Date Creek Research Forest

Last updated on August 22, 2023
Trial name: Date Creek Research Forest (EP 1219)
Trial objectives Installation name Ecosystems represented Tree species Silvicultural systems tested Post Establishment Treatments
How ecosystems function, how they change over time, and impacts of timber harvesting:
  • Soil and soil organisms
  • Tree regeneration
  • Arboreal lichen
  • Vegetation
  • Sporocarps
  • Birds, bats, amphibians, small mammals
  • Water
  • Windthrow
Date Creek ICHmc2
  • Western hemlock
  • Western red cedar
  • Subalpine fir
  • Lodgepole pine
  • Hybrid spruce
  • Paper birch
  • Trembling aspen
  • Black cottonwood
  • Clearcut
  • Light (30%) and heavy (60%) removal
  • Canopy opening size range from single tree to 0.5ha
  • 4 replications
None

Publications:

Publication topic Publications
General Overview
Harvesting Cost and Productivity
  • Thibodeau, E.D., R.K. Krag, and I.B. Hedin. 1996. Date Creek silvicultural systems trial: performance and productivity of ground-based harvesting systems in the interior cedar–hemlock ecosystem of the Prince Rupert Forest Region. FERIC Rep. SR-114. Abstract available
Windthrow
Forest Stand Dynamics
  • LePage, P. 1995. The structure and development pattern of mixed-species forest stands in the Interior Cedar – Hemlock zone, Moist Cold subzone of northwestern British Columbia. MSc thesis. Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, Ore.
  • LePage, P. 1995. The size and age structure of mature, mixed-species forest stands in the ICH zone. B.C. Min. For., For. Sci. Section, Smithers, B.C. Exten. Note 12.
  • Ashton, P.M.S., L.P. Olander, G.P. Berlyn, R. Thadani, and I.R. Cameron. 1998. Changes in leaf structure in relation to crown position and tree size of Betula papyrifera within fire origin stands of interior cedar–hemlock. Can. J. Bot. 76:1180–1187.
Stand Structure, Gap Dynamics
  • Coates, K.D. and P.J. Burton. 1997. A gap-based approach for development of silvicultural systems to address ecosystem management objectives. For. Ecol. Manag. 99:337–354.
  • Coates, K.D. 2002. Tree recruitment in gaps of various size, clearcuts and undisturbed mixed forest of interior British Columbia, Canada. For. Ecol. Manag. 155:387–398.
  • Bartemucci, P., K.D. Coates, K.A. Harper, and E.F. Wright. 2002. Gap disturbances in northern old-growth forests of British Columbia, Canada. J. Vegetation Sci. 13(5):685–696.
Regeneration
Understory Plants
  • Lilles, E., A. Dhar, K.D. Coates, and S. Haeussler. 2018. Retention level affects dynamics of understory plant community recovery in northern temperate hemlock–cedar forests. For. Ecol. Manag. 421:3–15.
Soil Nutrition
  • Prescott, C.E., L.L. Blevins, and C.L. Staley. 2000. Effects of clear-cutting on decomposition rates of litter and forest floor in forests of British Columbia. Can. J. For. Res. 30(11):1751–1757.
  • Kranabetter, J.M. and K.D. Coates. 2004. Ten-year postharvest effects of silviculture systems on soil-resource availability and conifer nutrition in a northern temperate forest. Can. J. For. Res. 34(4):800–809.
  • Walters, M.B., C. Lajzerowicz, and K.D. Coates. 2006. Soil resources and the growth and nutrition of tree seedlings near harvest gaps – forest edges in interior cedar–hemlock forests of British Columbia. Can. J. For. Res. 36:62–76.
  • Kranabetter, J.M., S.W. Simard, R.D. Guy, and K.D. Coates. 2010. Species patterns in foliar nitrogen concentration, nitrogen content and 13C abundance for understory saplings across light gradients. Plant and Soil 327(1–2):389–401.
Growth and Yield
Lichen
  • Goward, T. and B. Goffinet. 1993. Nephroma silvaevetris, a new lichen (Ascomytina) from the Pacific Northwest of North America. Bryologist 96(2):242–243.
  • Goward, T. 1995. Nephroma occultum and the maintenance of lichen diversity in British Columbia. Mitteilungen der Eidgenössischen Forschungsanstalt fü Wald, Schnee und Landschaft 70:93–101.
