FOREST REGENERATION TRAJECTORIES IN MOUNTAIN PINE BEETLE DISTURBED FORESTS OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

Diskin, Matthew

A severe mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) epidemic in western North America has caused widespread mortality of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. var. latifolia Engelm.) and drastically altered subalpine forest structure and composition over large areas. My research describes possible future forest regeneration trajectories by documenting tree survivorship in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, and then projecting future forest conditions using an established forest growth model, the Forest Vegetation Simulator. In 2008, I measured stand structure and tree species composition in lodgepole pine-dominated forests in the western portion of the Park. I defined five lodgepole pine forest types that varied with respect to the abundance of seedlings and non-lodgepole pine species. These forest types formed the foundation for further analyses to describe variability in post-epidemic forest regeneration trajectories.