Bartos, Dale, and Robert Campbell, Jr. 1998. Decline of quaking aspen in the Interior West - examples from Utah. Rangelands 20(1):17-24.
RELEVANT TO: LIVESTOCK GRAZING
FORESTS/RESTORATION
MONITORING/ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT
DESCRIPTION OF DOCUMENT
Sixteen aspen sites on Monroe Mountain Fishlake National Forest were evaluated re: fire history. Estimates are made of the historical and current distribution of aspen on Monroe Mountain; and recommendations are made re: research and management.
MAJOR FINDINGS
A. No fires have been recorded on Monroe Mountain for 156 years, although previously, the area had burned about every 19 years. Remaining aspen are heavily invaded by conifers. A Burnt Flat Ecosystem Analysis Area within the Monroe Mountain Demonstration Area was instituted to "implement ecosystem management."
B. The area has simultaneously been grazed by livestock and "The stream in the meadow [in an unidentified location; Figs. 8-9] has down cut at least 20 feet and willows have largely been eliminated" (p. As of 1995, the Forest Service had fenced the meadow to exclude livestock; seeded the area; and built numerous erosion control structures.
C. "Existing conditions indicate that more than 50% of the aspen ecosystems are at risk in the Monroe Mountain demonstration area and will not be sustainable without intervention." Figures 12 and 13 indicate that the entire central unit of the Fishlake NF in which Monroe Mountain is located is similarly at risk.
D. "An approximately 60% decline in aspen dominated landscapes has occurred on National Forest System lands across Utah." Figure 18 indicates greatest (approximately 70%) losses on the Dixie; approximately 50% losses on the Manti-LaSal and Fishlake.
- Partial logging and burning of two pastures was followed by grazing at different intensities; Figure 19 shows the different results. "Actions (treatments) to induce suckering must not be initiated until excessive browsing is controlled."
- Losses of aspen to other forest types results in loss of water yield, loss of large amounts of understory biomass, and loss of animal and plant biodiversity (p. 23).
QUESTIONS THIS RAISES FOR THE THREE FORESTS
- What are the relative roles played by livestock grazing, wild ungulate browsing, and reduction in fire (partly due to fire suppression, partly due to grazing/browsing of understory fuels that would carry fires), in the losses of aspen on the Fishlake, Dixie, and Manti-La Sal Forests?
- What results have been recorded within the Burnt Flat Analysis ecosystem management area?
- What results have been recorded in the fenced meadow (Figs. 8-9)?
- What interventions have been made within the Monroe Mountain Demonstration Area, with what recorded results?
- What are the estimated water losses, understory biomass losses, and biodiversity losses associated with the approximately 60% loss of aspen within these Three Forests?
FOREST MANAGEMENT SIGNIFICANCE
- Interventions (e.g., burning, exclosure fencing, girdling or other disturbance) with controls must be initiated if aspen is to be maintained on the Dixie, Fishlake, and Manti LaSal forests.
- Fire or girdling/logging alone cannot restore the aspen if livestock regimes are resulting in suppression of tree regeneration.
- Forest management in the Forest Plan needs to utilize evidence documented from past management actions.