  • Goward, T. 1994. Notes on oldgrowth-dependent epiphytic macrolichens in inland British Columbia, Canada. Acta Bot. Fennica 150:31–38.
Ectomycorrhizae
  • Kranabetter, M. 1997. The effects of timber harvesting on mushrooms and mycorrhizae of the Date Creek Research Forest. B.C. Min. For., For. Sci. Section, Smithers, B.C. Exten. Note 25.
  • Kranabetter, M. and T. Wylie. 1998. Ectomyccorhizal community structure across forest openings on naturally regenerated western hemlock seedlings. Can. J. Bot. 76:189–196.
  • Kranabetter, J.M., S. Hayden, and E.F. Wright. 1999. A comparison of ectomycorrhiza communities from three conifer species planted on forest gap edges. Can. J. Bot. 77:1193–1198.
  • Kranabetter, J.M. 1999. The effect of refuge trees on a paper birch ectomycorrhiza community. Can. J. Bot. 77:1523–1528.
  • Durall, D.M., M.D. Jones, E.F. Wright, P. Kroeger, and K.D. Coates. 1999. Species richness of ectomycorrhizal fungi in cutblocks of different sizes in the interior cedar-hemlock forests of northwestern British Columbia: sporocarps and ectomycorrhizae. Can. J. For. Res. 29(9):1322–1332.
  • Kranabetter, J.M. and P. Kroeger. 2001. Ectomycorrhizal mushroom response to partial cutting in a western hemlock/western red cedar forest. Can. J. For. Res. 31(6):978–987.
  • Kranabetter, J.M. and J. Friesen. 2002. Ectomycorrhizal community structure on western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) seedlings transplanted from forests into openings. Can. J. Bot. 80:861–868.
  • Kranabetter, J.M. 2004. Ectomycorrhizal community effects on hybrid spruce seedling growth and nutrition in clearcuts. Can. J. Bot. 82:983–991. 
  • Kranabetter, J.M. 2005. Understory conifer seedling response to a gradient of root and ectomycorrhizal fungal contact. Can. J. Bot. 83:638–646.
Arthropods
  • deWaard, J. 2010. Forest biomonitoring, biosecurity and DNA barcoding. PhD thesis. Univ. British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.
Small Mammals
  • Steventon, J.D., K. Mackenzie, and T. Mahon. 1998. Response of small mammals and birds to partial cutting vs. clearcutting in northwest British Columbia. For. Chron. 74:703–713.
Birds
  • Steventon, J.D., P.K. Ott, and K. MacKenzie. 1999. Effect of partial cutting on predation risk to artificial bird nests. Can. J. For. Res. 29(12):1911–1915.
  • Mahon, C.L. and K. Martin. 2006. Nest survival of chickadees in managed forests: habitat, predator, and year effects. J. Wildl. Manag. 70(5):1257–1265.
  • Mahon, C.L., K. Martin, and J.D. Steventon. 2007. Habitat attributes and Chestnut-backed Chickadee nest site selection in uncut and partial-cut forests. Can. J. For. Res. 37:1272–1285.
  • Mahon, C.L., K. Martin, and V. LeMay. 2008. Do cross-scale correlations confound analysis of nest selection for Chestnut-backed Chickadees? Condor 110(3):563–568.
  • Mahon, C.L., J.D. Steventon, and K. Martin. 2008. Cavity and bark nesting bird response to partial cutting in northern conifer forests. For. Ecol. Manag. 256(12):2145–2153.
Bats and Amphibians
  • Perdue, M. 1996. Comparison of bat activity in four forest management regimes. BSc thesis. Univ. British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.
  • Perdue, M. and J.D. Steventon. 1996. Partial cutting and bats: a pilot study. In: Bats and For. Symp., Oct. 19–21, 1995, Victoria, B.C. R.M.R. Barclay and R.M. Bingham (editors). B.C. Min. For., Res. Br., Victoria, B.C. Work. Pap. 23/1996, pp. 273–276.
Tree Biology
  • Ashton, P.M.S., L.P. Olander, G.P. Berlyn, R. Thadani, and I.R. Cameron. 1998. Changes in leaf structure in relation to crown position and tree size of Betula papyrifera within fire origin stands of interior cedar–hemlock. Can. J. Bot. 76:1180–1187. 
  • Richardson, A.D., G.P. Berlyn, P.M.S. Ashton, R. Thadani, and I.R. Cameron. 2000. Foliar plasticity of hybrid spruce in relation to crown position and stand age. Can. J. Bot. 78(3):305–317.
  • Temesgen, H. and A.R. Weiskittel. 2006. Leaf mass per area relationships across light gradients in hybrid spruce crowns. Trees 20:522–530.