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Pseudotsuga macrocarpa

Pseudotsuga macrocarpa, commonly called the bigcone spruce or bigcone Douglas-fir, is an evergreen conifer native to the mountains of southern California. It is notable for having the largest (by far) cones in the genus Pseudotsuga, hence the name.

The tree occurs from the San Rafael Mountains in central Santa Barbara County and the Tehachapi Mountains of southwestern Kern County, south through the Transverse Ranges, to the Cuyamaca Mountains in San Diego County. The tree is shade-tolerant and prefers to grow on slopes.

Name
Pseudotsuga macrocarpa is a Douglas-fir. The name "bigcone spruce", though confusing as it is not a spruce species, is often still used, and occurs in place names.

Description
Pseudotsuga macrocarpa typically grows from 15 – in height and 56 - 155 cm in trunk diameter. The growth form is straight, with a conical crown from 12 – broad, and a strong and spreading root system. The bark is deeply ridged, composed of thin, woodlike plates separating heavy layers of cork; bark of trees over 1 m in diameter is from 15 – thick. The main branches are long and spreading with pendulous side shoots.

The leaves are needle-like, 2.5 – long, and are shed when about five years old. The female cones are from 11 – long, larger and with thicker scales than those of other douglas-firs, and with exserted tridentine bracts. The seeds are large and heavy, 10 mm long and 8 mm broad, with a short rounded wing 13 mm long; they may be bird or mammal dispersed as the wing is too small to be effective for wind dispersal. Trees start producing seeds at about 20 years of age.

The largest known individual of this species is 53 m tall, 231 cm in diameter, and is estimated to be from 600 to 700 years of age.

Distribution
Pseudotsuga macrocarpa is restricted to the California montane chaparral and woodlands and California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregions of California. It prefers a Mediterranean climate, characterized by hot dry summers and wet, mild winters. Annual rainfall during a 30-year period on a bigcone Douglas-fir site in the San Gabriel Mountains averaged 75 cm and ranged from 25 –.

Bigcone Douglas-fir occurs between 300 - 2,700 m. At low elevation, it occurs near streams in moist, shaded canyons and draws where aspects are mostly north and east. At elevations from 1,350 - 1,700 m, aspects include south- and east-facing slopes. At these elevations, it also grows on sloping hillsides, ridges, and benches. At higher elevations, it occurs on south and west aspects on all types of terrain. The average angle of slope on which it grows is 35 degrees, ranging from level to 90 degrees, although these extremes are uncommon.

Ranges the tree is found in, south to north, include:
 * Peninsular Ranges
 * Cuyamaca Mountains
 * Palomar Mountains
 * Santa Ana Mountains
 * San Jacinto Mountains
 * Transverse Ranges
 * San Bernardino Mountains
 * San Gabriel Mountains
 * Santa Susana Mountains
 * San Emigdio Mountains
 * Topatopa Mountains
 * Santa Ynez Mountains
 * San Rafael Mountains
 * Sierra Madre Mountains

Ecology
Pseudotsuga macrocarpa, has several features to tolerate and survive wildfire, notably the very thick bark, and the presence of numerous adventitious buds on the upper side of the branches; this enables the trees to survive even crown fires which burn off all the branchlets, the apparently dead trees becoming green again the following spring. Wildfire frequencies in the chaparral habitats in which it often grows typically range from 15 to 50 year intervals. Bigcone Douglas-fir is closely associated with canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis) and often establishes itself in its shade; after about 50 years, it emerges above the oak canopy.

The number of plant associates in bigcone Douglas-fir communities is usually small.
 * Common overstory associates include: bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), California bay laurel (Umbellularia californica), gray pine (Pinus sabineana), and white alder (Alnus rhombifolia).
 * Shrub associates include bigpod ceanothus (Ceanothus megacarpus), red shank (Adenostoma sparsifolium), eastwood manzanita (Arctostaphylos glandulosa), toyon (Heteromoles arbutifolia), several species of sage (Salvia), and coastal sage scrub oak (Quercus dumosa).
 * Ground cover associates are usually sparse, and may include California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), wild onion (Allium spp.), scarlet beardtongue (Penstemon ternatus), giant chain fern (Woodwardia fimbriata), and western bracken (Pteridium aquilinum var. pubescens).

