Document Type

Review

Publisher

Center for Research on Sustainable Forests

Publication Date

1-2025

Abstract/ Summary

The ecology and silviculture of natural regeneration for spruce-fir forests is reviewed. Successful natural regeneration depends on having well established advance regeneration prior to any large-scale canopy removal. Extended shelterwood or selection methods are the only feasible alternatives; true clearcutting and seed tree that rely on establishment following major disturbances in open environment are not dependable and usually fail. Favoring spruce over other species is challenging; success depends on giving spruce a head start. The 1980s budworm salvage legacy of poor regeneration outcomes is described and explained relative to the vastly different outcomes when the old-growth spruce-fir forest was first exploited 1860-1920.

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publisher's version of the published document

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