Forests may need centuries to recover their original productivity after continuous intensive management: an example from Douglas-fir stands

Abstract

How long would it take for forests to recover their original productivity following continuous intensive management if they are left untouched? This issue was explored using the model FORECAST, calibrated and validated for coastal Douglas-fir stands on Vancouver Island (western Canada). Three types of forest management (production of timber, pulp, and biomass) were simulated, being different in utilization level and rotation length (stem-only and 75-year rotation for timber production, whole-tree and 30-year rotation for pulp/fiber, and whole-tree and 15-year rotations for biomass production). Management was simulated for 150 years, followed by several cycles of natural growth without management ending with a stand-replacing windstorm with a return time of 200 years. Productivity-related ecological variables in previously managed stands were compared to natural forests. Stands developed after management for timber would quickly reach values similar to non-managed forests for tree and understory total biomass, stored carbon, available nitrogen and soil organic matter (SOM). However, intensive management regimes designed for fiber and biomass production would cause a decrease in SOM and nutrient availability, increasing understory biomass. As a consequence, stands recovering from intensive management would need at least two stand-replacing events (400 years) to reach a productivity status similar to non-managed stands. Stands developed after management for biomass would take much longer, up to 600 or 800 years to recover similar values of SOM and understory biomass, respectively. Current fertilization prescriptions will likely be not enough to stop a quick drop in forest productivity associated with intensive management. Intensifying forest management to achieve short-term objectives could produce a reduction of stand productivity that would influence tree growth for very long time (up to several centuries), if such management is continuously implemented at the same stand. Some of these effects could be reduced if one rotation of intensive management (for pulp or bioenergy) is followed by a rotation of management for timber, or by leaving the forest without management for an equivalent time.