Estimating Site Index in Even-Aged Northern Hardwood Stands

A 55-year-old stand of second-growth northern hardwood growing on a well-drained sandy loam soil was converted to red pine to compare with an adjacent 1929 plantation. Part of the plantation was cleaned during the second and third growing seasons and second-year survival was 72%. In the non-cleaned portion, which is reverting to maple sprouts, aspen suckers, brush, and weeds, pine survival was 38%. Annual height growth averaged 15.0 and 8.1 cm (6.0 and 3.2. in.), respectively. Differences in early success of the two plantings are attributed to: 1) greater competition after clearing pole-size hardwoods; 2) larger tops and better developed root systems of 2-1-2 transplants used in 1929; 3) planting in prepared spots in 1929; and 4) above normal growing season precipitation during 1929, and below normal in 1976. Converting pole-size northern hardwoods to red pine will be difficult and expensive. Competing vegetation will be the most serious problem, particularly on good hardwood sites. Investments in converting hardwoods to red pine should be concentrated in poor quality stands on well drained soils with a site index for maple of 50 or less.

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User's guide for the northern hardwood stand models: SIMSAP and SIMTIM

10.2737/ne-rp-606 ◽

1987 ◽

Author(s):

Dale S. Solomon ◽

Richard A. Hosmer ◽

Richard A. Hosmer

Keyword(s):

Northern Hardwood

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Interim Site-index Curves for Longleaf Pine Plantations

10.2737/so-rn-261 ◽

1980 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

William D. Boyer

Keyword(s):

Longleaf Pine ◽

Site Index ◽

Pine Plantations

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Operations manual for the conversion and validation of unit-values site-index data for the Master Water Data Index of the National Water Information System of the U.S. Geological Survey

Open-File Report ◽

10.3133/ofr88180 ◽

1988 ◽

Author(s):

Scott H. Beddingfield

Keyword(s):

Information System ◽

Site Index ◽

Geological Survey ◽

Index Data ◽

The U.S ◽

National Water

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Preliminary DRIS norms for coastal Douglas-fir soils in Washington and Oregon

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x95-025 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

pp. 208-214 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

J.S. Shumway ◽

H.N. Chappell

Keyword(s):

Basal Area ◽

Site Index ◽

Douglas Fir ◽

Integrated System ◽

N Fertilizer ◽

Soil Test ◽

Fertilizer Response ◽

Response Data ◽

Limiting Nutrient ◽

Diagnostic Work

The Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System (DRIS) has been used successfully in agricultural crops and holds promise for use in forest stands. This study used soil tests to develop DRIS norms and evaluate their effectiveness in coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco) forests. DRIS norms for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium were developed using soil test and site index data from 72 soil series that commonly support Douglas-fir in western Washington. The norms were tested using soil test and stand basal area growth response data from 20 thinned and 30 unthinned N fertilizer test sites in coastal Washington and Oregon. Response to urea fertilizer in thinned stands averaged 34% and 43% for 224 and 448 kg N•ha−1, respectively, when N was identified as the most limiting nutrient. When N was not the most limiting nutrient, N response averaged 8% and 10% for 224 and 448 kg N•ha−1, respectively. Results were similar in unthinned stands and thinned stands, although response to fertilizer appeared to be slightly less in unthinned stands when N was the most limiting nutrient. DRIS correctly classified 25 of the 33 sites (76%) where N fertilizer increased growth by more than 15%. More importantly, 13 of the 17 (76%) sites that responded by less than 15% were correctly identified by DRIS. The results clearly indicate that N fertilizer response is dependent on the interactions (balance) between soil nutrients at a given site. Future soil diagnostic work needs to focus on techniques, like DRIS, that provide an assessment of these interactions.

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Preferences for Northern Hardwood Silviculture among Family Forest Owners in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Journal of Forestry ◽

10.1093/jofore/fvaa051 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alexander C Helman ◽

Matthew C Kelly ◽

Mark D Rouleau ◽

Yvette L Dickinson

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Hardwood Forests ◽

Family Forest Owners ◽

Forest Owners ◽

Upper Peninsula ◽

Northern Hardwood Forests ◽

Family Forest ◽

Northern Hardwood ◽

Single Tree ◽

Single Tree Selection

Abstract Managing northern hardwood forests using high-frequency, low-intensity regimes, such as single-tree selection, favors shade-tolerant species and can reduce tree species diversity. Management decisions among family forest owners (FFO) can collectively affect species and structural diversity within northern hardwood forests at regional scales. We surveyed FFOs in the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan to understand likely future use of three silvicultural treatments—single-tree selection, shelterwood, and clearcut. Our results indicate that FFOs were most likely to implement single-tree selection and least likely to implement clearcut within the next 10 years. According to logistic regression, prior use of a treatment and perceived financial benefits significantly increased the odds for likely use for all three treatments. Having received professional forestry assistance increased likely use of single-tree selection but decreased likely use of shelterwood. We discuss these results within the context of species diversity among northern hardwood forests throughout the region.

