Impacts of fuel reduction thinning treatments on oak and chaparral communities of southwestern Oregon

In response to concerns about excessive stand densities and high-severity wildfires, land managers in the western United States are carrying out extensive programs of fuel reduction thinning. How will these sudden reductions in canopy cover and associated changes in habitat affect native and exotic herbaceous vegetation and canopy species regeneration? Where thinning treatments have both fuel-reduction and ecological restoration objectives, to what extent are these goals compatible? I compared vegetation and abiotic site characteristics between thinned and unthinned chaparral and oak communities of southwestern Oregon where landscape-scale fuel-reduction thinning is occurring. I sampled paired thinned and unthinned transects, established four to seven years post-treatment. I also contrasted impacts of manual vs. mechanical thinning methods, and examined differences in herbaceous composition and responses among canopy community types. Thinning treatments had significant impacts on site conditions and herbaceous cover and composition. Herbaceous cover increased on thinned sites, but species richness and diversity did not change. The strongest differences were decreases in perennial species cover and a near doubling of cover by annual species on thinned sites. While overall proportions of natives and exotics did not change, there were changes at the functional group level. Exotic annual grass cover and the proportion of herbaceous community cover composed of these species increased, while cover by native perennial grasses and regeneration of oaks did not. Cover and proportion of native annual forbs increased more than all other functional groups, while exotic annual forbs and native perennial forbs declined. Herbaceous communities at thinned sites had an early-post-disturbance type of composition dominated by native annual forbs and exotic annual grasses four to seven years after treatments. Re-establishment of native shrubs was sparse in thinned areas, likely due to a lack of fire-stimulated germination. Sites that varied in canopy species composition also supported different herbaceous communities in the absence of thinning, and appeared to respond differently to fuel reduction treatments. Manual and mechanical treatment impacts on abiotic site conditions differed, but their overall impacts on vegetation across canopy community types did not. Treatment type differences in herbaceous responses to thinning were found within some canopy vegetation groups, but sample sizes were small. Results suggest that fuel-reduction thinning may have some unintended negative impacts on oak and chaparral communities of southwestern Oregon. Although treatments have altered fuel conditions, thinning does not appear to have achieved restoration goals and may have substantially changed the composition and regeneration of native perennial communities including canopy species. Continued research and expanded monitoring that account for differences between canopy vegetation communities and treatment types are needed to inform adaptive management in these ecosystems

APPENDIX 5.xls

In response to concerns about excessive stand densities and high-severity wildfires, land managers in the western United States are carrying out extensive programs of fuel reduction thinning. How will these sudden reductions in canopy cover and associated changes in habitat affect native and exotic herbaceous vegetation and canopy species regeneration? Where thinning treatments have both fuel-reduction and ecological restoration objectives, to what extent are these goals compatible? I compared vegetation and abiotic site characteristics between thinned and unthinned chaparral and oak communities of southwestern Oregon where landscape-scale fuel-reduction thinning is occurring. I sampled paired thinned and unthinned transects, established four to seven years post-treatment. I also contrasted impacts of manual vs. mechanical thinning methods, and examined differences in herbaceous composition and responses among canopy community types. Thinning treatments had significant impacts on site conditions and herbaceous cover and composition. Herbaceous cover increased on thinned sites, but species richness and diversity did not change. The strongest differences were decreases in perennial species cover and a near doubling of cover by annual species on thinned sites. While overall proportions of natives and exotics did not change, there were changes at the functional group level. Exotic annual grass cover and the proportion of herbaceous community cover composed of these species increased, while cover by native perennial grasses and regeneration of oaks did not. Cover and proportion of native annual forbs increased more than all other functional groups, while exotic annual forbs and native perennial forbs declined. Herbaceous communities at thinned sites had an early-post-disturbance type of composition dominated by native annual forbs and exotic annual grasses four to seven years after treatments. Re-establishment of native shrubs was sparse in thinned areas, likely due to a lack of fire-stimulated germination. Sites that varied in canopy species composition also supported different herbaceous communities in the absence of thinning, and appeared to respond differently to fuel reduction treatments. Manual and mechanical treatment impacts on abiotic site conditions differed, but their overall impacts on vegetation across canopy community types did not. Treatment type differences in herbaceous responses to thinning were found within some canopy vegetation groups, but sample sizes were small. Results suggest that fuel-reduction thinning may have some unintended negative impacts on oak and chaparral communities of southwestern Oregon. Although treatments have altered fuel conditions, thinning does not appear to have achieved restoration goals and may have substantially changed the composition and regeneration of native perennial communities including canopy species. Continued research and expanded monitoring that account for differences between canopy vegetation communities and treatment types are needed to inform adaptive management in these ecosystems

