Title:

Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest ‘Methods of Cutting’ study plots 8-11: 88+ years of forest composition

Author(s):

Knapp, Eric E.; Carlson, Robert L.

Publication Year:

2021

How to Cite:

These data were collected using funding from the U.S. Government and can be used without additional permissions or fees. If you use these data in a publication, presentation, or other research product please use the following citation:

Knapp, Eric E.; Carlson, Robert L. 2021. Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest ‘Methods of Cutting’ study plots 8-11: 88+ years of forest composition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2021-0061

Abstract:

To study the effects of different logging methods on composition and growth of stands, early U.S. Forest Service scientists, including silviculturist Duncan Dunning, established ‘Methods of Cutting’ (MOC) plots in forest stands of varying composition and productivity throughout California. Four of these plots, all fully or partially on what is now the Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest (Stanislaus National Forest), were established in old-growth mixed conifer stands in 1928 and 1929. Each plot was about 10 acres in size. All trees were mapped, and data on species, diameter, and height were taken prior to logging. Patches of shrubs, tree regeneration, and downed logs were mapped on at least some plots in the initial surveys. In combination, these data provide a measure of the composition of such forests at the time. Data from MOC plots, including MOC plots 8-11 on the Stanislaus National Forest, were used in numerous early publications, including yield, stand, and volume tables. Tree data were collected again in 1934 and 1939 and then plots were abandoned when research priorities changed. The MOC plots 8-11 were re-discovered in 2005. The plot infrastructure remained nearly intact, and many numbered tree tags were still in place. Data from surveys and remeasurements taken in the 1920’s and 1930’s were found in the National Archives in San Bruno, CA. Trees were remapped and some of the original variables remeasured once again between 2007 and 2016 to address new questions about forest change, downed log and snag change, and fire-forest structure interactions over time. These four MOC plots are among the oldest mostly intact forest research plots known to exist in California. The geodatabase included in this data publication contains the location and data from trees measured in the 1928-1929, 1934, 1939 and the 2007-2016 surveys of MOC plots 8, 9, 10 and 11.

Keywords:

methods of cutting plots; historical forest; historical tree survey; silviculture; timber harvest; biota; environment; Ecology, Ecosystems, & Environment; Plant ecology; Forest Products; Inventory, Monitoring, & Analysis; Monitoring; Resource inventory; Natural Resource Management & Use; Forest management; Timber; California; Tuolumne County; Pacific Southwest Region; Stanislaus National Forest; Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest

Related publications:

• Knapp, Eric E.; Skinner, Carl N.; North, Malcolm P.; Estes, Becky L. 2013. Long-term overstory and understory change following logging and fire exclusion in a Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest. Forest Ecology and Management. 310: 903-914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2013.09.041 https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/45212
• Knapp, Eric E. 2015. Long-term dead wood changes in a Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest: habitat and fire hazard implications. Forest Ecology and Management. 339: 87-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2014.12.008 https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/47344
• Lydersen, Jamie M.; North, Malcolm P.; Knapp, Eric E.; Collins, Brandon M. 2013. Quantifying spatial patterns of tree groups and gaps in mixed-conifer forests: reference conditions and long-term changes following fire suppression and logging. Forest Ecology and Management. 304: 370-382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2013.05.023 https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/44828
• Ziegler, Justin P.; Hoffman, Chad M.; Collins, Brandon M.; Knapp, Eric E.; Mell, William. 2021. Pyric—tree spatial patterning interactions in historical and contemporary mixed conifer forests, California, USA. Ecology and Evolution. 11:820-834. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7084 https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/61861

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