Pacific Southwest Research Station

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Research Paper

Title: Combining Silviculture and Landscape Architecture to Enhance the Roadside View

Author: Macdonald, Phillip M.; Litton Jr., R. Burton

Date: 1998

Source: Res. Paper PSW-RP-235. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; 20 p

Station ID: RP-PSW-235

Description: On a high-quality site in the mixed conifer forest of northern California, understory and overstory vegetation along a 3-mile paved county road were manipulated to enhance the view for the traveler. Traditional silvicultural cutting methods and landscape architectural techniques were blended to give contrast and variability to the vegetation along both sides of the highway. Understory vegetation (hardwoods, shrubs, forbs, graminoids, ferns, conifer seedlings); saplings (hardwoods, conifers, shrubs); and trees (California white fir, sugar pine, coast Douglas-fir, incense-cedar, California black oak, ponderosa pine, and Pacific dogwood) were sampled before logging, after logging, after brush disposal, and 6 years later in 10 distinct visual segments along the road and in a control (untreated area). Measurements included density, foliar cover, height, basal area, and basal area growth. Plant diversity also was quantified. Major findings were that although the hardwoods and shrubs obscured about 25 percent of the view 6 years after brush disposal, the view is still vastly improved over what it was before. And with careful logging and other vegetation management, the roadside stand can yield both pleasing scenery and timber.

Key Words: landscape management, mixed conifer forest, northern California, plant community dynamics, stand growth, view enhancement

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Citation

Macdonald, Phillip M.; Litton Jr., R. Burton   1998.  Combining Silviculture and Landscape Architecture to Enhance the Roadside View  Res. Paper PSW-RP-235. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; 20 p.