Relationships between growth, quality, and stocking within managed old-growth northern hardwoods

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 1115-1125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Gronewold ◽  
Anthony W. D’Amato ◽  
Brian J. Palik
Keyword(s):  
Growth Dynamics ◽  
Quality Development ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Upper Peninsula ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Tree Quality ◽  
Upper Peninsula Of Michigan ◽  
Level Production

An understanding of long-term growth dynamics is central to the development of sustainable uneven-aged silvicultural systems for northern hardwood forests in eastern North America. Of particular importance are quantitative assessments of the relationships between stocking control and long-term growth and quality development. This study examined these relationships in a long-term silviculture experiment established in northern hardwood stands in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA. Stands were old growth at the onset of the experiment and were maintained at three residual stocking levels (11.5, 16.1, and 20.7 m2·ha–1) over a 57-year period. Several aspects of long-term stocking control were evaluated, including the effects of residual stocking on tree quality development and the relationships between stand stocking and individual tree growth and stand-level production. Results suggest that residual stocking had little impact on quality development, likely due to the initial old-growth condition of the stands examined. In contrast, our results indicate that a range of stand densities will maintain acceptable rates of stand-level production in selection systems and that growth can be shifted between diameter classes depending on desired future stand conditions.

Hardwood Tree Quality Development in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. Sendak ◽  
William B. Leak ◽  
Wanda B. Rice
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Quality Development ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
White Mountains ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Bartlett Experimental Forest ◽  
Hardwood Tree ◽  
Tree Quality

Abstract Few studies in New England have related timber cutting in northern hardwood stands to improvements in timber quality. The objective of this study was to assess tree-quality improvement for lumber production from initial cutting in a northern hardwood forest on the Bartlett Experimental Forest in New Hampshire that occurred about 40 yr ago. This study used nine compartments on the Forest that were initially cut in the 1950s. Cutting methods included three diameter-limit cuts and six individual tree selection cuts followed by timber stand improvement by chemical girdling.The nine compartments remained undisturbed by cutting for approximately 40 yr. By 1996, average tree grade had improved in all compartments, from 3.8 to 3.1 for the diameter limits combined and from 3.2 to 2.7 for the selection compartments combined. Returns per acre of standing inventory were influenced by tree quality but also were confounded with compartment volume and species mix. In general, return of standing inventory in 1996, whether per acre or per mbf, was greater in the selection compartments, but one of the diameter limits had a significant volume of high value red oak timber that skewed its total value upward. North. J. Appl. For. 17(1):9-15.

Forty years of alternative management practices in second-growth, pole-size northern hardwoods. I. Tree quality deveSopment

1995 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 1173-1179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry F. Strong ◽  
Gayne G. Erdmann ◽  
Jeffrey N. Niese
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Stand Structure ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Heavy Medium ◽  
Second Growth ◽  
Tree Quality ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Medium Selection

The effects of six cutting methods on tree quality were observed for 20 years in a northern hardwood stand in Wisconsin. Cutting treatments included an uncut control, three levels of individual tree selection (heavy, medium, and light), crop tree release, and diameter limit. Average annual diameter growth was least in the control treatment (0.13 in./year, 0.33 cm/year) and greatest in the heavy individual tree selection and diameter-limit cuts (0.18 in./year, 0.46 cm/year). Cull in trees in 1992 was significantly higher in the control and diameter-limit treatments. Changes in merchantable height (number of 16-ft (4.9-m) logs) over the period were not significantly different among treatments, but average merchantable heights were significantly greater in the individual tree selection treatments in 1992. Average tree grade increases were significantly better in the medium selection plots than in all other treatments except the crop tree release. Nearly a third of the sawlog-size trees in both the control and diameter-limit treatments were below sawlog grade, significantly more than in the other treatments. Only 2% of the trees in the heavy selection plots were below grade. Tree quality improved the most overall in the medium selection plots. Stand structure in this treatment also most closely matched that recommended by guides developed to sustain yield over long periods of cutting under uneven-aged management.

scholarly journals Six Decades of Growth and Yield and Financial Return in a Silviculture Experiment in Northern Hardwoods

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maeve C Draper ◽  
Robert E Froese
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Long Term Results ◽  
Northern Hardwoods ◽  
Partial Cutting ◽  
Upper Peninsula ◽  
Single Tree ◽  
Single Tree Selection ◽  
Upper Peninsula Of Michigan

