Managing forested landscapes and their habitats requires understanding the underlying biophysical and social contexts of managed forests and their surrounding landscape matrix. In a 660,000 hectare landscape in southwestern Oregon, USA, for example, ownership is split between twelve classes of private and government ownership types. Each class of ownership has differing management goals, with their different actions resulting in a complex landscape of forest structure across this region. Using airborne lidar, property ownership maps, and stand age estimates, we examined these patterns and their impact on habitat, using northern spotted owls (NSO; Strix occidentalis caurina) as a focal species. We examined forest structure patterns by identifying statistically distinct classes of forest structure and then examining their distribution across and within ownership types. We used the structure classes to examine their area within each ownership class, their mean patch size, their interspersion and juxtaposition, and NSO habitat suitability across ownership classes.
Results/Conclusions
The differences in these four different metrics between owners can be grouped into four super-groups: private non-industrial, private industrial, Bureau of Land Management, and other government owners. NSO habitat suitability was highest on other government owners’ lands and lowest on private non-industrial lands. Interspersion and juxtaposition among all classes of structure was highest in Elliott State Forest. These differences can be attributed to differences in common harvest practices in service of different management goals and differences in land turnover and acquisition. Analyses such as ours can inform regional forest management planning within and between management entities by private landowners, government agencies, and non-government organizations.