Bulkley Valley Research Centre - Science in the Public Interest

Date Creek Data Analysis #3

Project Reference Number: 2013-30

Project Status: Complete

Led by: Dave Coates, PhD, Research Silviculturist, Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources, Smithers

Amalesh Dhar, NSERC Industrial R&D Postdoctoral Fellow, Bulkley Valley Research Centre; Erica Lilles, Soil & Vegetation Scientist, Bulkley Valley Research Centre

Funder: Ministry of Forests, Lands & Natural Resource Operations

This project is a continuation of project 2013-17.

The Centre is contracted to:

1. Complete establishment of prism plots in three different removal units at Date Creek.
2. Complete detailed analysis of stand structure data. Stand structure attributes from the 2013 dataset will be compared to the pre- and post-harvesting datasets (1991 and 1993) and to fixed radius plots established in 2010.
3. Prepare two draft journal papers based on stand structure data. First, a methods paper comparing results from prism plots to those of fixed radius plots. Second, stand structure changes over the 20 years post-harvesting.
4. Organize and analyze the succession dataset. This involves multiple sampling years.
5. Prepare one draft journal paper based on results of analysis of the succession dataset.