The understory plant community as an indicator of ecological recovery after logging
Wednesday January 24, 2018 12:00pm-1:00pm
The Old Church (corner of First Avenue and King Street) - Smithers, BC
About this presentation
After a quarter century of monitoring plant community responses to different levels of canopy retention, we examined if higher levels of retention promote less change and faster recovery after logging. Most vegetation indicators did show more stability with higher retention, and two sensitive late-seral species, devil's club and round-leaved rein orchid, were maintained with 40% retention. However, some non-linear results highlight how difficult it is to define a “best” level of retention to meet forest management goals.
About Erica Lilles
Erica Lilles, MSc, PAg, works as a Natural Resource Management Researcher for the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. She tries to cover aspects of four disciplines in her role as a generalist researcher for the Skeena Region: silviculture, ecology, soils and climate change, but not necessarily in that order. She hopes to bring an international and regional perspective to her work, having had forest ecology research experiences in Alberta, the Yukon, interior Alaska, Washington State, New Hampshire. and Costa Rica.
