The context for great lakes silviculture in the 21st century

Abstract

Great Lakes forests were subject to a severe pulse of disturbance from the mid-19th century through the early 20th century that resulted from extensive harvesting and subsequent fires following European settlement. Today?s forest, in many ways, is exhibiting changes in area and demography that reflect recovery from this pulse of disturbance, as well as response to agricultural land abandonment in the region in the mid- to late-20th century. Management of these forests in the 21st century must take these trends into account, plus consider societal needs and expectations that are changing in response to population levels and other factors. Our knowledge base for managing these forests is limited, even with respect to such basic characteristics as productivity. We also have little historical reference on which to base new silvicultural systems designed to manage forests in response to emerging environmental issues such as global climate change.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the Great Lakes silviculture summit

Citation

Reed, David D. 2004. The context for great lakes silviculture in the 21st century. In: Palik, Brian; Levy, Louise, eds. Proceedings of the Great Lakes silviculture summit. Gen. Tech. Rep. NC-254. St. Paul, MN: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station: 15-19.