Fire ecology
Pseudotsuga macrocarpa populations are suspected to be declining due to possibly larger and more extreme wildland fires with greater frequencies. Major wildfires within its range, since 2003, have clearly proven a reduced extent when compared to early 1930s extents derived from historical aerial photos. Although historical information has provided the opportunity to detect stand level patch changes, post-fire resprouting of older more mature trees and natural regeneration and recruitment of the species into higher canopy has yet to be adequately quantified.

One tree species in direct competition with bigcone is Calocedrus decurrens, with preliminary post-fire regeneration of this species exponentially greater than bigcone. One or two years after the Station fire in 2009 on the Angeles National Forest, there was an estimated 20:1 cedar:bigcone seedling density in fixed radius plots on Mount Wilson. It may be more appropriate to perform population stability estimates up to five years or much later (i.e. 20 yrs) after a large conflagration due to the potential for immediate and delayed post-fire sprouting and regeneration and interplant competition, as well as the well-noted strategy of seed germination in shrub understories, which is likely to escape detection by surveyors until much later in its life.

Research related to the role of mycorrhizae and its relationship to seed establishment needs evaluated in these vegetation communities due to the suspected role it has with the relationship with water, especially in water-limited systems such as those in the wildlands of southern California. In addition, an aggressive seed cone collection strategy should be drafted for this species which includes extensive collection during large cone production years such as 2013, and should include a tracking system to determine correlations to climatic conditions in order to develop a foundation from which to perform species viability assessments w/ varying future climate scenarios.

This tree is being considered for more extensive plantings in semiarid locales. Its favorable qualities include resistance to drought, fire, insects, decay, and damage from ozone, and its aggressive rooting system and tolerance to variable growing medium. The needles of older trees sometimes fade to yellow, drop, and trees appear dead only to sprout with renewed vigor within two years. The reason is unknown, although drought or insects may be possible causes.

Wildlife
Bigcone Douglas-fir stands provide habitat for black-tailed deer, black bear, and various small animals. These trees provide preferred spring habitat for black bear in the San Bernardino Mountains.

The seeds are eaten by various rodents and birds.

Restoration species
Bigcone Douglas-fir is used for watershed and habitat restoration. The Los Angeles County Department of Forestry has extensively planted the tree over a 50-year period for that purpose.

Some hybrids of Pseudotsuga macrocarpa (Bigcone Douglas-fir) × Pseudotsuga menziesii (Coast Douglas-fir) show promise for planting on drier restoration sites within the P. menziesii−Douglas-fir natural range. These hybrids produce wood of comparable quality to that of Douglas-fir and have the drought tolerance of bigcone Douglas-fir.

Timber
There is no current commercial market for bigcone Douglas-fir wood due to limited distribution and access. It is heavy, hard, and fine grained but not durable. There is less sapwood than heartwood, and the latter contains pockets of resin.

In the past, the wood was used locally for fuel and lumber.

title: Pseudotsuga macrocarpa


text:
Douglas fir

The Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three varieties: coast Douglas-fir (P. menziesii var. menziesii), Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir (P. menziesii var. glauca) and Mexican Douglas-fir (P. menziesii var. lindleyana).

Despite its common names, it is not a true fir (genus Abies), spruce (genus Picea), or pine (genus Pinus). It is also not a hemlock; the genus name Pseudotsuga means "false hemlock".

Description
Douglas-firs are medium-size to extremely large evergreen trees, 20 - 100 m tall (although only Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii, common name coast Douglas-firs, reach heights near 100 m) and commonly reach 8 ft in diameter, although trees with diameters of almost 5 m exist. The largest coast Douglas-firs regularly live over 500 years, with the oldest specimens living for over 1,300 years. Rocky Mountain Douglas-firs, found further to the east, are less long-lived, usually not exceeding 400 years in age.

There are records of former coast Douglas-firs exceeding 120 m in height, which if alive today would make it the tallest tree species on Earth. Particular historical specimens with heights exceeding 400 feet include the Lynn Valley Tree and the Nooksack Giant.

