Skip to Main Content
U.S. Forest Service
Caring for the land and serving people

United States Department of Agriculture

Home > Search > Publication Information

  1. Evaluating the effects of pinyon thinning treatments at a wildland urban interface

    Share via EmailShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInShare on Twitter
    Dislike this pubLike this pub
    Author(s): J. R. Matchett; Matthew Brooks; Anne Halford; Dale Johnson; Helen Smith
    Date: 2010
    Source: Final Report for Project #05-2-1-08. El Portal, CA: U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center. 28 p.
    Publication Series: Miscellaneous Publication
    PDF: View PDF  (969.55 KB)

    Description

    This study evaluated the short-term effects of thinning methods for pinyon pine woodlands at two sites in the southwestern Great Basin. Both cut/pile/burn and mastication treatments were equally effective at reducing the target fuels which were mature, live pinyon trees. Application costs though differed substantially, with the cut/pile/burn technique being less expensive. Thinning treatments increased the abundance of herbaceous vegetation, although in some cases the strength of the increase was constrained by the level of pre-treatment tree dominance. Increases in perennial grass cover and density in response to thinning were usually greatest at lower levels of pre-treatment pinyon dominance, whereas native annual forb density and cover responded fairly equally along the tree-dominance gradient. Shrub abundance declined in response to pre-treatment tree dominance and the response to thinning treatments appeared more subtle than for herbaceous vegetation. Shrub cover within the control decreased slightly during the 3 post-treatment years, while it increased slightly within both thinning treatments. The response of slower-growing plants such as shrubs will need to be evaluated during future years to determine differences between thinning treatments. Species richness within the two thinning treatments steadily increased relative to the control over the course of the 3 years following treatment.

    Publication Notes

    • You may send email to rmrspubrequest@fs.fed.us to request a hard copy of this publication.
    • (Please specify exactly which publication you are requesting and your mailing address.)
    • We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
    • This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

    Citation

    Matchett, J. R.; Brooks, Matthew; Halford, Anne; Johnson, Dale; Smith, Helen. 2010. Evaluating the effects of pinyon thinning treatments at a wildland urban interface. Final Report for Project #05-2-1-08. El Portal, CA: U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center. 28 p.

    Keywords

    pinyon thinning treatments, wildland urban interface

    Related Search

    XML: View XML
Show More
Show Fewer
Jump to Top of Page