Vinton Furnace Experimental Forest

In 1952, the Baker Wood Preserving Company set aside 486 ha of land as the Vinton Furnace Experimental Forest for use by the USDA Forest Service’s Central States Forest Experiment Station, Columbus, Ohio. This area served as the field lab for a research unit at Athens, Ohio. Early research included farm forestry, pine conversion, and cutting practice demonstrations. A decade later, the Mead Corporation purchased the land and maintained the relationship with the Forest Service. In 2010, the land was purchased by the Ohio Division of Forestry and is co-managed by the Northern Research Station’s Ecological Sustainability of Central Appalachian Forests program. The Experimental Forest is within the larger Vinton Furnace State Forest and has expanded to more than 1,200 acres. The landscape has dissected topography with elevations ranging from 200 to 300 m and supports mixed-oak forests. Thousands of people visit the Vinton each year for research, meetings, training, and tours.

Climate

Mean annual temperature at the Vinton Furnace is 11.3 °C, which includes below-freezing temperatures during January. Precipitation, mostly rain, is distributed throughout the year with a mean annual precipitation of 1,024 mm. The growing season consists of 158-day frost-free days.

Soils

Located within the Unglaciated Allegheny Plateau, soils are primarily loams and silt loams derived from acidic sandstones and shales of marine origin.

Vegetation

The Vinton Furnace is comprised of upland mixed-oak forests with white oak, chestnut oak, and black oak the dominant species. Other common species are northern red oak, scarlet oak, hickories, red maple, American beech, and yellow-poplar. More than 700 vascular plant species, including more than 50 tree species, are found within the Experimental Forest.

The headquarters area, located near McArthur, Ohio, contains a large meeting/training center, quarters for eight visiting scientists and technicians, office equipment, and a weather station.

Lat. 39°11′ N, long. 82°22′ W

Research, Past and Present

Past studies concentrated on silvicultural practices, regeneration, and growth and yield of desirable hardwood species. In the last two decades, research has focused on sustaining mixed-oak forests with prescribed fire and other treatments (mechanical thinning, shelterwood harvest, midstory removal), as well as silvicultural treatment effects on wildlife. Recently, we established the Ohio Hills site within the Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) network of study sites. This long-term study is testing mixed-oak forest responses to climate change by comparing the management strategies of resistance (maintain relatively unchanged conditions over time), resilience (allow some change in current conditions, but encourage eventual return to original conditions), and transition (actively facilitate change to encourage adaptive responses).

Major Research Accomplishments and Effects on Management

Some of the earliest clearcutting research was performed at Vinton Furnace. Results of these studies formed the basis for the recommendations published in Even-Aged Silviculture for Upland Central Hardwoods (USDA Agriculture Handbook 355). Stocking charts were developed with data from the stand-density studies which were used to produce the GROAK and OAKSIM growth and yield simulators. Vinton Furnace is one of the first sites to conduct ecosystem-based studies on the effects of fire in the central hardwood region. Long-term research has shown that repeated prescribed fires promote oak regeneration and reduce the midstory/understory dominance of shade-tolerant mesophytes (red maple, American beech). This research complements other studies across the Central Hardwoods on fire effects in oak forests, and land managers in the region have adopted the practice to sustain oak forests. Research on the effects of silvicultural practices (shelterwood harvest, clearcutting) on breeding bird communities has also been conducted at Vinton Furnace and findings and management recommendations were published in Managing Forest Birds in Southeastern Ohio: A Guide for Land Managers.

Research Opportunities

The Ohio Hills Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) study site provides opportunities to study a variety of ecosystem responses to contrasting silvicultural approaches applied to manage oak forests in a changing climate.