Effects of a Mountain Pine Beetle Epidemic on Forest Floor Vegetation Dynamics and Regeneration in the Itcha-Ilgachuz Caribou Winter Range in the Quesnel TSA
Project Reference Number: 2006-24
Project Status: Complete
Led by: Deborah Cichowski, Caribou Ecological Consulting, Smithers
Research Assistance: Ann Macadam, Smithers; Rick Trowbridge, Smithers
Funded by:
Itcha-Ilgachuz caribou winter in low elevation forested habitat east of the Itcha Mountains where they select mature lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests and forage primarily by cratering through the snow to obtain terrestrial lichens (Cichowski 1993). Because caribou select primarily low productivity stands during winter, advanced regeneration on these sites is generally lower than on more productive sites and are good candidates to examine understorey vegetation dynamics and regeneration in response to the mountain pine beetle epidemic.
This study was initiated in 2005 in the Quesnel TSA to examine the effects of the mountain pine beetle epidemic on understorey vegetation dynamics, terrestrial lichens and regeneration. In 2005, seven permanent sample sites were established and the project was set up as an official Ministry of Forests and Range Experimental Project (EP# 1208.01).
For this project, we propose to establish three additional permanent sample sites in the Quesnel TSA in 2006 and upgrade canopy cover information for the other seven sample sites.