The Potential of the Alder Resource: Challenges and Opportunities

1
The Potential of the Alder Resource Challenges
and Opportunities

• David Hibbs and Andrew Bluhm
• Hardwood Silviculture CooperativeDepartment of
  Forest Science
• Oregon State University

2
Outline

• Why care?
• The needs
• HSC role
• Comparing alder and conifer management
• Why manage alder?
• Capture alder Growth Rates, Yield targets
• Landscape diversity, disease resistance, N
  fixation, wildlife diversity
• Plantations vs. natural stands
• DBH growth
• Height growth
• A step Taper and volume equations
• Targets and unmet needs

3
LARGE ALDER INDUSTRY

• 10,000 direct jobs in the hardwood industry
  generating 300 million in wages and salaries  
• Multiplier effect estimates of 20-40,000
  additional jobs with another 300-600 million in
  wages and salaries
• Dave Sweitzer, WHA

4
The Alder Resource

• An accidental crop in Douglas-fir country
• Harvest has far exceeded replacement for at least
  a decade
• Forest managers have poor experience with alder
• Timber land owners do not believe that alder is
  an economically viable crop
• Forest managers do not know how to grow alder

5
The Challenge Demonstrate the Potential of Alder

• Grow alder deliberately in plantations
• Develop tools forest managers need
• Teach management methods
• Demonstrate yields

6
Hardwood Silviculture Cooperative

• The HSC is a research and education program begun
  in 1988 and focused on the silviculture red alder
  and mixes of red alder and Douglas-fir.
• The goal of the HSC is to improve the
  understanding, management, and production of red
  alder.

7

• HSC Overview
• Thirty-six study installations from Coos Bay,
  Oregon to Campbell River, BC
• 4 thinning studies in natural stands (Type 1)
• 26 variable density plantations with thinning and
  pruning treatments (Type 2)
• 7 replacement series of red alder/Douglas-fir
  mixtures (Type 3)

8

• Red Alder vs. Douglas-fir
• Red alder usually has
• Lower basal area and volume in older stands
• More rapid early growth
• High-grade lumber/veneer as key product
• Red alder vs. other hardwoods
• Red alder has
• Local processing and utilization
• Wide geographic range and large volume
• Much higher value

9

• Gains from management
• Sawtimber yields and economic return can be
  greatly improved with management of most tree
  species - both red alder and conifers - but the
  return for alder is greater
• With red alder, management may be needed to make
  the difference between good and poor results

10

• Alder sites
• Millions of acres of better conifer ground in
  PNW west of Cascade crest
• Can grow as well in Oregon and BC as it does in
  Washington

11

• Growth Rates
• Red alder exhibits very rapid juvenile growth
  rates
• Therefore, a primary management objective would
  be to capture this difference
• Although height growth rates decline rapidly
  after 20 years, a short-rotation, high-value crop
  can be achieved

From Peterson, et. al., 1996. Red Alder
Managers Handbook for British Columbia,
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Landscape Diversity- Disease Resistance

• Swiss Needle Cast
• First observed in the OR Coast Range in the
  1990s
• Covers about 50,000 hectares today
• May be causing as much as 50 volume growth loss
  in some areas.

Source Swiss Needle Cast Cooperative, USDA
Forest Service
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Landscape Diversity- Disease Resistance

• Laminated Root Rot
•  
• Various root diseases are estimated to affect
  about 10 of Douglas-fir stands in the PNW
• Annual losses are estimated at 4.4 million m3
  (157 million ft3) of timber in the PNW and BC
• Infected areas may can remain a hazard to new
  Douglas-fir planting for as long as 100 years

Source USDA Forest Service, Dr. Bob Edmonds
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Landscape Diversity- Nitrogen Fixation

• Red alder fixes atmospheric nitrogen
• Symbiotic relationship with Frankia
• Rates vary but usually range between
  100-200lb/ac/yr
• Therefore, alder has the ability to
  enrich/improve soils

15
Landscape Diversity- Wildlife/species diversity
From Wipfli, M., et. al. 2003. Managing Young
Upland Forests in Southeast Alaska for Wood
Products, Wildlife, Aquatic Resources, and Fishes
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Plantations and Natural Stands
17
Natural Stands vs. Plantations
Why manage for red alder?

• Research results indicate that the growth and
  yield of managed alder plantations exceeds that
  of natural stands.

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Plantations

• Observed vs. Predicted Heights
• Planted alder is taller than natural alder
• 13 plantations at 4 alder densities (only 1
  shown here)
• Natural red alder stands from Harrington and
  Curtis (1986). Site index base age is 20 years
• Data is for the 100 largest tpa

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Diameter growth is rapid and sustained except at
very high densities
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Thinning response

• Compare thinning at age 5 and 8
• Thinning needs to be early before year 10
• Rapid diameter growth offers the possibility of a
  later commercial thin

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How Big Will They Be At Age 25?
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• What Is The Volume Of A Tree?
• Trees have a form and the form can change with
  management
• Volume is determined by form
• We developed new taper/volume equations
• Form/volume are affected by management

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Tree Volume Table
DBH (in) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft) Total Tree Height (ft)
  25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110
6 1.43 1.58 1.74 1.89 2.04 2.19 2.34 2.49 2.63 2.78 2.92 3.06 3.20 -- -- -- -- --
7 2.35 2.70 3.05 3.41 3.78 4.14 4.51 4.88 5.25 5.63 6.00 6.37 6.75 7.12 -- -- -- --
8 -- 3.80 4.34 4.89 5.46 6.02 6.60 7.18 7.76 8.35 8.94 9.53 10.12 10.72 11.32 -- -- --
9 -- -- 5.68 6.43 7.19 7.97 8.75 9.54 10.34 11.14 11.95 12.76 13.58 14.40 15.23 -- -- --
10 -- -- -- 8.06 9.03 10.02 11.02 12.03 13.05 14.08 15.12 16.16 17.22 18.27 19.33 20.40 -- --
11 -- -- -- -- 10.98 12.20 13.43 14.67 15.93 17.20 18.48 19.77 21.07 22.37 23.69 25.00 -- --
12 -- -- -- -- -- 14.51 15.99 17.48 18.99 20.51 22.05 23.60 25.16 26.73 28.30 29.89 31.49 --
13 -- -- -- -- -- 16.97 18.70 20.46 22.23 24.02 25.83 27.66 29.50 31.34 33.20 35.07 36.95 --
14 -- -- -- -- -- -- 21.57 23.60 25.66 27.74 29.83 31.95 34.08 36.23 38.39 40.56 42.74 --
15 -- -- -- -- -- -- 24.60 26.92 29.27 31.65 34.05 36.47 38.92 41.37 43.85 46.34 48.85 51.37
16 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 30.41 33.07 35.76 38.48 41.23 44.00 46.79 49.60 52.42 55.27 58.13
17 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 34.06 37.05 40.07 43.13 46.22 49.33 52.47 55.62 58.80 62.00 65.22
18 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 37.88 41.21 44.58 47.99 51.43 54.90 58.40 61.93 65.47 69.05 72.64
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Targets

• High-quality sawlogs, not pulp
• 20 MBF in 25 years?
• 25 - 35 year rotations
• 12 15 inch dbh logs
• 4000 5000 cubic ft per acre
• Commercial thinning option?

• Still needed
• Older plantations
• Growth models

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• Conclusions
• Alder industry is vigorous and growing
• A lot of change is happening in the woods ()
• Much learned about management
• A way to go yet on attitudes
• Huge potential

26
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The End