Penobscot Research Data
Introduction
The mission of the Penobscot Experimental Forest (PEF) is to afford a setting for long-term research conducted cooperatively by USDA Forest Service scientists, university researchers, and professional forest managers in Maine; to enhance forestry education of students and the public; and to demonstrate how the timber needs of society are met from a working forest. Though owned by the University of Maine Foundation, the PEF has been a Forest Service experimental forest since 1950. Today the PEF is the site of a number of collaborative research programs.
Located 15 km north of Bangor, Maine, the PEF is in the Acadian Forest, a region covering much of Atlantic Canada and adjacent Maine. An ecotone between boreal and broadleaf biomes, the region is dominated by mixed conifers. Red spruce is the signature species of the Acadian Forest.
More information can be found on the Penobscot EF website.
Data Description
Scientific studies on the PEF have traditionally been focused on management of mixed conifer stands for timber. Over the past 30 years, research was broadened to include fundamental studies of tree growth and maturation, wildlife habitat, spruce budworm predation, biodiversity, root structure and function, coarse woody material, economics, and growth and yield modeling, among other topics. The long-term silvicultural experiment that is the basis for most of the Forest Service's research on the PEF includes 10 replicated treatments representing a range of even- and uneven-aged prescriptions: clearcutting, variants of shelterwood, selection with three cutting cycles, two forms of diameter-limit cutting, and an unmanaged reference. In 1976 another long-term experiment known as the precommercial thinning by fertilization study was initiated to quantify crop tree response to treatments. Thinning treatments included no-release, spaced, row thinning with crop tree release, and row thinning with no crop tree release.
Browse our full list of data publications.
Queryable databases
- PCT and fertilization study
Database query tool
This long-term project studies the effects of precommercial thinning and fertilization on the rotation age needed for spruce saw logs; the study started in 1976. Fertilizer treatments were non-fertilized and fertilized with granulated limestone. Precommercial thinning treatments were no-release, spaced, row thinning with crop tree release, and row thinning with no crop tree release. Data include treatment information as well as tree species, diameter at breast height, height, height to crown base, and crown width measured periodically since 1976. Use the database query tool to retrieve data of interest. - Silvicultural study
Database query tool
This long-term project studies silvicultural effects on composition and structure of northern conifers in the Acadian Forest Region; measurements began as early as 1952. The science team maintains five data sets: regeneration abundance and composition; spatial location for overstory trees; height and crown for overstory trees; tree data (species, diameter and condition for overstory trees); and plot locations. You can retrieve data from any of these data sets using the database query tool.
All data publications
Browse our full list of data publications.
If you have questions about these data or have conducted a research study on the Penobscot Experimental Forest and would like to make your dataset available for use by others, please contact Laura Kenefic.
Some supplemental data documentation available on this site may be provided in PDF or PDF/A format. Get the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader to interpret these files.