The leaves are flat, soft, linear needles 2 - 4 cm long, generally resembling those of the firs, occurring singly rather than in fascicles; they completely encircle the branches, which can be useful in recognizing the species. As the trees grow taller in denser forest, they lose their lower branches, such that the foliage may start as high as 110 ft off the ground. Douglas-firs in environments with more light may have branches much closer to the ground.

The bark on young trees is thin, smooth, grey, and contains numerous resin blisters. On mature trees, usually exceeding 80 years, it is very thick and corky, growing up to 14 in thick with distinctive, deep vertical fissures caused by the gradual expansion of the growing tree. Some of the mature bark is brown, while other parts are lighter colored with a cork-like texture; these develop in multiple layers. This thick bark makes the Douglas-fir perhaps the most fire-resistant tree native to the Pacific Northwest.

The female cones are pendulous, with persistent scales, unlike those of true firs. They have distinctive long, trifid (three-pointed) bracts which protrude prominently above each scale and are said to resemble the back half of a mouse, with two feet and a tail.

The massive mega-genome of Douglas fir was sequenced in 2017 by the large PineRefSeq consortium, revealing a specialized photosynthetic apparatus in the light-harvesting complex of genes.

Taxonomy
The common name honors David Douglas, a Scottish botanist and collector who first reported the extraordinary nature and potential of the species. The common name is misleading since it is not a true fir, i.e., not a member of the genus Abies. For this reason, the name is often written as Douglas-fir (a name also used for the genus Pseudotsuga as a whole).

The specific epithet menziesii is after Archibald Menzies, a Scottish physician and rival naturalist to David Douglas. Menzies first documented the tree on Vancouver Island in 1791. Colloquially, the species is also known simply as Doug fir or Douglas pine (although the latter common name may also refer to Pinus douglasiana). Other names for this tree have included Oregon pine, British Columbian pine, Puget Sound pine, Douglas spruce, false hemlock, red fir, or red pine (although again red pine may refer to a different tree species, Pinus resinosa, and red fir may refer to Abies magnifica).

One Coast Salish name for the tree, used in the Halkomelem language, is lá:yelhp. In the Lushootseed language, the tree is called čəbidac.

Distribution
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii, the coast Douglas-fir, grows in the coastal regions from west-central British Columbia southward to central California. In Oregon and Washington, its range is continuous from the eastern edge of the Cascades west to the Pacific Coast Ranges and Pacific Ocean. In California, it is found in the Klamath and California Coast Ranges as far south as the Santa Lucia Range, with a small stand as far south as the Purisima Hills in Santa Barbara County. One of the last remaining old growth stands of conifers is in the Mattole Watershed, and is under threat of logging. In the Sierra Nevada, it ranges as far south as the Yosemite region. It occurs from sea level along the coast to elevations of 1500 m or higher, and inland in some cases up to 2100 m.

Another variety exists further inland, Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca, the Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir or interior Douglas-fir. Interior Douglas-fir intergrades with coast Douglas-fir in the Cascades of northern Washington and southern British Columbia, and from there ranges northward to central British Columbia and southeastward to the Mexican border, becoming increasingly disjunct as latitude decreases and altitude increases. Mexican Douglas-fir (P. lindleyana), which ranges as far south as Oaxaca, is often considered a variety of P. menziesii.

Fossils (wood, pollen) of Pseudotsuga are recorded from the Miocene and Pliocene of Europe (Siebengebirge, Gleiwitz, Austria).

It is also naturalised throughout Europe, Argentina and Chile (called Pino Oregón). In New Zealand it is considered to be an invasive species, called a wilding conifer, and is subject to control measures. But is also one of the most common lumber trees used in forestry alongside Radiata pine with large plantations throughout the country. The species was introduced in the 1900s for its wood.

Preferred sites
Douglas-fir prefers acidic or neutral soils. However, it exhibits considerable morphological plasticity, and on drier sites P. menziesii var. menziesii will generate deeper taproots. Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca exhibits even greater plasticity, occurring in stands of interior temperate rainforest in British Columbia, as well as at the edge of semi-arid sagebrush steppe throughout much of its range, where it generates even deeper taproots still.

