A comparison of thinning methods in red pine: consequences for stand-level growth and tree diameter

Long-term replicated experiments that contrast thinning method (dominant thinning, thinning from below) while controlling stocking level are rare. Stand growth and tree size responses to thinning method can be useful for making decisions to achieve desired objectives, whether these are timber or wildlife habitat related. We examined data from two long-term (>50 year...

Influence of Repeated Prescribed Fire on Tree Growth and Mortality in Pinus resinosa Forests, Northern Minnesota

Prescribed fire is widely used for ecological restoration and fuel reduction in fire-dependent ecosystems, most of which are also prone to drought. Despite the importance of drought in fire-adapted forests, little is known about the cumulative effects of repeated prescribed burning on tree growth and related response to drought. Using dendrochronological data in red...

Density-dependent vulnerability of forest ecosystems to drought

Climate models predict increasing drought intensity and frequency for many regions, which may have negative consequences for tree recruitment, growth and mortality, as well as forest ecosystem services. Furthermore, practical strategies for minimizing vulnerability to drought are limited. Tree population density, a metric of tree abundance in a given area, is a primary...

Modeling forest biomass and growth: Coupling long-term inventory and LiDAR data

Combining spatially-explicit long-term forest inventory and remotely sensed information from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) datasets through statistical models can be a powerful tool for predicting and mapping above-ground biomass (AGB) at a range of geographic scales. We present and examine a novel modeling approach to improve prediction of AGB and estimate AGB...

Diameter Growth Models for Inventory Applications

Distant-independent, individual-tree, diametar growth models were constructed to update information for forest inventory plots measured in previous years. The models are nonlinear in the parameters and were calibrated weighted nonlinear least squares techniques and forest inventory plot data. Analyses of residuals indicated that model predictions compare favorably to...

Effects of tree size and spatial distribution on growth of ponderosa pine forests under alternative management scenarios

Forest ecosystems may be actively managed toward heterogeneous stand structures to provide both economic (e.g., wood production and carbon credits) and environmental benefits (e.g., invasive pest resistance). In order to facilitate wider adoption of possibly more sustainable forest stand structures, defining growth expectations among alternative management scenarios is...

Simulation of long-term landscape-level fuel treatment effects on large wildfires

A simulation system was developed to explore how fuel treatments placed in topologically random and optimal spatial patterns affect the growth and behaviour of large fires when implemented at different rates over the course of five decades. The system consisted of a forest and fuel dynamics simulation module (Forest Vegetation Simulator, FVS), logic for deriving fuel...

Structural lumber from suppressed-growth ponderosa pine from northern Arizona

Indiana's forest resources in 2005

Reports the initial results of five annual panels (2001-2005) of the inventory of Indiana's forest resources and two panels (2004 and 2005) of growth, removals, and mortality. Includes information on forest area, number of trees, volume, biomass, growth, removals, mortality, and forest health.