24 JULIUS VALENTINE HOP MANN 



scattered seedlings, showing that very little seed was left after the fire, 

 while on the slopes not struck by the direct flames of the fire, reproduction 

 occurs in very dense stands regardless of the distance from seed trees. 



Reproduction was found at distances of one or two miles from the 

 nearest seed trees. In the case of the white pine, there are no seed trees 

 on the township that could have any influence whatever on the area over 

 which the reproduction of this species extends. Without a doubt the seed 

 was there before the fire passed over the area, and escaped destruction. 

 This seed may have dropped from the trees the year previous to the fire 

 or even earlier, as must be the case where heavy stands of reproduction 

 appear during the first season following the fire, since a dense stand of 

 reproduction is not due to a single crop of seed but rather to an accumu- 

 lative crop of several years. If the seed produced the same year the fire 

 passed over the area was not killed, this study shows that this seed must 

 lie dormant in the forest floor for several years. The indications are that 

 the white pine remained six years; Douglas fir, six years; noble fir, three 

 years; amabilis fir, five years; hemlock, three years; and yew was found 

 scattered over the typical slopes of this species, varying in years from 

 eleven to three, showing that the seed remained dormant for eight years. 

 The yew was a good index in accounting for the seed on the area, as there 

 is no question about the wind distribution of the berry-like seed. The 

 theory that animals carried the seed can not be accepted because the 

 seedlings invariably appear among the burned snags of yew, whereas 

 animal distribution would not be confined to these areas. 



These conditions are duplicated on all of the burns gone over on the 

 Snoqualmie National Forest in northern Washington and the Oregon 

 National Forest in northern Oregon. The burns on these forests were 

 not studied, but general observations indicated that the conditions were 

 the same as those found on the Columbia. The noticeable feature here 

 was the absolute lack of reproduction after a second fire except very near 

 to seed trees. This fact shows that good and wide-spread reproduction 

 following a first burn comes from seed stored in the forest floor, and can 

 not be attributed to seed furnished by a few surviving trees. Single 

 seed trees surviving a second fire never restock an area except in their 

 immediate vicinity. If a few escaped trees could restock a burn they 

 would also restock a second burn on the same area. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



All forest tree species in forest stands produce sufficient seed to 

 reestablish their own type under favorable conditions, and a change of 

 type or removal of a forest from any area once covered with a forest is 

 due to other factors than production of seed. 



