Forest Ecology and Management最新文献

{"title":"Tree size and moisture gradient influence the performance of competition indices in uneven-aged interior Douglas-fir dominated stands","authors":"Stella Britwum Acquah ,&nbsp;Peter L. Marshall ,&nbsp;Tzeng Yih Lam","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123056","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123056","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Measures of tree competition are among the most important predictors of individual tree growth. We evaluated how tree size and moisture gradient influenced the performance of competition indices in uneven-aged interior Douglas-fir (<em>Pseudotsuga menzies</em>ii var. glauca (Beissn.) Franco) dominated stands in central British Columbia, Canada. Specifically, we: (i) identified which competition indices best predict interior Douglas-fir individual tree basal area increment and height increment across a moisture gradient, using 15 competition indices (5 non-spatial and 10 spatial); (ii) examined whether small and large trees are best predicted by the same indices; and (iii) inferred the underlying competition processes driving these patterns. We analyzed data from 24 plots across 3 blocks differing in moisture gradient and species composition, drawn from a long-term pre-commercial thinning (thinning from below) study with 5 measurements over 21 years. The spatial indices of Martin &amp; Ek and Castagneri consistently outperformed others in predicting basal area increment across a moisture gradient, while height increment was best predicted by different competition indices depending on the block. Competitive effects also varied with tree size, with size-related differences more pronounced for height increment than for basal area increment. These findings indicate that basal area and height growth are governed by different competition dynamics, with aboveground competition for light as the dominant influence, and belowground interactions playing a secondary, context-dependent role. Our results underscore the importance of accounting for both tree size and site conditions when selecting competition indices to model individual tree growth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"596 ","pages":"Article 123056"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144773077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Beneath the surface: A 25-year review of soil monitoring in the U.S. Forest Inventory and Analysis program","authors":"Melissa A. Pastore ,&nbsp;Ashley K. Lang ,&nbsp;John D. Shaw ,&nbsp;Sean M.P. Cahoon ,&nbsp;Hayley Peter-Contesse ,&nbsp;Suzanne M. Owen ,&nbsp;Randall S. Morin ,&nbsp;Jonathan A. Knott ,&nbsp;Grant M. Domke ,&nbsp;Belinda Esham ,&nbsp;Erin M. Berryman","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123023","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123023","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soils are a critical component of forest ecosystems and the global terrestrial carbon cycle. They regulate the resources that limit plant and microbial activity, support biodiversity, serve as reservoirs of carbon, and influence forest health. Systematic soil data can help fill key knowledge gaps, such as the sensitivity of forest health and functioning to disturbances and agents of change and the capacity of soils to help mitigate climate change through carbon storage. Since 2000, the Nationwide Forest Inventory (NFI) conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program has systematically collected soil data from forested lands across the United States (U.S.). This includes metrics related to nutrient and water availability, carbon storage, toxic substance accumulation, soil acidification, erosion, compaction, and other attributes that are critical for assessing forest health and function. To date, nearly 10,000 forested NFI plots have been sampled nationwide, of which approximately 23 % have been resampled. By integrating these systematic forest soil data with site-level information, aboveground forest attributes, and other ecological data, the NFI aims to deepen our understanding of forest dynamics, inform sustainable management practices, and address challenges posed by global environmental change and forest disturbances. As information needs and the challenges faced by forests continue to evolve, there is an opportunity to adapt the sampling design, attributes measured, and protocols used. This paper reflects on the NFI’s 25-year history of soil assessments, provides a status update, explores various data applications, and highlights both limitations and potential improvements to meet emerging research questions and management needs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"595 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144770824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil sustainability challenges in eucalypt afforestation of floodplain grasslands in Paraguay's Humid Chaco: Carbon and phosphorus dynamics","authors":"Carlos J. Villalba-Martínez ,&nbsp;Pablo Souza-Alonso ,&nbsp;Verónica Piñeiro ,&nbsp;Jorge D. Etchevers ,&nbsp;Agustín Merino","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123034","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123034","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The floodplains of the Humid Chaco (HC) ecoregion in Southern Paraguay comprise an area of great environmental value, which contributes to maintaining regional climate stability while supporting a rich biodiversity of flora and fauna. Throughout the region, soils play a fundamental role in C sequestration and water regulation but are strongly influenced by the water table. In recent years, different afforestation plans have led to thousands of hectares of land being covered with eucalyptus plantations, involving intensive drainage and tillage that strongly affect the water table. The intensive afforestation could potentially result in the loss of large amounts of soil organic matter (SOM), influencing nutrient cycling and ecosystem viability in the long term. