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Abstract
The oak shelterwood method calls for the removal of shade-tolerant, undesirable midstory species to create adequate diffuse light conditions at the forest floor for oak seedling establishment, preferably timed to coincide with a large acorn crop. Injection (INJ) with an herbicide, chainsaw felling and girdling with herbicide application (SAW), and a low-volume basal bark herbicide application (BAS) were tested for efficacy and timely removal of the midstory to quickly increase light reaching newly established oak seedlings in Indiana. All three midstory treatments killed the majority of treated trees by the beginning of the second growing season. The BAS treatment produced the most rapid decline in treated tree survival across diameter classes and across the range of species, with the exception of hickory. Although all BAS-treated hickory ultimately died, INJ and SAW treatments produced more rapid control. Mean BAS treatment cost was $0.20 per diameter-inch treated (DIT), approximately two times more costly than the SAW treatment at $0.11 per DIT and the INJ treatment at $0.09 per DIT.
Parent Publication
Citation
Rathfon, Ronald A. 2011. Midstory removal methods tested for timely release of newly established oak seedlings under oak shelterwoods. In: Fei, Songlin; Lhotka, John M.; Stringer, Jeffrey W.; Gottschalk, Kurt W.; Miller, Gary W., eds. Proceedings, 17th central hardwood forest conference; 2010 April 5-7; Lexington, KY; Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-78. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 521-534.
