IntensIve sIlvIculture - Forest Science Labs - Research Network ...

INTRODUCTION
Silvicultural regimes are becoming increasingly complex in the US Pacific Northwest,
incorporating a multitude of treatments over the length of a rotation. There is a need, therefore,
to understand not only how individual treatments affect tree and stand growth, but also how these
treatments interact to determine productivity of an entire rotation. Research programs addressing
intensive silviculture have traditionally been focused on a specific treatment or narrow class of
treatments. Similarly, monitored responses have often been limited to stemwood volume growth
and tree mortality, ignoring the underlying physiological and environmental processes that
ultimately determine stemwood productivity. An initiative has been launched at Oregon State
University to address these research deficiencies by investigating more comprehensive treatment
regimes, as well as the physiological and environmental response mechanisms that drive
productivity. This bibliography was compiled as a first step in identifying those treatments and
treatment combinations that have been previously studied and those that require further research.
The bibliography is a compilation of abstracts for 675 publications examining the effects
of intensive silvicultural practices on the productivity of coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga
menziesii [Mirb.] Franco var. menziesii) in the Pacific Northwest. References date from 1983 to
2004 and were identified through a large comprehensive literature search conducted in CAB
Abstracts (1997-2000, SilverPlatter Information N.V.). Various combinations of search words
were selected from the following four sets: (1) a geographical set to ensure that the described
studies were limited to the US Pacific Northwest and British Columbia; (2) a set of species
search words to focus the search to coastal Douglas-fir; (3) a set to screen over 10 different
classes of intensive silvicultural practices; and (4) a set to cover the wide range of responses to
silvicultural treatments, including stem growth and physiological processes.
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