Abstract The Cutting Methods Study at the Ford Forest in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA, was established in 1956 and has been maintained continuously on a 10 year cycle. Methods consist of three diameter limits (DL; 13, 30, and 41 cm), single-tree selection to three residual basal area limits (STS; 11, 16, and 21 m2ha−1), and light improvement (LI) focused on improving tree grade. Long-term results show that the 41 cm DL produced the greatest managed forest value and cumulative sawlog production, followed by the STS to 11 m2ha−1 residual basal area. STS treatments and LI were uniformly superior at improving standing tree grade. In contrast, treatments that emphasize removal of large diameter trees while retaining moderate residual basal area (the 41 cm DL and 11 m2ha−1 STS) produced the largest harvest volumes of high-grade sawlogs, driving financial performance. Stand density has declined in all treatments except the 30 and 41 cm DL, where it has increased, and these two treatments have larger abundance of saplings and poles. Alternative partial cutting methods such as selection to lower residual basal areas and medium-intensity diameter-limit cuts thus may provide greater financial returns and higher average quality, and could have implications on regeneration and long-term sustainability. Study Implications: Long-term comparison of alternative partial cutting practices in northern hardwoods in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan over 60 years reveals that Arbogast-based single-tree selection is inferior using financial and volume yield criteria. Alternatives that remove more of the larger trees appear over time to increase regeneration and harvested tree quality, which in turn drives financial performance. However, treatments with extremely high volume removals perform poorly against all others, and have few, if any, redeeming financial, silvicultural, or ecological qualities.

Cleaning and Early Crop-Tree Release in Northern Hardwood Stands: A Review

1991 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 111-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Heitzman ◽  
Ralph D. Nyland
Keyword(s):  
Field Tests ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Term Effect ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Diameter Growth ◽  
Yield Data ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Long Term Effect ◽  
Tree Quality

Abstract Published information indicates that cleaning among sapling-stage northern hardwoods has value for maintaining species that might otherwise become overtopped and lost from a stand. Cleaning will also stimulate the diameter growth of trees in upper crown positions, but may delay the dying and self-pruning of lower branches and thereby affect tree quality. Removing adjacent trees that touch the crowns of a selected number of crop trees has proven efficient and effective. However, field tests have not yet provided growth and yield data for assessment of the long-term effect on tree quality, or the economic benefits from such treatments. North. J. Appl. For. 8(3):111-115.

A 20-year experiment on the effects of deer and hare on eastern hemlock regeneration

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (11) ◽  
pp. 1329-1338
Author(s):  
William S. Alverson ◽  
Marian V. Lea ◽  
Donald M. Waller
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Seedling Survival ◽  
The United States ◽  
Eastern Hemlock ◽  
Upper Peninsula ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
Upper Peninsula Of Michigan ◽  
Slow Growing

Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carrière) is a shade-tolerant, slow-growing tree once common in forests across the Great Lakes region. It was heavily exploited in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and now experiences limited regeneration across much of its range. This failure to regenerate has been ascribed to poor seedbed conditions, insufficient canopy openings, warmer climate, and browsing by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann, 1780)) or snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus Erxleben, 1777). To test whether deer or hare limit hemlock regeneration, we studied >2000 hemlock seedlings inside and adjacent to experimental deer exclosures at 59 sites randomly distributed across hemlock and hemlock-component stands in northern Wisconsin and the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States. We monitored local deer and hare abundance, seedling growth, and seedling survival for 20 years. Two First Nations reservations showed lower deer density and greater survival and growth of unprotected seedlings than three national forests of the United States. Cohorts of hemlock seedlings protected from deer survived at a rate four times higher than those exposed to deer (59.3% vs. 15.0%) and shared a combined height 5.2 times greater. Hare densities significantly affected seedling survival only within exclosures. This extensive, long-term study identifies deer as the primary factor constraining hemlock regeneration in the region.

Predicting long-term sapling dynamics and canopy recruitment in northern hardwood forests

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 903-919 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob J. Hanson ◽  
Craig G. Lorimer ◽  
Corey R. Halpin
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rates ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
Calibration Data ◽  
Gap Size ◽  
Tree Model ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Sapling Density

Prediction of forest composition and structure over multiple generations of trees is often hampered by limited data on understory tree dynamics and the highly variable process of canopy recruitment in forest openings. In this paper, we describe a model of sapling dynamics and overstory recruitment for CANOPY, a spatially explicit, crown-based, individual-tree model of gap dynamics. The model incorporates gap size as a predictor of sapling recruitment and height growth, and it mimics the processes of sapling release, gap capture, and lateral gap closure. Calibration data were derived from 12 data sets with a wide range of stand ages and disturbance history in northern hardwood stands in the Great Lakes region, USA. The model accounted for 30%–62% of the variation in sapling density, composition, and growth rates. Predicted effects of increasing gap size on growth rate were similar to observed trends. Growth equations that included gap size as an independent variable generally gave better predictions of sapling density, species composition, and growth rates than equations based on conventional plot-level competition metrics. Long-term, 1000-year simulations produced estimates of stand basal areas and tree density in each size class that are close to the mean observed values for old-growth stands in the region.