The coast Douglas-fir variety is the dominant tree west of the Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwest. It occurs in nearly all forest types and competes well on most parent materials, aspects, and slopes. Adapted to a more moist, mild climate than the interior subspecies, it grows larger and faster than Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir. Associated trees include western hemlock, Sitka spruce, sugar pine, western white pine, ponderosa pine, grand fir, coast redwood, western redcedar, California incense-cedar, Lawson's cypress, tanoak, bigleaf maple and several others. Pure stands are also common, particularly north of the Umpqua River in Oregon. It is most dominant in areas with a more frequent fire regime that suppresses less fire-resistant conifers.

Use by animals

Douglas-fir seeds are an extremely important food source for small mammals such as moles, shrews, and chipmunks, which consume an estimated 65% of each annual seed crop. The Douglas squirrel harvests and hoards great quantities of Douglas-fir cones, and also consumes mature pollen cones, the inner bark, terminal shoots, and developing young needles.

Mature or "old-growth" Douglas-fir forest is the primary habitat of the red tree vole (Arborimus longicaudus) and the spotted owl (Strix occidentalis). Home range requirements for breeding pairs of spotted owls are at least 400 ha of old growth. Red tree voles may also be found in immature forests if Douglas-fir is a significant component. The red vole nests almost exclusively in the foliage of the trees, typically 2 - 50 m above the ground, and its diet consists chiefly of Douglas-fir needles.

Douglas-fir needles are generally poor browse for ungulates, although in the winter when other food sources are lacking it can become important, and black-tailed deer browse new seedlings and saplings in spring and summer. The spring diet of the blue grouse features Douglas-fir needles prominently.

The leaves are also used by the woolly conifer aphid Adelges cooleyi; this 0.5 mm-long sap-sucking insect is conspicuous on the undersides of the leaves by the small white "fluff spots" of protective wax that it produces. It is often present in large numbers, and can cause the foliage to turn yellowish from the damage it causes. Exceptionally, trees may be partially defoliated by it, but the damage is rarely this severe. Among Lepidoptera, apart from some that feed on Pseudotsuga in general, the gelechiid moths Chionodes abella and C. periculella as well as the cone scale-eating tortrix moth Cydia illutana have been recorded specifically on P. menziesii.

The inner bark is the primary winter food for the North American porcupine.

Poriol is a flavanone, a type of flavonoid, produced by P. menziesii in reaction to infection by Poria weirii.

Value to other plants
A parasitic plant which uses P. menziesii is the Douglas-fir dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium douglasii). Epiphytes such as crustose lichens and mosses are common sights on Douglas-firs. As it is only moderately shade tolerant, undisturbed Douglas-fir stands in humid areas will eventually give way to later successional, more shade-tolerant associates such as the western redcedar and western hemlock—though this process may take a thousand years or more. It is more shade tolerant than some associated fire-dependent species, such as western larch and ponderosa pine, and often replaces these species further inland.

Diseases and insects
Fungal diseases such as laminated root rot and shoestring root-rot can cause significant damage, and in plantation settings dominated by Douglas-fir monocultures may cause extreme damage to vast swathes of trees. Interplanting with resistant or nonhost species such as western redcedar and beaked hazelnut can reduce this risk. Other threats to Douglas-fir include red ring rot and the Douglas-fir beetle.

Uses

Many different Native American groups used the bark, resin, and needles to make herbal treatments for various diseases. Native Hawaiians built waʻa kaulua (double-hulled canoes) from coast Douglas-fir logs that had drifted ashore. The wood has historically been favored as firewood, especially from the coastal variety. In addition early settlers used Douglas fir for all forms of building construction, including floors, beams, and fine carving. Even today much of the Northwest chain saw art is completed on Douglas fir logs. The structures built from fir have lasted 150 years and more.

The species is extensively used in forestry management as a plantation tree for softwood timber. Douglas-fir is one of the world's best timber-producing species and yields more timber than any other species in North America, making the forestlands of western Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia the most productive on the continent. In 2011, Douglas-fir represented 34.2% of US lumber exports, to a total of 1.053 billion board-feet. Douglas fir timber is used for timber frame construction and timber trusses using traditional joinery, veneer, and flooring due to its strength, hardness and durability. As of 2012, the only wooden ships still currently in use by the U.S. Navy are Avenger-class minesweepers, made of Douglas-fir.

