Ecological restoration and fine-scale forest structure regulation in southwestern ponderosa pine forests

Our study provides insight how tree marking techniques using historical forest remnants may have important effects on resulting fine-scale forest structure patterns. We also demonstrate how the use of global point or group-level pattern assessment methods can affect the evaluation of fine-scale spatial pattern objectives. Our analysis of VSS group characteristics highlights implementation and assessment issues associated with group-level spatial pattern identification, classification and regulation. We conclude that group-level classification and regulation is not necessary for maintaining fine-scale spatial patterns in complex ponderosa pine ecosystems subject to frequent fire disturbances and changing future climate conditions and societal demands. Both ERG and GMR-based approaches applied in this study may have utility in maintaining fine-scale spatial heterogeneity and promoting resiliency in Southwest ponderosa pine forests.