Pedodiversity in an old-growth northern hardwood forest in the Huron Mountains, Upper Peninsula, Michigan

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1106-1117 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.C. Scharenbroch ◽  
J.G. Bockheim
Keyword(s):  
Cation Exchange ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Cation Exchange Capacity ◽  
Exchange Capacity ◽  
Eastern Hemlock ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Northern Hardwood

We investigated three primary causes of old-growth forest pedodiversity imposed by top-down trophic interactions, including pit and mound topography from past tree fall events, current canopy gaps from tree falls, and the influence of individual tree species on soil properties and processes. In this paper, we discuss the effects of pits, mounds, gaps, and individual tree species on pedodiversity in a single soil map unit in an old-growth northern hardwood forest. Pits and level areas had significantly greater soil organic matter, cation-exchange capacity, and exchangeable K and Ca contents than mounds. Gap subplots had significantly less cation-exchange capacity, K, Mg, and Ca compared with level areas within the contiguous forest. Base cations (K, Mg, and Ca) were significantly greater under sugar maple ( Acer saccharum Marsh.) compared with eastern hemlock ( Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.). Extractable P was significantly greater under yellow birch ( Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) compared with eastern hemlock. We quantified pedodiversity in an old-growth northern hardwood forest stand and single soil map unit using principal components analyses, ArcGIS, and biodiversity indices. Our results suggest that pedodiversity should be considered in soil survey and forest management.

Forty years of alternative management practices in second-growth, pole-size northern hardwoods» IL Economic evaluation

1995 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 1180-1188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey N. Niese ◽  
Terry F. Strong ◽  
Gayne G. Erdmann
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Economic Returns ◽  
Marginal Analysis ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Growth Pole ◽  
Second Growth ◽  
Residual Tree ◽  
Tree Quality ◽  
Medium Selection

Potential economic returns to tree quality were analyzed for four uneven-aged cutting treatments and a control in a Wisconsin northern hardwood stand. The economics of tree quality changes were analyzed over a 20-year period (1971–1992), using a marginal analysis that included tree grade, lumber volume yields, reported lumber values, and hardwood management costs. Net present values were highest for the heavy individual tree selection (60 ft"/acre, 13.8 m2/ha) treatment, and residual tree quality improved significantly. The medium selection (75 ft2/acre, 17.3 m2/ha) treatment had the greatest improvement in tree quality as well as high economic returns. The light selection (90 ft2/acre, 20.7 m2/ha) treatment had the highest residual stand value, but low harvest revenues. An 8-in. (20.3-cm) diameter-limit treatment had the lowest economic returns and the poorest tree quality.

scholarly journals Models for integrating and identifying the effect of senescence on individual tree survival probability for Norway spruce

Silva Fennica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jouni Siipilehto ◽  
Harri Mäkinen ◽  
Kjell Andreassen ◽  
Mikko Peltoniemi
Keyword(s):  
Survival Rate ◽  
Norway Spruce ◽  
Survival Probability ◽  
Stem Diameter ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Probability Models ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Tree Survival

Ageing and competition reduce trees’ ability to capture resources, which predisposes them to death. In this study, the effect of senescence on the survival probability of Norway spruce ( (L.) Karst.) was analysed by fitting alternative survival probability models. Different model formulations were compared in the dataset, which comprised managed and unmanaged plots in long-term forest experiments in Finland and Norway, as well as old-growth stands in Finland. Stand total age ranged from 19 to 290 years. Two models were formulated without an age variable, such that the negative coefficient for the squared stem diameter described a decreasing survival probability for the largest trees. One of the models included stand age as a separate independent variable, and three models included an interaction term between stem diameter and stand age. According to the model including stand age and its interaction with stem diameter, the survival probability curves could intersect each other in stands with a similar structure but a different mean age. Models that did not include stand age underestimated the survival rate of the largest trees in the managed stands and overestimated their survival rate in the old-growth stands. Models that included stand age produced more plausible predictions, especially for the largest trees. The results supported the hypothesis that the stand age and senescence of trees decreases the survival probability of trees, and that the ageing effect improves survival probability models for Norway spruce.Picea abies

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