Treesearch

The collection of sap from dormant maple trees in eastern North America predates European arrival on the continent. While written accounts of maple production by Native Americans from early French explorers exist from the late 17th century, a far richer oral history of how early cultures came to produce a sweet product from maple trees is best told by members of those cultures themselves.

A 27,000-acre forest in northern New Hampshire provides a case study for evaluating the long-term outcomes of silvicultural prescriptions and cutting practices on forest growth and quality. This 214-year ownership has harvested timber since 1828 and maintained inventory data since 1947. The hardwood inventory data collected in 1947, 1967, 1986, 1998, and 2018 indicates that the practice of sound silviculture has not only upgraded products for increased value but has increased overall productivity allowing an increased sustainable yield. The study considers how exploitive cutting and...

This project compares two northern hardwood shelterwood harvests in northern Minnesota that were logged the same year but with different variables: 1. Fall harvest versus winter harvest 2. Loamy fine sand versus fine sandy loam. The silvicultural objective for the project was to take two northern hardwood stands dominated by sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and paper birch (Betula papyrifera) and covert them to northern red oak (Quercus rubra), American basswood (Tilia americana), and paper birch stands through a two-step shelterwood prescription. This strategy was used successfully to...

Prior to the 1990s, diameter-limit cutting was widely used in Québec, Canada, to harvest valuable trees in hardwood-dominated temperate forests. This practice can impoverish stands in terms of volume, structure, composition, wood quality and regeneration. As a result, many high-graded stands still require rehabilitation today. This study assessed the 15-year effects of four regeneration methods combined with three scarification treatments in yellow birch–conifer stands. Cutting and scarification treatments did not increase the regeneration of desired species (birches, spruces and fir)....

Forest stewards aim to ensure forest sustainability through the application of the best available science. However, current silvicultural guidelines were developed under historical social, economic, and ecological conditions. When applied under novel conditions, these guidelines may have unpredictable or undesirable outcomes. Furthermore, silviculturists increasingly aim to manage ecosystems as complex adaptive systems, which requires a holistic understanding of ecosystem processes and functions. We established the Northern Hardwood Silviculture Experiment (NH-SEED) to develop alternative...

This Discussion Paper is a background document to the Forest Sector Outlook Study 2020-2040 (FSOS) for the UNECE region (ECE/TIM/SP/51). It provides the details that are summarized in chapter 3 of the main study. It analyses how markets and forests may evolve under different assumptions of economic growth, population growth, and climate change and covers the years 2020-2040, starting with 2017 as the base year for projections. It focuses on how departures from recent patterns of supply and demand – i.e. structural changes – might affect the UNECE region. Modelling these structural changes...

Near-infrared reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy was used to determine correlations between acoustic velocity and stiffness properties of downed pine trees in the southern coastal plains of the United States. Three acoustic measurement methods (longitudinal, transverse, and offset) were used. From the measurement of the acoustics, the time of flight (TOF) was determined from the downed trees. Increment core samples were obtained from each thirty downed pine trees in the study. NIR spectra were obtained using a fiber probe on the radial surface of each core to rapidly correlate the speed of...

Logging equipment operators traditionally learn the skills required for their job through hands-on training using a real machine in the forest. New developments in simulator technology enable operators to learn and practice operating logging equipment in a virtual setting. This study presents a summary of controlled experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of simulator training compared to machine training for logging equipment operators in terms of performance and cost effectiveness. Sixteen participants were trained on simulated or real logging machinery for 26 hours each. We compared...

Urbanization, shrinking markets, and reduced forestry investment may affect harvesting efficiency in regions of the US South. To monitor these conditions, logging businesses have been tracked by surveys conducted by universities and trade associations. This project used a sampling approach coordinated with FIA utilization studies to sample logging crews based on a harvesting location. The approach was used to develop relationships among firm attributes and site attributes in six southeastern states (AL, GA, FL, NC, SC, and VA) from 2011 to 2018. The data included harvest attributes...

Throughout the range of the northern hardwood cover type, single tree selection is one of the most commonly prescribed natural regeneration systems. Unfortunately, being a common prescription does not necessarily mean that it is commonly implemented properly. This paper provides a case study for single tree selection management as implemented by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Foresters in northern Wisconsin. It reviews stand assessment, prescription writing, marking guide development, and timber marking. This case study also examines lessons learned. These lessons learned...