Increases in mortality among Douglas-fir in the Klamath Mountains are the result of multiple factors that have the iconic tree in a “decline spiral” in parts of the region, a new study by the Oregon State University College of Forestry and OSU Extension Service indicates.
Findings, which include a tool landowners and managers can use to assess a stand of trees’ risk as the climate continues to change, were published in the Journal of Forestry.
Douglas-fir, Oregon’s official state tree, is the most abundant tree species in the Klamath Mountains, growing among ponderosa pine, sugar pine, white fir, incense cedar, Oregon white oak, California black oak and Pacific madrone.
Dead Douglas-fir that are standing, as well as recently fallen Douglas-fir, can increase the potential for hotter, more extreme wildfires, the researchers note.
Read more at Oregon State University
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