Considerations for Creating Canopy Gaps in Northern Hardwood Forests
| Authors: | Dustin Bronson, Amanda McGraw, Teresa Pearson, Christel C. Kern |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Type: | Proceedings - Paper |
| Station: | Northern Research Station |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-GTR-P-211-paper9 |
| Source: | In: Kern, Christel C.; Dickinson, Yvette L., eds. Proceedings of the first biennial Northern Hardwood Conference 2021: Bridging science and management for the future. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-211. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 38–41. |
Abstract
For over 60 years, northern hardwood stands across the Great Lakes region have primarily been managed using single-tree selection (Tubbs 1977) in which a thinning is applied uniformly across a stand to reach a desired target basal area and diameter distribution. While this form of silviculture can create high quality, shade-tolerant trees, it can also create stands that lack diversity of structure and function (Neuendorff 2007). Increasingly, foresters are looking to manage northern hardwood stands for greater diversity and increased resilience to stressors such as climate or insect outbreaks. Past studies on group selection have shown benefits beyond producing timber, such as increased diversity of songbirds (Costello et al. 2000), fungal species (Dove and Keeton 2015), and insect pollinators (Proctor et al. 2012). Using group selection to increase diversity of tree regeneration can produce highly variable results (Knapp et al. 2021). Some reasons why group selection results could vary include the location and size of the gaps, as well as whether to remove all trees in the gap or leave saplings.