Integrative Biology Associate Professor Brian Buma recently coauthored a Tamm Review on the effects of salvage logging in forests around the world. Tamm reviews are an invited, high-profile series of reviews on rapidly changing topics of interest worldwide. Salvage logging is when disturbed forests, like post-fire or post-beetle trees, are harvested, often justified as a way to reduce the chance of a subsequent disturbance. The review finds that the salvage logging, far from being a simple process, can be counter-productive in preventing future disturbances depending on the process and location, for example in some cases increasing the chance of future fire.
University of Colorado Denver