Moose Browse in Logged Area

[Arctic Lake]

Hi Fellas

How long do you think it takes for willows etc. to grow back in a logged off area to support feed for moose ?
Thanks
Arctic Lake

[Treed]

It depends on about 10 different things. Site, logging methods, site prep, prelogging veg, herbicide use, location in the province etc. when all the right variable collide 2-5 years...

[Treed]

But then they'll plant it with pine and brush the shtt out of it. So never.

[RadHimself]

they hardly ever use brushing crews anymore..... thats a thing of the past

[Cordillera]

Two years and you have the nice tasty stuff starting to come in. Five years and there is lots if the site is right. If there's not much willow at five years then it probably won't have much anyway. Then it can be good for fifteen or more years before crown closure starts and the willow declines.

[markomoose]

[QUOTE=Cordillera;1763281]Two years and you have the nice tasty stuff starting to come in. Five years and there is lots if the site is right. If there's not much willow at five years then it probably won't have much anyway. Then it can be good for fifteen or more years before crown closure starts and the willow declines.[/QUOTE I'm with Cordillera on this one! I asked an RFP how long it takes and his response was immediately.The logging operations don't mow everything down.We shot 2 bulls feeding on willows in 5-02 two years ago.They were standing wide open?

[Boner]

They eat more than just willow. I blasted mine on September 15 and he had about 10 gallons of fresh green aspen leaves in his stomach. And that was a block that was logged last years January. So that's about 8 months after it was logged, lots of tasty aspen leaves for moose.

[takla1]

willow grows back in very fast and can grow 1-3 ft per yr.Over the yrs hunting we've had to move locations many times due to rapid willow growth thus rendering visibily to zero after 4-5 yrs.some of our best go to area's have disappeared into jungles.

takla

[two-feet]

I heard from a bio that around 10 years would would be peak productivity for moose browse, with many factors that could move that number up or down. Years ago i assumed that there would be a huge spike in ungulate numbers after the pine beetle had moved through and the country greened up with deciduous trees, boy was i wrong.

[Schmaus]

Last year some of my most productive cuts were less than a year old. The moose were hammering the new poplar trees about 2 feet tall.

[280 77]

Moose love fresh cuts

[okas]

we got one that was full of blueberries as they are browsers .

[Arctic Lake]

Thanks for the above replies fellas ! I don't want to derail my own thread but does new growth differ in growth time from logged areas and wildfire areas ? Does one area grow faster than the other ?
Thanks
Arctic Lake

[wideopenthrottle]

nutrients released by fire will result in a different regrowth rate for various plant species...some plant species specialize at regreening burned areas...long term there would be not much difference

[604Stalker]

Okas Im jellous that must have been wicked eating.

[Cordillera]

Thanks for the above replies fellas ! I don't want to derail my own thread but does new growth differ in growth time from logged areas and wildfire areas ? Does one area grow faster than the other ?
Thanks
Arctic Lake

It depends on the intensity of the fire. If the fire burns intensely then some of the brush that was there gets killed and it takes longer to come back. If there is brush in the understory and a light fire that basically kills the trees but leaves the soil intact, or the area is logged, then the brush that was there just flushes and takes off.

The biggest single factor influencing how much browse there will be and how fast it comes is the site (the inherent soil moisture and nutrient regime). If it is a good willow site, any disturbance will provide light and release the existing willow or let new willow establish. If it is a poor site for willow (or red osier or other browse species) then any disturbance will give some browse but no so much.

A lot of the logging on pine beetle sites has occurred on fairly poor ground that will have little willow no matter what. The really good stuff is more on the spruce sites....