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of <em>Eucalyptus camaldulensis</em> plantations on natural grasslands in the HC, focusing on SOM quantity and quality and P dynamics. A representative area of the HC, including <em>E. camaldulensis</em> plantations of various ages (ranging from 2 to 8 years) and contiguous native grasslands were selected for study. Soil samples (0–5, 5–10, 10–20, 20–30 cm) were obtained to determine total C and N concentrations, and C:N ratio, and then SOM quality (by DSC-TGA, and solid-state ¹³C CP-MAS NMR spectroscopy) and the different P forms present (by ³¹P NMR spectroscopy) were analysed in the upper soil layer (0–5 cm). The intensive site preparation prior to plantation establishment initially caused a notable reduction (50 %) in soil organic carbon (SOC) and large increases in the carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) ratio at all depths studied but especially in upper soil layers. These parameters gradually recovered as the trees grew, although the values did not return to the original levels measured in native grasslands. Thermal analysis and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy revealed initial loss of labile and recalcitrant SOM compounds, with more noticeable loss of the most labile fractions. More than 40 % of the P in the natural grasslands was present as organic P forms (monoesters), indicating the high potential for P immobilization and preservation. Afforestation led to a substantial loss of soil extractable P, which affected both organic (monoesters and diester) and inorganic (orthophosphate) forms. This could have a significant impact on the short and medium-term P reserves, inducing P limitation and threatening ecosystem sustainability. Considering the short and medium-term impacts observed after the transformation of natural grasslands into <em>E. camaldulensis</em> plantations, strategic planning, establishing buffer zones with natural vegetation and applying proper soil management are urgently required to preserve SOM and nutrients in the floodplains of the Humid Chaco.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"595 ","pages":"Article 123034"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144766448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stem taper and volume across biogeographic regions of Colombia","authors":"Miguel A. Peña ,&nbsp;Nicolas Castaño ,&nbsp;Jerôme Chave ,&nbsp;Sebastián González-Caro ,&nbsp;Sassan Saatchi ,&nbsp;Daniel Zuleta ,&nbsp;Alvaro Duque","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123046","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123046","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Tropical forests provide invaluable ecosystem services but have also been a primary source of timber in many tropical countries. Considering the complex nature of species-rich forest and the widespread of illegal logging, tools that help promote sustainable management are urgently needed. Quantifying timber stocks requires accurate stem volume estimations, commonly derived from allometric models based on diameter at breast height (DBH) and tree height. However, most volume models focus on temperate forests or commercially valuable species, leaving a gap in multi-species models for tropical forests. In this study, we use harvested trees and plot data to develop tree stem taper and volume equations to assess stem and forest stand volume variation across three biogeographic regions of Colombia. Results show that the stem taper parameter increases with elevation and tree size. The best-performing stem volume model included DBH, height, and forest types, yielding an average estimation of 252.46 ± 8.15 m³ ha⁻¹, with a negative correlation with elevation. Compared to official Colombian estimates of tree volume submitted to the FAO global Forest Resource Assessment, our model yielded significantly lower stand volume values, highlighting potential overestimations in national reports. Our findings will help with understanding of tree allometry and forest structure, emphasize the importance of considering elevation and forest type in volume estimations, and provide a valuable baseline for improving tropical forest management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"595 ","pages":"Article 123046"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144766446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Carbon dynamics after thinning in two boreal forest sites: Upland and drained peatland","authors":"Gonzalo de Quesada ,&nbsp;Helena Rautakoski ,&nbsp;Jie Xu ,&nbsp;Qian Li ,&nbsp;Tuula Larmola ,&nbsp;Petri Salovaara ,&nbsp;Vilma Anttila ,&nbsp;Mikko Peltoniemi ,&nbsp;Markku Koskinen ,&nbsp;Annalea Lohila ,&nbsp;Juho Aalto ,&nbsp;Aleksi Lehtonen ,&nbsp;Jaana Bäck ,&nbsp;Raisa Mäkipää ,&nbsp;Jussi Heinonsalo ,&nbsp;Yann Salmon ,&nbsp;Anna Lintunen","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123024","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123024","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Boreal forests act as crucial carbon storage, but their management can have important consequences for their carbon dynamics. Thinning of the stand alters carbon storage by removing trees, which affects the overall forest growth. Thinning stimulates growth of the remaining trees and affects soil processes in complex ways, while the overall impacts vary by forest type and site conditions. We applied biometric and soil CO₂ flux measurement data to study the changes in carbon storage across multiple forest components in both an upland and a drained peatland forest undergoing thinning operations. Following thinning, the carbon accumulation rate of the aboveground biomass components declined sharply due to the removal of trees but started recovering a year after the thinning, largely driven by forest floor vegetation. Belowground biomass components followed a similar trend. Carbon emissions increased post-thinning, mainly due to decomposition of harvest residues. The upland forest net ecosystem production (NEP) temporarily shifted to a net source of carbon (-43 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹) but it recovered the following year to a net carbon sink (164 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹). The drained peatland forest NEP remained negative, with thinning further increasing the CO₂ emissions (-570 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹) and leading to