Articles

Researchers recently created a new field method to measure soil temperature during fire and developed a new model, SheFire, to describe soil heating during fires across soil depth and over time.

Although managers of northern hardwoods forests practicing single-tree selection may be concerned about cutting too heavily, the latest results from the Cutting Methods Study at the Argonne Experimental Forest in northern Wisconsin shows that heavy selection can produce optimal benefits after 65 years, depending on the stand objectives.

Researchers produced an updated stand density management charts for eastern spruce-fir forests. The new decision-support tools provide updated guidance, and results from their use suggest that these forests can maintain a much higher stocking level than was previously recognized.

This 20-year investigation demonstrates that repeated prescribed fire treatments can promote oak and hickory regeneration and underscores the importance of integrating fire management with silvicultural practices to maintain forest health, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate wildfire risk.

Using the LANDIS PRO forest landscape model, NRS researchers analyzed how current and alternative management practices on public and private land can influence the balance of oak and maple species over a 150-year period in southeastern Ohio.