Douglas fir sees wide use in heavy timber structures, as its wood is strong, available in a number of specifications including kiln dried and grade stamped, and can be supplied in very long lengths to 60 feet. West coast mills are sophisticated in their processing of timbers, making lead times predictable and availability reliable. Paints adhere well to Douglas fir. Stains perform well on Douglas fir timbers with the mild caution that the natural color of this species varies and care must be taken to ensure uniformity of color. Pitch pockets that may ooze resin can be present in timbers that have not been kiln dried. Because of the timber sizes available, stamped timber grading, and relatively short lead times, Douglas fir sees wide use in both public and residential projects.

The species has ornamental value in large parks and gardens. It has been commonly used as a Christmas tree since the 1920s, and the trees are typically grown on plantations.

The buds have been used to flavor eau de vie, a clear, colorless fruit brandy. Douglas-fir pine leaves can be used to make pine needle tea. They possess a tangy citrus flavor and may serve in some recipes as a wild substitute for rosemary.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Douglas fir


text:
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca

'Pseudotsuga menziesii'' var. glauca, or Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir''', is an evergreen conifer native to the interior mountainous regions of western North America, from central British Columbia and southwest Alberta in Canada southward through the United States to the far north of Mexico. The range is continuous in the northern Rocky Mountains south to eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, Idaho, western and south-central Montana and western Wyoming, but becomes discontinuous further south, confined to "sky islands" on the higher mountains in Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, with only very isolated small populations in eastern Nevada, westernmost Texas, and northern Mexico. It occurs from 600 m altitude in the north of the range, up to 3,000 m, rarely 3,200 m, in the south. Further west towards the Pacific coast, it is replaced by the related coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii), and to the south, it is replaced by Mexican Douglas-fir in high mountains as far south as Oaxaca. Some botanists have grouped Mexican Douglas-fir with P. menziesii var. glauca, but genetic and morphological evidence suggest that Mexican populations should be considered a different variety (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. lindleyana).

Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir is most commonly treated as a variety (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca), but has also been called a subspecies (Pseudotsuga menziesii subsp. glauca) or more rarely (mainly in the past) a distinct species (Pseudotsuga glauca). The strong ecological and genetic differentiation with intergradation limited primarily to postglacial contact zones in British Columbia supports infraspecific groupings. Some botanists have further split Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir into two varieties, but these are not widely acknowledged and have only limited support from genetic testing.

Characteristics
Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir is a large tree, typically reaching 35 – in height and 1 m in diameter, with exceptional specimens known to 67 m tall, and 2 m in diameter. It commonly lives more than 500 years and occasionally more than 1,200 years. The bark on young trees is thin, smooth, gray, and covered with resin blisters. On mature trees, it is moderately thick (3 –), furrowed and corky though much less so than coast Douglas-fir.

The shoots are brown to gray-brown, smooth, though not as smooth as fir shoots, and finely pubescent with scattered short hairs. The buds are a distinctive narrow conic shape, 3 – long, with red-brown bud scales. The leaves are spirally arranged but slightly twisted at the base to be upswept above the shoot, needle-like, 2 – long, gray-green to blue-green above with a single broad stomatal patch, and with two whitish stomatal bands below.

The male (pollen) cones are 2 – long, and are typically restricted to, or more abundant on, lower branches. Pollen cones develop over 1 year and wind-dispersed pollen is released for several weeks in the spring.

The mature female seed cones are pendent, 4 – long, 2 cm broad when closed, opening to 3 – broad. They are produced in spring, purple (sometimes green) at first, maturing orange-brown in the autumn 5–7 months later. The seeds are 5 – long and 3 – broad, with a 12 – wing. Both coast Douglas-fir and Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir produce abundant crops of seed approximately every 2–11 years. Seed is produced annually except for about 1 year in any 4-to-5-year period.

Growth
Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir grows more slowly than coast Douglas-fir and is also much more cold tolerant. Tolerance of different environmental conditions varies among populations of Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir, especially among populations from the northern and southern Rockies. However, even nearby populations can differ in cold hardiness.

