On the Search for Success: Revisiting Group Selection in Promoting Northern Hardwood Forest Biodiversity

Abstract

If you walk through a northern hardwood forest in the Lakes States region today, you'll likely experience something different than your ancestors would have centuries ago. Instead of a variety of species, including eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), and eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) saplings, you'll likely see a proliferation of sugar maples (Acer saccharum), their iconic leaves soaking up the sunlight. According to Christel Kern, a research forester with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service's Northern Research Station (NRS), "There has been growing concern about northern hardwood forests composed of sugar maple monocultures. One pest or pathogen could wipe out an entire stand." Recently Kern, along with Michigan Technological University professor Christopher Webster and master's student Samuel Knapp, revisited a long-term study site in Wisconsin's Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest to further investigate cohort development and biodiversity.

Citation

USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 2021. On the Search for Success: Revisiting Group Selection in Promoting Northern Hardwood Forest Biodiversity. Rooted in Research. Issue 8, October 2021. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 2p.