How Forest Management Shapes the Future of Eastern U.S. Woodlands
Read How Targeted Management Can Sustain Oak Forests...
Under forest management practices termed “business as usual”, maple species’ basal area may increase fivefold in Eastern American forests over the next 150 years, according to a simulation performed by researchers at the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station.
The report summary said, “This result confirms the competitive advantage of shade tolerant maples in current forest conditions, where fire suppression and limited active management have allowed maples to outcompete oaks.”
The researchers used Landis Pro, a forest landscape model, to simulate forest composition changes over a 150-year period under two management scenarios:
Business-as-usual—current, relatively limited management interventions
Alternative management—more intensive timber management practices aimed at promoting oaks and decreasing maples
Using Landis Pro modeling the researchers examined the long-term sustainability of oak populations on managed public and private lands in the eastern United States. They analyzed how current and alternative management practices on public and private land can influence the long-term balance of oak and maple species, over 150 years in southeastern Ohio.
The project focused on 2.1 million hectares north of Ohio's southern unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. More than 87 percent of this land is privately owned.
The researchers used Landis Pro to simulate forest composition changes over a 150-year period under two management scenarios:
Business-as-usual (BAU)—current, relatively limited management interventions
Alternative management (AltMgt)—more intensive timber management practices aimed at promoting oaks and decreasing maples
The alternative management practices referenced included “guided harvesting” using professional foresters, shelterwood harvests, and targeted thinning.
A USFS summary of the research report and a link to download the full report are available here:
