Thinking About Oak Forests as Responsive Ecosystems

Abstract

Like all forests, oak forests are continually responding to disturbances originating from both within and outside the forest. Oaks (Quercus spp.) owe their very existence to disturbance. In this context, silvicultural and other manage-ment practices can be thought of as planned disturbances designed to direct forest change in specific ways. The internally (endogenously) controlled stages of stand development provide a useful framework for anticipating such changes together with an understanding of how external (exogenous) forces can further modify such changes.

Parent Publication

• Upland oak ecology symposium: history, current conditions, and sustainability

Citation

Johnson, Paul S. 2004. Thinking About Oak Forests as Responsive Ecosystems. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-73. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 13-18