Forest Reference Conditions for Ecosystem Management in the Sacramento Mountains,211 New Mexico

摘要

The history of land use and historic vegetation conditions on the Sacramento211u001eRanger District of the Lincoln National Forest within the framework of an 211u001eecosystem needs assessment are presented in this publication. Forest vegetation 211u001econditions and ecosystem processes for the period immediately before Anglo-211u001eAmerican settlement are reconstructured using General land Office survey records, 211u001ehistoric studies and accounts, and reconstructive studies such as 211u001edendrochronological histories of fire and insect outbreak and studies of old 211u001egrowth. Intesive grazing, clearcut logging, fire suppression, and agriculture in 211u001eriparian areas have radically altered forest structure and processes since the 211u001e1880s, when intensive settlement began in the Sacramento Mountains. Present 211u001eforests are younger and more dense than historic ones, and in areas that are 211u001epreviously dominated by ponderosa pine, dominance has shifted to Douglas-fir and 211u001ewhite fir in the absence of frequent surface fire. landscapes are more 211u001ehomogeneous and contiguous than historic ones, facilitating large-scale, intense 211u001edisturbances such as insect outbreaks and crown fires.