1. Northern Arizona University Ecological Restoration Institute
Doc Smith
Northern Arizona University
Ecological Restoration Institute
9/19/2018

2. Focus is on the TREES
Perhaps too much or at least not enough elsewhere

9. Focus also needs to be on the UNDERSTORY
This is where the diversity is!!

15. Huge change in plant diversity
Perhaps 95 spp. of plants in the restored areas (diversity)
Hundreds (thousands?) of more plants in the restored areas (abundance)

21. Steps Toward Reducing Catastrophic Wildfire And Restoring Keystone Ecosystem Processes
Actions
Results
Thinning Small Trees
Reduces “Ladder” Fuels
Broadcast Burning
Reduces “Ground” Fuels
Decreasing Catastrophic Fire Risk
Thinning (Logging) Trees in Understory
Reduces Continuous Tree Canopy (“Aerial” Fuels)
Increasing Tree Density
Restores More Natural Tree Patterns and Densities and Natural Fire Regime
Restoration Thinning (Logging)
Old Growth Forest With Natural Fire Processes
Restoration of Other Natural Processes as an Associated Benefit
Time (100 Years +)
Coconino National Forest 2001

22. Full Restoration Burned October 1999 Minimal Thinning Burn Only
Fulé, P.Z., W.W. Covington, H.B. Smith, J.D. Springer, T.A. Heinlein, K.D. Huisinga, and M.M. Moore Testing ecological restoration alternatives: Grand Canyon, Arizona. Forest Ecology and Management 170:19-41.

23. Big Changes in the UNDERSTORY
About 4 times as many spp. of butterflies (Diversity)
About 6 times as many butterflies (Abundance)

24. Butterfly species richness 1-3 years after forest restoration treatments. (from Waltz and Covington 2001)

28. Enormous increase in carabib beetles
Increase in spp. --perhaps an increase of a dozen or more. (Diversity)
Increases in total numbers is huge (Abundance)

29. Synuchus dubius (10-13 mm) Indicator species UN and TH
forest generalist

30. Cyclotrachelus constrictus
(10 mm)
Indicator species
of TB
forest specialist

31. Amara spp.
( mm)
Indicator species
of WF
open-habitat

32. Harpalus spp.
( mm)
Indicator species
of WF
open-habitat

34. More passerine birds
Some studies at Mount Trumbull indicate something like 6 times the nesting rate in treated areas
Some studies indicate more hatchlings but an increase in parasites (bluebirds)

40. More mice (and hantavirus?)
There is more grain in the form of grass seeds for mice

43. Food for deer, elk, cattle
Increases in forage from <30 lbs/acre to as much as 800 lbs/acre

44. Change in balance in squirrel habitat
Creates a better balance in open vs. closed areas
Squirrels seem to like a 40% open and 60% canopy area (ROMPA)
Also more goshawk chow

45. `
Arbuscular mycorrhizal respond rapidly to thinning

46. Steve and Heather Germaine found more abundance of two lizards in the open areas at Mt. Trumbull

47. Soils and Plants
In presettlement times the openings in grasses and the clumps of trees were in place for a long time

49. Soil phytoliths as well as other soil characteristics point to development of grassland soils in the openings and forest soils in the clumps.
Becky Kerns at NAU ERI confirmed this

52. Summary
Understory provides a large part of the diversity in the system
It is “pretty”
It is appealing
It provides the fuel for the return of fire to the ecosystem
It is “home” to a lot of critters

53. It has been open with clumps for a long time
Groceries are in the understory for critters and then those critters are groceries for others

54. It is NOT JUST ABOUT THE TREES