Results of a thinning study in a black stain (Leptographium wageneri)‐infested Jeffrey/ponderosa pine forest in northern California

Abstract

AbstractBlack stain root disease (BSRD) caused by Leptographium wageneri var. ponderosum (Verticicladiella wageneri) is a destructive disease in many Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) and ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa) forests of the western United States. Overcrowding is a pervasive problem in these forests, unless alleviated by thinning. In an overcrowded BSRD‐infested second‐growth Jeffrey/ponderosa pine forest in northern California, a large study (16.2 hr; 40 acres) was designed to determine the impact of thinning to four levels—6.9 m2/ha (30 ft2/acre), 13.8 m2/ha (60 ft2/acre), and 20.7 m2/ha (90 ft2/acre) of basal area and a control with no thinning—on the incidence of BSRD‐caused mortality. Ten years after this experiment was initiated, results indicate that thinning to any of these levels lowered the incidence of BSRD‐caused mortality as compared with BSRD‐caused mortality in unthinned control plots.