BIODIVERSITY IN EARLY SERAL FORESTS MANAGED FOR DIFFERING NATURAL RESOURCE OBJECTIVES

Our objective in this study is to conduct a large-scale retrospective study of biodiversity (plant-forest, pollinator-bees, carabid ground beetles, and bird communities) in early seral Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forest types of southwestern Oregon. We will compare responses to 1) succession patterns after stand replacing fire (SRFire), 2) succession patterns after wildfire and timber salvage/management (FSalvage), and 3) succession patterns in tree farm plantations (IFM). We will stratify our sampling across three different periods of early stand development: young (1 to 5 years since disturbance), adolescent (6 to 12 years), and old (13 to 20 years) periods.We will document how plantation forestry alters biodiversity and temporal characteristics of the early seral period from its primary natural counterpart, stand-replacing wildfire. At the same time, we will investigate the extent to which active, intensive management may support species and communities traditionally associated with natural disturbance. Plant communities, pollinators (here we focus on bees), ground beetles (carabids) and birds together provide a robust and useful suite of metrics for quantifying early seral biodiversity. Focusing on plant communities, including tree, shrub, forb, and herbaceous assemblages, provides the fine lens necessary to forward understanding of form and function of primary producers in early seral forests. Bees (e.g., Bombus and Xylocopa), ground beetles, and birds (songbirds and woodpeckers) represent higher trophic levels, providing deeper understanding of community dynamics. These taxa serve as indicators for other taxonomic groups and can be relatively easily sampled over large geographical areas, making them ideal for the scale of work described here.Research question: How does biodiversity vary between early seral environments initiated by SRFire, FSalvage, and IFM?How do these patterns change with time since disturbance, e.g., younger early seral through older early seral? For what species, and what are their structural and functional characteristics?Are there key environmental gradients (i.e., covariates) that allow us to predict spatial variability in SRFire outcomes?How long does early seral habitat last on a given site type and how does this vary spatially, across environmental gradients? What environmental gradients underpin variability in "the end of early seral" among treatments.