THE AUTHOR 



KATHLEEN GEIER-HAYES is a forester in the Douglas-fir 

 and Ponderosa Pine Ecosystems research work unit 

 located at Intermountain Station's Forestry Sciences 

 Laboratory in Boise, ID. She has worked part-time in this 

 work unit since 1979 and joined the Intermountain Station 

 on a full-time basis in 1986. She earned a B.S. degree in 

 biology at Boise State University and an M.S. degree in 

 forest science at the University of Idaho. 



RESEARCH SUMMARY 



Natural regeneration of six conifer species was surveyed 

 on three central Idaho habitat types (h.t.): Douglas-fir/white 

 spirea h.t. {Pseudotsuga menziesii/Spiraea betulifolia h.t.), 

 grand fir/mountain maple h.t. {Abies grandis/Acer glabrum 

 h.t.), and grand fir/blue huckleberry h.t. (Abies grandis/ 

 Vaccinium globulare h.t.). The species sampled were 

 lodgepoie pine (Pinus contorta), western larch (Larix occi- 

 dentalis), ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Douglas-fir 

 (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Engelmann spruce (Picea engel- 

 mannii), and grand fir (Abies grandis). Seedling occurrence 

 was related to seedbed, amount and kind of shade cover, 

 site preparation method (no site preparation, broadcast 

 burning, light and heavy scarification), and silvicultural 

 method (clearcutting, seed-tree cutting, shelterwood cut- 

 ting, selection cutting). An "index of regeneration effi- 

 ciency" was developed to indicate possible beneficial and 

 detrimental effects of seedbeds or covers for each seed- 

 ling species. The indexes and percentage occurrences of 

 seedlings are used to provide recommendations for silvi- 

 cultural and site preparation treatments that can be used 

 to obtain desired natural regeneration in the three habitat 

 types. 



September 1987 



Intermountain Research Station 

 324 25th Street 

 Ogden, UT 84401 