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Supply Potential and Annual Availability of Timber and Forest Biomass Resources for Energy Considering Inter-Prefectural Trade in Tohoku Region of Japan

Environmental Sciences Proceedings ◽

10.3390/iecf2020-08025 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 40

Author(s):

Yusuke Matsuoka ◽

Hiroaki Shirasawa ◽

Uichi Hayashi ◽

Kazuhiro Aruga

Keyword(s):

Tree Species ◽

Forest Biomass ◽

Wood Chip ◽

Site Index ◽

Geographical Survey Institute ◽

Digital Elevation ◽

Gis Data ◽

Biomass Resource ◽

Biomass Resources ◽

Generation Capacity

To promote sustainable timber and forest biomass utilization, this study estimated technically feasible and economically viable availability considering forest regenerations. This study focuses on five prefectures, namely, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, and Yamagata, and considers the trade between these prefectures. The data used in this study include forest registration (tree species and site index) and GIS data (information on roads and subcompartment layers) from the prefectures for private and communal forests. Additionally, this study includes GIS data (subcompartment layers, including tree species) from the Forestry Agency of Japan for national forests as well as 10-m-grid digital elevation models (DEMs) from the Geographical Survey Institute. As a result, supply potentials of timber and forest biomass resources were estimated at 11,388,960 m3/year and 2,277,792 m3/year, respectively. Then, those availabilities were estimated at 1,631,624 m3/year and 326,325 m3/year. Therefore, the rate of availabilities to supply potentials was 14.3%. Since timber production, and wood chip usage from thinned woods and logging residues in 2018 were 4,667,000 m3/year and 889,600 m3/year, respectively, the rates of timber and forest biomass resource availabilities to those values were 35.0% and 36.7%, respectively. Furthermore, the demand was estimated at 951,740 m3/year from 100,000 m3/year with the generation capacity of 5 MW. The rate of forest biomass resource availability versus the demand was 34.2%. The rates were increased to 64.1% with an additional regeneration subsidy, 173.3% with the thinning subsidy, and 181.5% with both subsidies. Thus, the estimated availability with both subsidies met the demand sufficiently in this region.

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Mapping forest age using National Forest Inventory, airborne laser scanning, and Sentinel-2 data

Forest Ecosystems ◽

10.1186/s40663-020-00274-9 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Johannes Schumacher ◽

Marius Hauglin ◽

Rasmus Astrup ◽

Johannes Breidenbach

Keyword(s):

Forest Inventory ◽

Regression Models ◽

Laser Scanning ◽

Site Index ◽

National Forest Inventory ◽

Airborne Laser Scanning ◽

National Forest ◽

Practical Applications ◽

Airborne Laser ◽

Sentinel 2

Abstract Background The age of forest stands is critical information for forest management and conservation, for example for growth modelling, timing of management activities and harvesting, or decisions about protection areas. However, area-wide information about forest stand age often does not exist. In this study, we developed regression models for large-scale area-wide prediction of age in Norwegian forests. For model development we used more than 4800 plots of the Norwegian National Forest Inventory (NFI) distributed over Norway between latitudes 58° and 65° N in an 18.2 Mha study area. Predictor variables were based on airborne laser scanning (ALS), Sentinel-2, and existing public map data. We performed model validation on an independent data set consisting of 63 spruce stands with known age. Results The best modelling strategy was to fit independent linear regression models to each observed site index (SI) level and using a SI prediction map in the application of the models. The most important predictor variable was an upper percentile of the ALS heights, and root mean squared errors (RMSEs) ranged between 3 and 31 years (6% to 26%) for SI-specific models, and 21 years (25%) on average. Mean deviance (MD) ranged between − 1 and 3 years. The models improved with increasing SI and the RMSEs were largest for low SI stands older than 100 years. Using a mapped SI, which is required for practical applications, RMSE and MD on plot level ranged from 19 to 56 years (29% to 53%), and 5 to 37 years (5% to 31%), respectively. For the validation stands, the RMSE and MD were 12 (22%) and 2 years (3%), respectively. Conclusions Tree height estimated from airborne laser scanning and predicted site index were the most important variables in the models describing age. Overall, we obtained good results, especially for stands with high SI. The models could be considered for practical applications, although we see considerable potential for improvements if better SI maps were available.

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