Regeneration Development in an Upland Hardwood Stand Following a Shelterwood Harvest

Abstract

In 1958, 85 permanent milacre plots were established in a 3.5-ac shelterwood harvest area to monitor regeneration over time. Individual seedlings were numbered with metal tags in this predominantly red oak stand in east-central Wisconsin. Findings, after 26 growing seasons, indicate a low proportion of red oak in the present stand (7.8% of the basal area, 3.6% of the stems). The predominant species is now eastern hophornbeam (ironwood), although other species such as white ash and basswood are common. All of the present red oak became established after the initial regeneration counts. Height growth and survival rates were significantly higher for those stems taller than the mean seedling height in 1959. North. J. Appl. For. 5:46-49, March 1988.

Compositional Outcomes of 24-year-old Silvicultural Trials in Appalachian Forests of Virginia

“…As many of the desired species in the region are advance regeneration dependent species, such as oak and hickory, this is not an unexpected outcome. These findings support the importance of pre-harvest composition in determining post-harvest outcomes and reemphasize the need to conduct substantive evaluations of regeneration sources prior to harvest (Martin and Hix 1988;Cook et al 1998;Steiner et al 2008).…”

“…This suggests that regeneration outcomes were not only influenced by post-harvest light regimes, but also by the composition of the regeneration pool prior to harvest. Similarly, Martin and Hix (1988) evaluated the 26-year effects of shelterwood harvests within predominantly northern red oak dominated stands and found that oaks were present, but in reduced numbers compared to the previous stand. They stressed that the oaks that were present were all either present or established immediately after initial harvests and that greater height was a major success factor.…”

The devil is in the small dense saplings: A midstory herbicide treatment has limited effects on short-term regeneration outcomes in oak shelterwood stands

“…However, without additional understory treatments (e.g., herbicide, fire), oak seedlings are often outcompeted after a shelterwood first removal cut by sprouts from shadetolerant stems (Hill andDickman 1988, Martin andHix 1988), newly established but fast-4 growing shade-intolerant species (Loftis 1983), or a mixture of both (Brose and Van Lear 1998). Because oak seedlings invest more growth to roots than shoots, they become overtopped and shaded by competitors that concentrate growth aboveground.…”