Title:

A 2023 inventory of vegetation structure at the Miller Creek Demonstration Forest 55 years after initiation of the Plant Succession Study

Author(s):

Williams, Neil G.; Crotteau, Justin S.; Wright, David K.

Publication Year:

2026

How to Cite:

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

Williams, Neil G.; Crotteau, Justin S.; Wright, David K. 2026. A 2023 inventory of vegetation structure at the Miller Creek Demonstration Forest 55 years after initiation of the Plant Succession Study. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2026-0001

Abstract:

These data support a publication that examined plant community structure 55 years after wildfire and clearcutting plus broadcast burning at the Miller Creek Demonstration Forest (Miller Creek) in northwest Montana. This study is known as the Plant Succession Study, and follows up on a long-term experiment conducted at Miller Creek in 1966 and then monitored over subsequent decades. In 2023 the original Plant Succession Study sample plots were relocated and monumented in 13 of the 4-hectare experimental burn units (which represent treatment units) that were used to examine post-disturbance vegetation structure. This data publication includes data collected from resampling these 13 experimental burn units in 2023. Data include: tree basal area; tree, shrub, and herbaceous vegetation cover percentage; understory plant frequency of detection, and; covariates relating to site, disturbance, and pre-disturbance vegetation that were used in modeling.

Keywords:

biota; environment; plant community dynamics; succession; fuel treatments; harvesting; site preparation; vegetation measurements; repeated sampling; western larch; Ecology, Ecosystems, & Environment; Plant ecology; Fire; Fire ecology; Fire effects on environment; Natural Resource Management & Use; Forest management; vegetation; shrubs; herbs; Western larch; Larix occidentalis; Douglas-fir; Pseudotsuga menziesii; Lodgepole pine; Pinus contorta; Subalpine fir; Abies lasiocarpa; Engelmann spruce; Picea engelmannii; northwest Montana; Miller Creek Demonstration Forest; Flathead National Forest

Related publications:

• Williams, Neil G.; Crotteau, Justin S.; Wright, David K. 2026. Influences on vegetation structure 55 years after clearcutting and broadcast burning, and wildfire in a western larch forest. Fire Ecology. 22(2). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-025-00417-9
• DeByle, Norbert V. 1981. Clearcutting and fire in the western larch / Douglas-fir forests of western Montana - a multifaceted research summary. General Technical Report. INT-99. Ogden, UT: U.S Department of Agriculture, Forest Service.
• Latham, Penelope A.; Shearer, Raymond C.; O'Hara, Kevin L. 1998. Miller Creek Demonstration Forest: a forest born of fire: a field guide. General Technical Report. RMRS-GTR-7. Ogden, UT: U.S Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 68 p. https://doi.org/10.2737/RMRS-GTR-7
• More (8 total)

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