PerchemlidesKeithA2007.pdf

In response to concerns about excessive stand densities and high-severity wildfires, land managers in the western United States are carrying out extensive programs of fuel reduction thinning. How will these sudden reductions in canopy cover and associated changes in habitat affect native and exotic herbaceous vegetation and canopy species regeneration? Where thinning treatments have both fuel-reduction and ecological restoration objectives, to what extent are these goals compatible? I compared vegetation and abiotic site characteristics between thinned and unthinned chaparral and oak communities of southwestern Oregon where landscape-scale fuel-reduction thinning is occurring. I sampled paired thinned and unthinned transects, established four to seven years post-treatment. I also contrasted impacts of manual vs. mechanical thinning methods, and examined differences in herbaceous composition and responses among canopy community types. Thinning treatments had significant impacts on site conditions and herbaceous cover and composition. Herbaceous cover increased on thinned sites, but species richness and diversity did not change. The strongest differences were decreases in perennial species cover and a near doubling of cover by annual species on thinned sites. While overall proportions of natives and exotics did not change, there were changes at the functional group level. Exotic annual grass cover and the proportion of herbaceous community cover composed of these species increased, while cover by native perennial grasses and regeneration of oaks did not. Cover and proportion of native annual forbs increased more than all other functional groups, while exotic annual forbs and native perennial forbs declined. Herbaceous communities at thinned sites had an early-post-disturbance type of composition dominated by native annual forbs and exotic annual grasses four to seven years after treatments. Re-establishment of native shrubs was sparse in thinned areas, likely due to a lack of fire-stimulated germination. Sites that varied in canopy species composition also supported different herbaceous communities in the absence of thinning, and appeared to respond differently to fuel reduction treatments. Manual and mechanical treatment impacts on abiotic site conditions differed, but their overall impacts on vegetation across canopy community types did not. Treatment type differences in herbaceous responses to thinning were found within some canopy vegetation groups, but sample sizes were small. Results suggest that fuel-reduction thinning may have some unintended negative impacts on oak and chaparral communities of southwestern Oregon. Although treatments have altered fuel conditions, thinning does not appear to have achieved restoration goals and may have substantially changed the composition and regeneration of native perennial communities including canopy species. Continued research and expanded monitoring that account for differences between canopy vegetation communities and treatment types are needed to inform adaptive management in these ecosystems

Responses of Chaparral and Oak Woodland Plant Communities to Fuel-Reduction Thinning in Southwestern Oregon

Fire suppression has led to large fuel accumulations in many regions of the United States. In response to concerns about associated wildfire hazards, land managers in the western United States are carrying out extensive fuel-reduction thinning programs. Although reductions in cover by woody vegetation seem likely to cause changes in herbaceous communities, few published studies have reported on consequences of such treatments for native or exotic plant species. We compared vegetation and abiotic characteristics between paired thinned and unthinned chaparral and oak woodland communities of southwestern Oregon 4-7 yr posttreatment and contrasted impacts of manual vs. mechanical treatments. Herbaceous cover increased on thinned sites, but species richness did not change. Herbaceous communities at thinned sites had an early postdisturbance type of composition dominated by native annual forbs and exotic annual grasses; cover by annuals was nearly twice as high on treated as on untreated sites. Absolute and proportional cover of native annual forbs increased more than any other trait group, whereas exotic annual forbs and native perennial forbs declined. Exotic annual grass cover (absolute and proportional) increased, whereas cover by native perennial grasses did not. Shrub reestablishment was sparse after thinning, probably because of a lack of fire-stimulated germination. Manual and mechanical treatment impacts on abiotic site conditions differed, but differences in vegetation impacts were not statistically significant. Fuel-reduction thinning may have some unintended negative impacts, including expansion of exotic grasses, reductions in native perennial species cover, persistent domination by annuals, and increased surface fuels. Coupled with sparse tree or shrub regeneration, these alterations suggest that ecological-state changes may occur in treated communities. Such changes might be mitigated by retaining more woody cover than is currently retained, seeding with native perennials after treatment, or other practices; further research is needed to inform management in these ecosystems. The Rangeland Ecology & Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform August 202

Efficient Diet Management in Primary Care

Purpose: To increase the rate of diet-management by PCPs with the use of a digital diet-tool. The Global Burden of Disease Study identifies chronic disease (CD) as the leading cause of mortality in the world and diet-quality as the leading predictor of all-cause morbidity and mortality (Afshin et al., 2019). The same is true in the United States (Gicevic et al., 2021) and in Vermont (VT DOH, 2019). Low-quality diets contribute to CD while improved diet-quality reduces morbidity and premature death (Harmon et al., 2015; Wang et al., 2019). Diet is not routinely managed by PCPs (Ahmed et al., 2016) due to barriers including, limited nutrition training, limited time, competing medical-priorities, and insufficient reimbursement (Kolasa & Rickett, 2010). Digital diet-tools are a means of overcoming these barriers, per the AHA (Vadiveloo et al., 2020) Methods: Retrospective chart-audits established the baseline-rate of diet-management by two PCPs for adult patients. A validated, digital, diet-management tool, for professionals was available for 5 consecutive weeks. Documentation of diet-assessments and diet-planning was tabulated daily. Staff provided feedback regarding workflow, functionality, and feasibility of the practice-change. Results: The rate of diet-management increased with this practice-change. Diet-assessment increased from 0% to 40%, diet-planning from 14% to 54% for one PCP and from 0% to 15% and 14% to 29% respectively for the second. Identification of patients with low-quality diets and high-risk of developing CD increased 20-fold among one PCP’s patients and 4-fold among the other. 55% of patients with low-quality diets received diet-management for the primary prevention of CD. Providers reported a positive opinion of the tool and practice-change. Conclusion: Diet-management by PCPs increased with use of the digital diet-tool. This practice-change lead to the identification of patients with low-quality diets who were at high-risk of adverse health outcomes and facilitated intervention toward primary prevention of CD