Grand Fir Series of Northeastern Oregon and Southeastern Washington: Successional Stages and Management Guide

摘要

This guide is a summary of successional vegetation of the grand fir series in southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon. The classification serves as an effective tool in the management of forest lands administered by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Forest Service and will aid in the practice of more intensive, site-specific management. Knowledge of plant succession in the foundation of sound vegetation management where the primary goal is to retard, arrest, or accelerate the natural forces of vegetation change. The early-, mid-, and late-successional stages described will aid the assignment of highly disturbed sites to the appropriate plant association. In addition, the classification provides a framework for compositional and structural elements of plant biodiversity at the species, community, and landscape levels. Finally, the classification provides knowledge of ecological processes that apply to restoration and rehabilitation of forest lands in the area. Detailed knowledge of desired plant communities, their probable developmental pathways, and site-specific habitat factors (i.e., soils, slope, aspect, elevation, geology) can assist in identifying alternatives for program-wide management objectives and vegetation units.