The impact of timber management on the phytochemicals associated with black bear damage

Abstract

Black bears forage on Douglas-fir vascular tissue in the spring, and this behavior can be severely detrimental to the health and economic value of a timber stand. Foraging is selective in that not all stands are damaged and, within a stand, one tree may be stripped while its neighbor is ignored or minimally sampled. A series of studies was conducted to assess whether bear selectivity is affected by chemical constituents within vascular tissue, and whether these constituents are affected by silvicultural practices. The results are interpreted to identify forest practices that may alleviate damage, or at least predict where damage is most likely to occur.