Redwoods Resiliency Project (RwRP)
Project Title: Redwoods Resiliency Project
Project Sponsor: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Principal Investigator: Salli Dymond (NAU)
Collaborators: Joe Wagenbrenner (USFS)
Graduate Student: Mairead Brogan (PhD)
Undergraduate Students: Monse Cahueque; CJ Hyatt
Project Location: Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds, CA, USA
Funding Total: $500,000
Project Summary: The coast redwood belt is actively managed to promote growth and yield, but the contributions of management to coast redwood resiliency in the presence of forest disturbances (e.g., fire and drought) is still uncertain. Second-growth coast redwood forests that are un-thinned often have high tree densities with compact canopies, and thinning can lead to higher fuel accumulations than in other forest types. Additionally, dense, un-thinned stands may have increased competition for limited water resources, making them less resilient during drought events. Forest resilience is a tradeoff between resource limitations and availability — understanding the interactions of forest management and climate will help sustain resilient redwood forests. This research leverages long-term experiments and datasets from the Jackson Demonstration State Forest to better understand interactions and feedbacks between forest stand structure, management, and climate on coast redwood forest resiliency. We propose three related components of research that are complimentary to the existing studies at and adjacent to the Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds within the JDSF. The first component will investigate the role of forest stand density and structure on watershed dynamics in coast redwood forests. The second component will quantify fuel characteristics in the watersheds, including feedbacks between microclimate, soil moisture, and fuel moisture. The final component will to use dendroecological techniques to understand the combined effects of thinning and drought on redwood growth and resilience. The three components will integrate to support our larger goal of providing forest managers with scientific knowledge about watershed processes and the resiliency of coast redwood forests.
Presentations:
Brogan, M., Dymond S. F., Wagenbrenner J., Thompson, A., Coe, D. Restiano, J. 2024. Canopy cover reduction impacts on transpiration rates in
Pseudotsuga menziesii and Sequoia sempervirens. American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, Dec. 10, Washington, D.C.
Project Sponsor: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Principal Investigator: Salli Dymond (NAU)
Collaborators: Joe Wagenbrenner (USFS)
Graduate Student: Mairead Brogan (PhD)
Undergraduate Students: Monse Cahueque; CJ Hyatt
Project Location: Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds, CA, USA
Funding Total: $500,000
Project Summary: The coast redwood belt is actively managed to promote growth and yield, but the contributions of management to coast redwood resiliency in the presence of forest disturbances (e.g., fire and drought) is still uncertain. Second-growth coast redwood forests that are un-thinned often have high tree densities with compact canopies, and thinning can lead to higher fuel accumulations than in other forest types. Additionally, dense, un-thinned stands may have increased competition for limited water resources, making them less resilient during drought events. Forest resilience is a tradeoff between resource limitations and availability — understanding the interactions of forest management and climate will help sustain resilient redwood forests. This research leverages long-term experiments and datasets from the Jackson Demonstration State Forest to better understand interactions and feedbacks between forest stand structure, management, and climate on coast redwood forest resiliency. We propose three related components of research that are complimentary to the existing studies at and adjacent to the Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds within the JDSF. The first component will investigate the role of forest stand density and structure on watershed dynamics in coast redwood forests. The second component will quantify fuel characteristics in the watersheds, including feedbacks between microclimate, soil moisture, and fuel moisture. The final component will to use dendroecological techniques to understand the combined effects of thinning and drought on redwood growth and resilience. The three components will integrate to support our larger goal of providing forest managers with scientific knowledge about watershed processes and the resiliency of coast redwood forests.
Presentations:
Brogan, M., Dymond S. F., Wagenbrenner J., Thompson, A., Coe, D. Restiano, J. 2024. Canopy cover reduction impacts on transpiration rates in
Pseudotsuga menziesii and Sequoia sempervirens. American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, Dec. 10, Washington, D.C.
