost to the expansion of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca) forests. In 2015, trees were manually removed in four of six treatments of varying tree density, height and maturity. The two extreme vegetation treatments, open grassland and mature closed forest, did not undergo tree removal. Three plots were randomly assigned per treatment to assess grassland community recovery. Vegetation percent cover, stem density and height of new tree seedlings were recorded in fixed-radius plots pre- (2015) and post-treatment (2018 and 2023). In 2023, soil characteristics were also measured. There were declines in herbaceous cover in 2023, due to either observer differences or low total annual precipitation since 2021. Soils in the mature closed forest had lower soil water content, temperature and electrical conductivity. In 2023, stem density of Douglas-fir seedlings was greater than previous years, yet shorter in height.
woody encroachment grassland recovery seedling recruitment manual tree removal cultural burning soil dynamics
Ecological Restoration Program
electronic
Master of Science
