Course Content

 

Ecology of Ponderosa Pine, mixed-conifer, and subalpine forests

· Biophysical setting, gradients (soils, topography, precipitation patterns, etc), and major forest types.

· Tree and plant community identification plus autecology of major species

· Historic and current structure, composition, and function

· Forest developmental processes: establishment, competition, succession, facilitation, etc.

· Role of disturbance: fire, insects, and pathogens.

· Basics of fire regimes and behavior

· Landscape scale pattern and process

· Wildlife habitat relationships to stand and landscape conditions

· Effects of climate change

 

 

Historic human interactions with forest landscape.

· Native American use and burning

· Post-settlement grazing and logging

· Fire suppression

· Resulting changes in stand to landscape level structure and composition

· Resulting changes in fire regimes, insect dynamics, and pathogens.

 

 

Current Management and Restoration Approaches

· Basic mandates and policy frameworks of National Forest, State, Tribal, and private landowners.

· Fuel reduction principals

· Landscape approaches to species conservation: Eastside Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Plan

· Balancing economic and ecological goals: even and uneven-age management approaches.

· Restoring historic stand structure

· Restoring landscape pattern and characteristic fire and other disturbance regimes.

· Multi-owner, large scale, collaborative management

· Opportunities and challenges of biomass production from dry forests.

· Preparing and adapting to climate change

ESRM 491A: Ecology and Management of Forests of Eastern Washington

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