Root morphology is variable, but when unimpeded, a taproot forms within several years. "Platelike" root morphologies occur where growth is impeded. The most prominent lateral roots begin in the 1st or 2nd year of growth. Most roots in surface soil are "long ropelike laterals of secondary and tertiary origin". Fine-root production is episodic in response to changing environmental conditions; the average lifespan of fine roots is usually between several days and several weeks.

Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir reaches reproductive maturity at 12–15 years. It has winged seeds that are dispersed primarily by wind and gravity. In western Montana clearcuts, seeds were dispersed up to 250 m uphill from their source, but seedfall between 180 – was only 7% of that found in uncut stands. Other studies determined that seedfall in clearcuts beyond 80 m from seed trees was about 3% of seedfall in uncut stands where seed trees are close together. Well-stocked stands have resulted from seedfall from sources 1 – distant, but most Douglas-fir seeds fall within 100 m of their source. Small amounts of seed are dispersed by mice, chipmunks, and squirrels. Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir seeds are disseminated about twice as far as seeds of ponderosa pine.

Longevity
The oldest accurately-dated Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir, 1275 years old, is in New Mexico. This longevity is apparently uncommon; growing on a relatively barren lava field has protected it from fire, animals, and humans. Growth typically slows dramatically between 90 and 140 years of age.

In the dry-belt forests of central British Columbia, ages can exceed 500 years on sites normal for the region. The oldest accurately-dated growth ring available for the region is 1475; dates in the 1500s and 1600s are more common for remnant patches that have escaped logging, fire, and other disturbances.

Pathology
It is affected by the diseases Phaeolus schweinitzii, Armillaria, Phellinus weirii, Fomes annosus, dwarf mistletoe, Dasyscypha canker and Rhabdocline needle cast.

Insects
It attracts the Douglas fir beetle, western budworm and tussock moth.

Ecology
Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir grows on a variety of sites across its wide geographic range. It grows at lower elevations adjacent to and within bunchgrass communities and is also found in upper-elevation subalpine forests. It tends to be most abundant in low- and middle-elevation forests, where it grows over a wide range of aspects, slopes, landforms, and soils. In spring and winter (in British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana) elk browse on south- and southwest-facing Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine stands, particularly when shrubs and/or grasses are productive. In summer, elk generally are found at higher elevations (outside the Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir and Pacific ponderosa pine zones). During fall, elk use stands of Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine, subalpine fir, western larch, or grand fir with high canopy cover.

In parts of Yellowstone National Park, elk browsing is so intensive that young Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir are stunted at 1 – in height, with live branches trailing very close to the ground, and branches on the upper two thirds of the tree dead. Low-elevation and south-facing open-structure Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir types are often important winter range for white-tailed deer and mule deer. Moose winter in low-elevation Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir types in areas where willow thickets, the preferred winter habitat, are lacking; in such areas Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir is an important moose food.

Chipmunks, mice, voles, and shrews eat large quantities of conifer seeds from the forest floor, and clipped cones are a staple and major part of storage of red squirrels. These animals store a large amount of Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir cones or seeds. American marten commonly den in hollow logs.

Numerous species of songbirds extract seeds from Douglas-fir cones or forage for seeds on the ground. The most common are the Clark's nutcracker, black-capped chickadee, mountain chickadee, boreal chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, pygmy nuthatch, red crossbill, white-winged crossbill, dark-eyed junco, and pine siskin. Migrating flocks of dark-eyed juncos may consume vast quantities of seeds and freshly germinated seedlings. Woodpeckers commonly feed in the bark of Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir. Blue grouse forage on needles and buds in winter; they and other birds rely heavily on Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir communities for cover.

The Douglas-fir is vulnerable to infestation by a woolly aphid, Adelges cooleyi that also infects the Engelmann spruce to complete its lifecycle.

Uses
Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir is a valuable timber tree. The wood is exceptionally strong and is used for structural timber as well as poles, plywood, pulp, dimensional lumber, railroad ties, mine timbers, log cabins, posts and poles, fencing, and firewood. Other uses listed include "machine-stress-rated lumber", glued-laminated (Glulam) beams, pallets, furniture, cabinets, doors, flooring, window frames, and other miscellaneous woodwork and millwork. Rocky Mountain Douglas-firs are also cut and sold as Christmas trees.

title: Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca