PROBE is a long-term vegetation management study that has been collecting informaton about the effects of brushing treatments on conifer seedlings and vegetation in southern interior British Columbia since 1991. The project includes research installations on 96 individual sites that occur across a range of biogeoclimatic (BEC) units in the southern portion of the Southern Interior Forest Region (the former Kamloops and Nelson Forest Regions). Currently, we have fully analyzed results for eight vegetation complexes where lodgepole pine, hybrid spruce, Engelmann spruce, or Douglas-fir have been planted. The results are providing forest managers with valuable guidance about where brushing is and is not required, the selection of appropriate treatments, expected conifer and vegetation responses, and the effects of treatment on non-timber site values. Results may be accessed from a variety of sources, including online extension notes and publications, and a web-based Expert System.
The original objectives of PROBE are:
- To study the effects of vegetation management treatments on survival, growth, health, and free-growing status of conifers.
- To study the effects of vegetation management treatments on abundance, structure, diversity, and condition of the plant community.
In 2002, we began installing permanent measurement plots (PMPs) on sites where at least 10 years had passed since treatments were applied. The objective is:
- To study the long-term effects of vegetation management treatments on growth and yield and stand development.
A comprehensive description of the background and objectives of the PROBE project is provided in Sections 1 and 2 of the linked document Effects of Operational Brushing on Conifers and Plant Communities in the Southern interior of British Columbia: Results from PROBE 1991-2000.
Background and objectives of the PROBE project