Montane Wet Cool Coniferous Seeley, Swan, Flathead and Tobacco Valleys
Scenario model
Current ecosystem state
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Management practices/drivers
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- Transition T1A More details
- Restoration pathway R2A More details
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No transition or restoration pathway between the selected states has been described
Target ecosystem state
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Description
Very wet sites with water table from 60 to 100 cm found along streams and associated with wetlands.
Due to this very wet condition, the fire free interval can be very long.
Stand Replacing Fire (SRF) occurs in patches 200 to 2000 hectare patch
Submodel
Description
STATE 2
ARMILLARIA ROOT ROT STATE
Community 2.1 Shrubland composed of species that reside onsite naturally (Redosier dogwood, common snowberry, thimbleberry).
Submodel
Mechanism
T1A – Armillaria Root Rot State in which the forest has been converted to a shrubland. If a stand sustains very high levels of roots disease mortality, then a forest stand could cross a threshold and become a shrubland, once all trees are gone (Kimsey et al., 2012). Persistent shrub fields may take a century or longer for the infected root mass to decline, which will return the root disease potential to background levels, and allow the reintroduction of resistant conifer species. Extensive management is needed to convert the resultant shrubland back to a forest community. The shrubs that would create the converted shrubland are from those already on the ecological site such as common snowberry, serviceberry, and white spirea. A mosaic of brushy openings, patches of dying trees, and apparently unaffected trees may cover large areas.
Mechanism
R2A – Forest management practices to convert shrubland back to forest including tree planting of less Armillaria Root Rot sensitive tree species
There can be highly significant losses, usually requiring species conversion in the active management approach. Management tactics include to correctly identify the type of root disease(s) on the management unit, and manage species such as late seral pine and larch. Pre-commercial thinning will improve growth and vigor of the residual stand. Thinning and harvest operations should remove susceptible species (Douglas-fir or true firs) to the degree practical, retaining late seral species such as western larch and pine (Hagle, 2010). Tree planting can be used to facilitate a shift in species composition to those conifers which have greater tolerance to root diseases. There has been a link determined between parent material and susceptibility to root disease.
Model keys
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