Treesearch

The Roundtable Questions and Answers (Q and A) followed four science-centered talks on (1) the rationale, design, and implementation of a project evaluating alternatives to selection silviculture management of northern hardwood forests, (2) preharvest vegetation structure, (3) post-harvest vegetation structure and deer browsing, and (4) pre- and post-harvest deer use. Our rationale for the followup Q and A was to highlight the critical importance of the management-research partnership in the establishment and execution of the experiment and in the development of information from the...

Conflicts between herbivores and forest management vary depending on region and forest type. In northern hardwood forests of the north-central United States, high herbivore abundances, specifically white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), often cause problems by limiting tree stocking and regeneration of diverse tree species. Beginning in 2017, a collaboration between the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan State University, and forest industry partners began testing alternative silviculture in northern hardwood forest types across the state. Foresters and wildlife...

Many managed northern hardwood forests in northern Michigan contain low densities of desirable tree regeneration, while often simultaneously containing relatively high densities of undesirable tree species (e.g., Fagus grandifolia Ehrh., Ostrya virginiana Mill. K. Koch). Limited light availability that favors shade-tolerant species and a lack of viable germination substrate for many desirable tree species following harvest—as well as selective deer-browsing effects—likely contribute to this pattern. As a result, managers and researchers alike have been interested in testing alternative...

Complex interactions between heavy deer browse and plant response have resulted in structural and compositional changes in forest ecosystems. Sedge dominance and poor tree recruitment have been documented in northern hardwood stands across Wisconsin and Michigan. This study explores interactions of Pennsylvania sedge dominance and deer-browse impacts in northern hardwood forests with adaptive management strategies designed to enhance tree regeneration. We evaluated the immediate effects of several common silviculture site preparation techniques implemented in a recently harvested northern...

In Quebec, Canada, multicohort forest management in hardwood and mixedwood stands include group selection cutting and patch cutting. We assessed the success of these cuts in regenerating the intermediate shade tolerant yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.; YB) at an operational scale and over a large territory using surveys conducted at 2, 5, 10, and 15 years after harvest. Regeneration of the target species was successful, with YB showing a mean stocking around 60 percent and a mean sapling density around 3,400 stems ha-1 after 15 years. The relative presence of YB in 15-year-old...

In response to concerns about yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britton; YB) regeneration in Quebec, new treatments have been tested in the 1990s, including patch cuts and small clearcuts. The objective of this project was to draw an overall portrait, at the scale of the province, on YB regeneration success 10 to 20 years after treatment. We resampled 36 experiments and 466 logging areas. The logging areas sampled were mostly dominated at the sapling stage by sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.; SM) (23 percent) and YB (18 percent). The proportion of sites where YB was the dominant...

Mixed tree-species forest management can increase forest resilience by reducing the impacts of disturbances that disproportionately affect a single tree species or closely related groups of tree species. Beyond disturbance-risk reduction, tree-species diversification may foster functional-diversity effects (e.g., complementarity or facilitation) that alter the performance of a given tree species in mixed versus pure stands, potentially benefitting carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat. Tree species-mixture effects have been explored to only a limited degree in western US forests and,...

During container nursery production of Purshia tridentata (antelope bitterbrush), we found that three fall fertilization applications successfully loaded plants with nitrogen (N) with little effect on plant biomass. Using 15N-labeled fertilizer to track N movements, we observed that N-loaded seedlings attained luxury consumption and ultimately translocated more N toward roots. In trees, such N-loading efforts have been reported to increase seedling survival and growth after outplanting by improving initial root growth. This leads to enhanced access to water and nutrients that increases...

Introduced pests (insects and pathogens) have rapidly increased the numbers of at-risk native forest tree species worldwide. Some keystone species have been functionally extirpated, resulting in severe commercial and ecological losses. When efforts to exclude or mitigate pests have failed, researchers have sometimes applied biotechnology tools to incorporate pest resistance in at-risk species to enable their reintroduction. Often erroneously equated solely with genetic engineering, biotechnology also includes traditional and genome informed breeding - and may provide a holistic approach...

After an unusual, late-fall wildfire in a European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forest in the pre-Alps of northern Italy, the finest roots (0-0.3 mm diameter) were generally the most responsive to fire, with the effect more pronounced at the shallowest soil depth. While roots 0.3-1 mm in diameter had their length and biomass at the shallowest soil depth reduced by fire, fire stimulated more length and biomass at the deepest soil depth compared to the control. Fire elevated the total length of dead roots and their biomass immediately and this result persisted through the first spring, after...