Prescribing Silvicul Treatments in Hardwood Stands of the Alleghenies
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
United States Department of Prescribing Silvicul Agriculture Treatments in Hardwood Forest Service Stands of the Alleghenies Northeastern Forest Experiment Station (Revised) General Technical David A. Marquis Report NE-96 Richard L. Ernst Susan t. Stout Abstract This publication brings together the results of 20 years of research and experience in the silviculture of hardwood forests of the Allegheny region. Part I provides a brief synopsis of silvicultural knowledge and recommended practices. Part II provides guidelines, decision tables, and step-by-step .instructions for determining silvicultural prescriptions in individual stands. The Authors David A. Marquis received his bachelor of science degree in forestry from the Pennsylvania State University in 1955, and his master's and doctoral degrees in forest ecology and silviculture from Yale University in 1963 and 1973, respectively. He joined the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station's silviculture research unit in New Hampshire in 1957, where he studied problems of regeneration and thinning in northern hardwoods. Between 1965 and 1970 he served on the timber and watershed management research staff at the Station's headquarters in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. Between 1970 and 1990, Dr. Marquis was project leader of the silviculture research unit at Warren, Pennsylvania, where he headed a program of research on problems related to the regeneration and culture of high-value hardwoods on the northern Allegheny Plateau. Currently, Dr. Marquis is Coordinator for the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station's Stand Culture Working Group, which is developing a silviculturai decision model for multi-resource management of all major forest types in the Northeastern United States. In addition, he is an Adjunct Professor of Forestry at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York at Syracuse, and is Forestry Director of Plessey Pension Investments, Inc. Richard 1. Ernst received his bachelor of science in forestry and master of science in forest management/operations research from the Pennsylvania State University in 1974 and 1979, respectively. He joined the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station's silviculture research unit at Warren, Pennsylvania, in 1976. Since that time, his research has concentrated on the effects of thinning on the growth and yield of Allegheny hardwoods and on the development of cultural guidelines for the valuable hardwood species found in this type. Susan Laurane Stout received an A.B. degree in applied mathematics from Radcliffe College in 1972.' In 1983 she completed an M.S. degree in silviculterre at the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Since 1981 she has been employed by the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station in the Forestry Sciences Laboratory at Warren, Pennsylvania. In 1991, she became project leader of the silviculture research unit at Warren, Pennsylvania. This unit conducts research to develop multi-resource management guidelines for forests of the northeast, especially those d the Allegheny Plateau region. Her special research interests include the development of mixed-species stands and quantifying multiple resource effects of forest management practices. Manuscript received for publication 1 June 1990 Northeastern Forest Experiment Station 5 Radnor Corporate Center, Suite 200 100 Matsonford Road Radnor, PA 19087485 January 1992 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................................................... 1 LIMITS OF APPLICABfLlT'f ..................................................... 2 PART I- SYNOPSIS OF RECOMMENDED StLVICULTURAL PRACTICES ...................... 3 EVEN-AGED REGENERATION .................................................. 3 Advance Seedling Regeneration ............................................. 3 Sprouting Potential ....................................................... 3 Sapling and Pole Advance Regeneration ....................................... 4 Interfering Understory Plants ................................................ 4 SiteLimitations .......................................................... 5 DeerBrowsing .......................................................... 5 Seedsupply ............................................................ 6 CuttingMethods ......................................................... 6 INTERMEDIATE WEN-AGE CULTURE ............................................ 7 Phifosophy of Thinning Practices ............................................. 7 Application of Thinning Practices ............................................. 8 Evaluating Stand Density ................................................ 8 Stand Density Manipulation .............................................. 9 Stand Structure Manipulation ........................................... 10 Quality Manipulation .................................................. 11 Species Composition Manipulation ....................................... 11 STAND MATURITY- ROTATION LENGTH ......................................... 12 ALL-AGE CULTURE AND REGENERATION ....................................... 12 Appropriate Conditions for Use ............................................. 12 AICagedRegeneration .................................................... 13 All-ageCu#ure ......................................................... 13 SOIL FACTORS AND SOIL PROTECTION ........................................ 14 LITERATURECITED ........................................................ 17 PART 11.- SILVICULTURAL GUIDELINES ............................................. 27 STANDEXAMlNATlON ...................................................... 27 Samplecruise ......................................................... 27 Determine Stand Boundaries ............................................ 27 Select Sampling Scheme .............................................. 27 Overstory Data Collection ................................................. 28 BasalAreaTally ..................................................... 28 Computer Overstory Tally Form ....................................... 28 Manual Overstory Tally Form ......................................... 34 Overstory Procedural Errors ............................................ 35 Understory Data Collection ................................................ 36 Expanded regeneration tally ............................................ 36 Small Advance Regeneration ......................................... 36 Residuals ....................................................... 38 Sapling Regeneration .............................................. 38 Woody Interference ............................................... 38 Laurel and Rhododendron ........................................... 39 Fern ........................................................... 39 Grass .......................................................... 39 Grapevines ...................................................... 39 Site Limitations ................................................... 39 Checkmark Regeneration Tally .......................................... 40 SrnaH Advance Regeneration ......................................... 40 Any small regen .................................................. 40 Residuals ....................................................... 40 AnyregenorRes ................................................. 40 SaplingRegeneration .............................................. 40 Interference ................................................... 40 Anyinterference .................................................. 40 Sitelimitations ................................................... 40 IdentificationData ....................................................... 40 Stand Identification ................................................... 41 Owner/Agency ................................................... 41 Forest/Property .................................................. 41 County/District ................................................... 41 Compartment/Unit ................................................ 41 StandNumber ................................................... 41 Remarks ........................................................ 41 Cruise Information ................................................... 41 Speciescodes .................................................... 41 d.b.hclasses ................................................... 41 Tally Month and Year .............................................. 41 Overstory cruise Type .............................................. 41 #plots ....................................................... 41 BAF/plotsize .................................................... 41 RegencruiseType ................................................ 42 #plots ......................................................... 42 Plotsize .............................. :......................... 42 Acreageinstand ................................................. 42 StandAge ...................................................... 42 Stand, Site, and Management Information .................................. 42 Covertype ...................................................... 42 Habitattype ..................................................... 42 Soiltype ........................................................ 42 Siteclass ....................................................... 42 Sitespecies ..................................................... 42 Sitelndex ......................................................