a slow recovery (-488 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹) to pre-thinning levels. The tree carbon stocks in both forest type is projected to take over a decade to recover. The effects of thinning on forest carbon dynamics show short-term changes in the upland forest but more lasting consequences in the drained peatland forest due to slower tree growth and persistent emissions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"595 ","pages":"Article 123024"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144767123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Norway spruce dominates natural regeneration five years after a large-scale wind disturbance in the higher montane and lower subalpine belts in the eastern Alps","authors":"Anna Candotti ,&nbsp;Matthias Ennemoser ,&nbsp;Julia Seeber ,&nbsp;Enrico Tomelleri","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123053","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123053","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Natural forest regeneration following disturbances is highly variable and often slow in high-altitude mountain forests. Among disturbance types, windstorms have emerged as major drivers of forest dynamics in Europe over recent decades. Post-disturbance forest regeneration is influenced by multiple factors, including salvage logging intensity, browsing pressure, climatic conditions and topography. In 2018, the Vaia storm damaged 1.7 % of the forest area in South Tyrol, providing a unique opportunity to study regeneration dynamics. Here, we assessed natural regeneration five years after the event by analyzing tree species composition, height distribution, and density across windthrow areas. The influence of site factors such as deadwood presence and elevation was evaluated, and terminal shoot browsing was quantified to identify potential deviations from stocking targets. In addition to field measurements, the use of Earth Observation data was tested to distinguish between poorly and well-regenerated sites. The regeneration was dominated by Norway spruce (<em>Picea abies</em> L. Karst) (65 %), followed by pioneer species including rowan (<em>Sorbus aucuparia</em>), willow (<em>Salix</em>s <em>spp</em>.), and birch (<em>Betula pendula</em>) (27 % combined). Seventy-four percent of individuals were ≤ 25 cm tall, and regeneration was concentrated at forest edges, with only 34 % of plots reaching the standard target of 3.500 undamaged individuals per hectare. Deadwood presence negatively affected both tree density and species richness, while lower elevations favored regeneration. Terminal shoot browsing affected 25 % of all small trees, with highest damage observed for Silver fir (<em>Abies alba</em> Mill) (53 %) and willow (60 %). The Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) showed a moderate positive correlation with regeneration success (R= 0.58). Our findings highlight critical factors shaping early post-disturbance regeneration and suggest that integrating field data with Earth Observation data can support targeted forest restoration measures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"595 ","pages":"Article 123053"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144767122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tree size inequality and precipitation modulate the effect of functional diversity on height to crown base in uneven-aged mixed forests","authors":"Dongyuan Tian ,&nbsp;Zipeng Zhang ,&nbsp;Yuxi Shen ,&nbsp;Yunfei Yan ,&nbsp;Pei He ,&nbsp;Lichun Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123049","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123049","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Height to crown base (HCB) is a critical factor influencing forest carbon storage and is frequently used as an input for growth and yield models, which are essential decision-support tools in forest management. Tree species with diverse life history traits shape the staggered HCB patterns in natural mixed forests. However, neglect of the interaction of functional diversity with stand and environmental factors has limited the application of current HCB models to natural mixed forests. In this study, a nonlinear mixed-effects HCB model was developed for natural uneven-aged mixed forests. A total of 19,649 trees were measured across 232 boral and temperate mixed forest plots located near four major mountain ranges in northeastern China. The proposed model includes tree size, intra- and inter-specific competition, species mixture, climate, soil, species diversity, structural diversity, functional diversity and identity, and their interactions. The results showed that more intense competition, higher species proportions, and greater species diversity increased HCB. In contrast, more precipitation, more heterogeneous tree sizes, greater soil bulk density, and higher functional diversity and identity decreased HCB. The interaction of functional diversity with tree size inequality and mean annual precipitation had a significant effect on HCB, while the interaction terms sometimes contributing more to HCB predictions than the independent effects. The conditional contribution of soil bulk density to HCB predictions was greater than that of competition, with intra-specific competition having a stronger effect on HCB than inter-specific competition. Our study demonstrates the importance of plant functional traits in HCB modeling for natural mixed forests, providing a novel insight for forest management based on functional composition, stand structure, and environmental conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"595 ","pages":"Article 123049"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144757854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil moisture is a main driver of growth response of coastal Douglas-fir with high spatial variability","authors":"Kathy J. Lewis ,&nbsp;Ché Elkin ,&nbsp;Heather Klassen ,&nbsp;Sari Saunders ,&nbsp;Hardy P. Griesbauer","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122993","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122993","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The growth of trees and distribution of forest ecosystems are influenced by