Effects of harvest season and root rot treatment on sensitive soils in the Rocky Mountain Trench

Project number: EP 1188N

District: Rocky Mountain Forest District

Objectives

To investigate the effects of:

• Harvesting season (spring vs. summer) on soil disturbance
• Post-harvest stumping on soil disturbance and Armillaria levels
• Rehabilitated skid trails on soil disturbance and tree growth
• Root-rot treatments on tree survival and growth
• Hypholoma fasiculare (sulfur tuft mushroom) on Armillaria root rot

Treatment

• Mechanical site preparation (MSP) and no MSP
• Post-harvest stumping and no stumping
  • Stumps < 2 m from a reserved tree were removed only if removal would increase the risk of blowdown
  • Stumps > 2 m from a reserved tree were removed
  • Removal of stumps <40 cm and removal  of all stumps
• Hypholoma fasiculare (Hf) and no Hf
• Harvesting on wet soil, and harvesting on dry soil (Block 2 only)
• Skid trails in Block 2 were rehabilitated after harvest

Layout

• Two cutblocks (Block 1 and Block 2)
• Block 1 contains 6 treatment units, Block 2 contains 8 treatment units
• Block 1 was random skidded, Block 2 had defined skid trails at close spacing
• Treatments were randomly applied to each treatment unit using a split-split plot design

History

• 1996 Study design and pre-treatment stand measurements
• 1998 Dry season Harvesting, stumping and MSP. Hypholoma application
• 1998 Post-harvest measures of soil disturbance and compaction
• 1999 Wet season harvesting, stumping and MSP. Hypholoma application
• 1999 Post-harvest measures of soil disturbance and compaction
• 2000 Plantation of lodgepole pine and Douglas-fir planned
• 2000 First season seedling measures

Publications

Curran M., K. Sacenieks and E. Begin. 2000. Effects of harvest season and root rot treatment on sensitive soils in the Rocky Mountain Trench. Extension Note 049, Nelson Forest Region.