It is likely that damaging agents will prevent stands from achieving their potential production. The provincial survey indicated the potential risk of damage at the landscape or forest level. However, the occurrence and the impact are highly variable in both time and space at the stand level. This is true whether or not stand density has been reduced. Because of this variability, little is known about the interactions among the occurrence and effect of damaging agents, stand density and density management.
Some damaging agents appear to be unaffected by stand density.
There is also evidence that the occurrence and effect of some damaging agents are functions of the scale of silviculture treatment over the landscape. Some types of stand damage, and the agents that cause them, are extremely difficult to detect and may require experts to adequately survey their incidence. This is especially true of many species of decay fungi, particularly in the early years of stand development. Given the complexity of the problem, great care should be taken to avoid creating stand conditions that increase the susceptibility to damaging agents. Resulting damage may partially offset or completely eliminate the intended benefits of stand density management treatments.