climate; however, these influences vary with spatial and temporal scale. Understanding relative influences of subregional climate and site conditions is critical to projecting how forests will respond to environmental shifts. We examined growth of Douglas-fir across three subregional climates and three moisture regimes in southwest British Columbia, to determine the relative importance of different climate variables for growth among these climate-site conditions. The best model of tree growth included soil moisture during all four seasons, and air temperature during the June-August period. However, the direction and strength of growth-soil moisture relationships was dependent on site type, season, and subregional climate. Our results emphasize the importance of accurate, fine-resolution measures of soil water holding capacity within a site and of growth models that incorporate multiple spatial and temporal scales of climate and site drivers to project the response of Douglas-fir growth to seasonal shifts in climatic patterns.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"595 ","pages":"Article 122993"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144757497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Towards a tree vigor definition: Different responses of defoliation, growth and water-use efficiency to drought in pine and oak species","authors":"J. Julio Camarero ,&nbsp;Antonio Gazol ,&nbsp;Ricardo Díaz-Delgado ,&nbsp;David Aragonés ,&nbsp;Cristina Valeriano ,&nbsp;Ángel Fernández-Cortés","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123050","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123050","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>An improved definition of tree vigor is required to characterize forest resilience in response to drought. We developed a vigor index based on annual crown defoliation and radial-growth data. The index was applied to stone pine (<em>Pinus pinea</em>) and cork oak (<em>Quercus suber</em>) trees affected by die-off in the Doñana National Park (SW Spain), comparing a dry and a wet site. Climate data were correlated with defoliation, growth and the vigor index. Daily measures of cover greenness (gcc, green chromatic coordinate), obtained from phenocams (period 2018 −2024), and changes in stem radial growth and tree water deficit, obtained from dendrometers (2024 growing season), were also investigated. Finally, we used δ¹³C wood data to retrospectively assess intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE). During 2024, pines grew more than oaks on a yearly basis according to dendrometer data (2.0 vs. 0.5 mm), but annual tree rings were wider in oaks (4.34 mm) than in pines (2.50 mm). Tree water deficit was higher in oaks. In the dry site, gcc and stone pine water deficit were negatively associated, whereas in the wet site gcc and the cork oak growth rate were positively associated. Cork oak showed higher annual defoliation (26 %) than the pine (22 %). Defoliation increased in both species, whilst basal area increment decreased after the 2005 and 2012 droughts in stone pine and cork oak, respectively. The vigor index declined in the stone pine. Dry and warm winter-to-spring conditions and low soil moisture levels increased defoliation and reduced growth. Cork oak and stone pine responded more to drought in terms of defoliation and growth, respectively. The stone pine showed a sharp increase of iWUE after 2016, but the oak presented a more recent iWUE enhancement. Future research can refine the vigor index using longer time series of defoliation and growth data from multiple tree species.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"595 ","pages":"Article 123050"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144757496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Post-mortem silviculture meets fuel reduction objective in drought-impacted southern Sierra Nevada forests","authors":"Sarah M. Bisbing ,&nbsp;P. Bryant Nagelson ,&nbsp;Lauren E. Cox ,&nbsp;Conor N. Phelan","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123035","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123035","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this era where widespread tree mortality is increasingly common, post-mortem silviculture (i.e., leveraging silvicultural tools following a high-severity disturbance) may be critical to meeting social, economic, and ecological forest management objectives. High fuel loading and type conversion potential remain primary threats even after a mortality event, yet post-mortem silviculture may not be economically viable. Here, we leveraged a forested landscape severely impacted by the 2012–2016 California drought to determine if post-mortem silviculture is effective at meeting forest resilience and wildfire mitigation objectives. This southern Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest was masticated to redistribute fuels (Mastication), paired with targeted biomass removal to reduce fuel loading and promote canopy and regenerating community diversity (Biomass + Mastication). Biomass + Mastication was the only treatment effective at significantly reducing standing dead fuel and decreasing total fuel. Mastication increased surface fuel by redistributing ladder fuels to the forest floor but did, however, have two positive outcomes – breaking up canopy and surface fuel continuity while simultaneously reducing shade-tolerant seedlings that overwhelmed the pre-treatment regenerating community. Mastication benefits did come at the expense of further reducing pine regeneration in an already pine-limited community. However, California black oak persisted or rebounded following treatment and continued to play a key role in forest composition across all units. Generally, silvicultural objectives were met in the short-term, but promoting a fire-adapted, biologically diverse future forest in this and other drought-impacted regions is likely to require additional management action, including prescribed fire, more intense fuel removal, and planting of fire-adapted species.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"595 ","pages":"Article 123035"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144749187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}