EAGLE POINT STUDY SITE 



Research was conducted in and near bracken glades 

 south of Eagle Point on the North Fork Ranger District of 

 the Clearwater National Forest (figs. 1 and 2). Elevation 

 of the site averages 1,430 m above sea level. Aspect is 

 easterly, with slope angles of 20 to 50 percent. The most 

 prevalent habitat type is Abies grandis/Asarum caudatum 

 (grand fir/wild ginger) as described by Cooper and others 

 (1987). 



Soils are dark brown to black silt loams (Wilson and 

 others i983). The dark-colored umbric soil surface layer is 

 loessal material influenced by ash from Mount Mazama 

 (Crater Lake). Also characteristic of the area is a high 

 organic turnover rate in the soil (similar to prairie grass- 

 lands), deep snowpacks during the winter, and areas with 

 high water tables, at least during a portion of the year. 



Several bracken glades existed prior to harvesting adja- 

 cent forests (fig. 3). Within the glades, there is scant 

 evidence of past or present woody vegetation; neither 

 buried wood nor charcoal fragments are found. Herba- 

 ceous species other than bracken include glacier-lily 

 {Erythronium grandiflorum), larkspur {Delphinium sp.), 

 starwort (Stellaria obtusa), coneflower {Rudbeckia occiden- 

 talis), and occasional wild ginger, sedges {Carex sp.), and 

 grasses. 



In the harvested areas, coverage by bracken fern has 

 expanded, and these areas now contain a mixture of 

 bracken, shrubs, forbs, grasses, and some conifer regen- 

 eration. The study site has been planted several times 

 without success, not only because of bracken fern but also 

 high populations of pocket gophers and big game use. 

 Natural regeneration has become established mainly along 

 skid trails and roads. 



Portions of the study site were treated in 1977 with the 

 herbicide asulam to test control effectiveness and per- 

 formance of planted conifers (Boyd and Znerold in 

 preparation; Znerold 1979). Bracken control was excellent, 

 but pocket gopher and big game damage confounded the 

 planting trials. The sprayed areas now support more 

 grasses, sedges, and forbs than unsprayed controls, but 

 bracken is reinvading and frond density is nearly the same 

 as before spraying. Sprayed areas are used as one treat- 

 ment in this study. 



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