Klamath Network Whitebark Pine Monitoring Pilot Study
Sarr DA. Klamath Network Whitebark Pine Monitoring Pilot Study. 2009
This project contains the finalized data and reports associated with the Klamath Network Whitebark Pine Monitoring Pilot Study. In summer 2009, the Klamath Network Inventory and Monitoring Program conducted a pilot study at Crater Lake National Park to test the feasibility of co-locating whitebark pine monitoring with its broader vegetation monitoring protocol, and to compare present vs. past incidence of white pine blister rust, mountain pine beetle, and mistletoe on whitebark pine. The study also employed a rapid assessment approach for whitebark pine and evaluated two plot sizes for sampling. We found that sampling a plot for both whitebark pine and the vegetation protocol could be done in a day with ample time for travel to plots up to 1 km from a road or trail. Rapid assessment or smaller plots did not save much time since infection rates were low and cankers easy to count. However, rapid assessment did add information about the portions of whitebark pine trees most susceptible to infections, which were tree boles, particularly the upper portion, not tree crowns, which contrasts with findings in the Rocky Mountains. Active blister rust infections, mountain pine beetle, and mistletoe were all more common in 2009 than in 2001-2003. Factors related to blister rust and whitebark pine mortality were tree density, presence of alternative blister rust hosts (Ribes and Castilleja), and location of stands in the more humid and moist west side of the park.
- Type
- Project
- Authors
- Sarr, Daniel
- Units
- CRLA , KLMN
- Keywords
- Crater Lake National Park, Klamath Network (NW), Monitoring Pilot Study, Whitebark Pine