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Abstract
About 50 years ago, scientists and managers collaborated in an effort that would evolve into the Silviculture of Allegheny Hardwoods (SILVAH) system. Stout and Brose (2014) summarize this unusual story. SILVAH includes components that range from inventory methods to training sessions to management prescriptions, all of which were designed from the ground up and driven by the needs of managers working in Allegheny hardwood forests. Today, SILVAH has been expanded to support oak forest types. Decision support systems often summarize expert knowledge and synthesize guidelines; scientists experimented with many of SILVAH's underlying principles, which managers tested to develop this system. A good example is the set of thinning guidelines. A multiple-block replicated thinning study was established in 1975 to determine the thinning prescription that would provide the desired results for Allegheny hardwood stands.
Parent Publication
Citation
Hoover, Coeli. 2019. The carbon consequences of thinning Allegheny hardwoods: Lessons learned from a study designed to inform SILVAH development. In: Stout, Susan L., ed. SILVAH: 50 years of science-management cooperation. Proceedings of the Allegheny Society of American Foresters training session; 2017 Sept. 20-22; Clarion, PA. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-186. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 132-141. https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-GTR-P-186-Paper12.
