old growth forests of the pacific northwest · in costa rica. snag. a snag is a dead standing tree....

Old Growth Forests Of The Pacific Northwest

Recent Changes In The World’s Forests

• Reduction in total forest acreage

• Conversion of naturally structured and regenerated forests to even aged monoculture plantations

• Fragmentation

Olympic National Park

Clear cuts just outside the park boundary

Olympic National ForestNational forests differ from national parks in that they aremultiple use regions. This meansthat logging, mining, and drillingfor oil are allowed on national forest lands.

Olympic National Forest – Clear Cuts

National Forest Uses

“Nonintensive Management” bythe forest service in the SierraNevada sequoia groves left the three sisters surrounded by a clearcut in Sequoia National Forest. The trees were cut with the statedaim of reducing fire danger andaiding sequoia propagation

Each Pair of Spotted Owls Needs As Much As 3,000 Acres of Old Growth for Foraging

Earth First Group In Oregon

120 foot 800 year oldRed Cedar

This Downed Tree Id Worth $10,000 at the Mill. The Logger Earns $175 for Felling 10 – 15 Trees

Timber Mill in Oregon

Washington: Raw Logs Bound For Orient

Logs from Tongrass National Forest, Alaska

Project Lighthawk – The goal is to raise public awareness of loggingon national forest lands.

Vancouver Island

Clear Cuts –Tarhgee NationalForest just outsideYellowstoneNational Park

Monoculture Tree Plantation

View from trail Near Heart ‘O the Hills Campground

OlympicNational

Park

Marymere Falls

OlympicNational

Park

Characteristics of Old Growth Forests

Multi-layered Canopy

Trees of different sizes and ages


Multilayered Canopy of a Tropical Rainforest

A view of a tropicalrainforest showing a multilayered canopy in Costa Rica

SnagA snag is a dead standing tree.

Shrader Old Growth Trail, Oregon


Evidence Of A Cavity Nester

Union Creek Trail,Oregon


Artificial Snags

Downed Log: Union Creek Trail, Oregon


Downed Logs• Prevent soil erosion• Create pools in streams which provide

habitat for salmon• Act as a nursery bed for conifer seedling• Are quickly colonized by invertebrates such

as Ambrosia beetles• Ambrosia beetles carry hitch-hiking fungi,

nematodes, and bacteria


Downed Logs

Downed LogsAct As Nurseries

For Tree Seedlings

Union Creek Trail, Oregon

Downed Logs in Streams

Downed logs in streams are vital to the ancient forest ecosystem. They provide habitat for many aquatic animals; they slow the flow of water, easing erosion; they create pools, falls, and riffles, and eddies that fish require; and they slowly release nutrients to the stream community.

Logs in Creek: Union Creek Trail, Oregon

Old, Large Douglass Firs


Abundant shade tolerant tree species.

OlympicNational

Park


Epiphytes – Plants that grow on other plants


Epiphytes

The Cabbage Leaf Lichen: Lobaria

• An epiphyte• Has nitrogen fixing

bacteria sandwiched between layers of fungus

• Constant rain of Lobaria from canopy to forest floor provides the forest ecosystem with over ½ its input of nitrogen

What Is A Lichen?

• A combination of an algae and a fungus• An example of symbiosis• Types of symbiotic relationships

– Parasitism– Mutualism– Commensalism

Shaeffer Trail, Oregon

Light gaps in the canopy


Shelf FungusUnion Creek Trail,Oregon

Truffles

• Top: The truffle of the fungus of Hysterangium coriaceum. Its thread- like hyphae are colonizing a tree rootlet

• Bottom: The spores pass unharmed through rodents’ digestive tracts and are thereby widely distributed.

The Flying Squirrel

• Spends most of its life in trees

• Descends to forest floor in search of food

• Eats primarily truffles• During spring and

summer a typical acre of old growth may harbor as many as 8 pounds of truffles

Fungi

• Fungi vary in form and ecological role. Some secrete enzymes to break down dead tissue.

• Others form mycorrhizal links with roots. This enhances the roots ability to absorb moisture and nutrients.

Mycorrhizae associated with a tree rootNon-michorrhizal root with root hairs

RedTreeVoleeating atruffle

Mycorrhizal Fungi

• Mycorrhizal fungi are associated with the roots of conifers.

• They extract minerals and water from the soil and pass it to the tree roots.

• These fungi live off sugars produced by their host plant.


Northern Spotted Owl

• The spotted owl feeds on flying squirrels, wood rats, mice, small birds, bats, and insects.

• The northern spotted owl’s habitat is rapidly disappearing due to logging.

• The old trees that this species needs for survival take more than 3 centuries to grow.

The PileatedWoodpeckerIs a PrimaryCavity Nester

Primary Cavity Nester

The Pileated Woodpecker is an important member of healthy older forest communities. This woodpecker excavates nest and roost cavities that are subsequently used by other birds and small mammals. Thus the pileated woodpecker is a keystone species in old growth forests. A keystone species is a species that other animals in the ecosystem depend on for their survival.

Secondary Cavity Nesters

• These are animals that use cavities abandoned by woodpeckers.

• These animals are dependant on primary cavity nesters to build the cavities they nest in.

Mountain Bluebird

Secondary Cavity Nesters

• These are animals that use cavities abandoned by woodpeckers.

• These animals are dependant on primary cavity nesters to build the cavities they nest in.

Mountain Bluebird

PygmyNuthatch

The Flying Squirrel

The Flying Squirrel

• Spends most of its life in trees

• Descends to forest floor in search of food

• Eats primarily truffles• During spring and

summer a typical acre of old growth may harbor as many as 8 pounds of truffles

Old GrowthForest

Roosevelt elk need the tempering microclimate ofold growth to get throughsummer’s heat and winter’s Cold.

Snow accumulation is 6times greater in clearcutswhich decreases winterForage.

Clear cuts lack lichens and fungi which important winter forage items

Roosevelt Elk - Prairie Creek State Park, CA

The Marbled Murrelet

• The Marbled murrelet feeds at sea. This is an unusual sea bird because it raises its young in the forest

• These birds nest exclusively among the luxuriant mosses and lichens of huge, old trees

• Ecologists consider them dependent on old growth

Prairie CreekState Park

Prairie Creek State Park

old growth forests of the pacific northwest · in costa rica. snag. a snag is a dead standing tree....

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