Social and biophysical variation in regional timber harvest regimes

Thompson, Jonathan R.; Canham, Charles D.; Morreale, Luca; Kittredge, David B.; Butler, Brett J.

doi:10.1002/eap.1497

Cited by 36 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Landowner decision‐making has significant reach as 80% of forest land in the northeastern United States is in private ownership (Thompson et al. ), and changes ownership frequently. National surveys indicate that nearly 20% of family forest owners are likely to sell their forest land in the next decade (Butler et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Land ownership patterns are dominated by private woodland owners (80% of forest land), and while most of these owners are non‐corporate (70%), industrial owners retain significant acreage particularly in Maine (Thompson et al. ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Boreal conditions to the north and coastal conditions to the east influence temperature and precipitation patterns. Land ownership patterns are dominated by private woodland owners (80% of forest land), and while most of these owners are non-corporate (70%), industrial owners retain significant acreage particularly in Maine (Thompson et al 2017).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, Thompson et al. ). There are more than 2 million forest landowners in the northeastern United States (USDA Forest Service ), and each landowner decides whether, when, and how to manage their forests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Importantly, logging also differs from natural disturbance. Foremost, logging is driven by a wide range of socioeconomic factors and human decisions , Thompson et al 2017. There are more than 2 million forest landowners in the northeastern United States (USDA Forest Service 2016b), and each landowner decides whether, when, and how to manage their forests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Timber harvest as the predominant disturbance regime in northeastern U.S. forests: effects of harvest intensification

et al. 2018

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Harvesting is the leading cause of adult tree mortality in forests of the northeastern United States. While current rates of timber harvest are generally sustainable, there is considerable pressure to increase the contribution of forest biomass to meet renewable energy goals. We estimated current harvest regimes for different forest types and regions across the U.S. states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine using data from the U.S. Forest Inventory and Analysis Program. We implemented the harvest regimes in SORTIE‐ND, an individual‐based model of forest dynamics, and simulated the effects of current harvest regimes and five additional harvest scenarios that varied by harvest frequency and intensity over 150 yr. The best statistical model for the harvest regime described the annual probability of harvest as a function of forest type/region, total plot basal area, and distance to the nearest improved road. Forests were predicted to increase in adult aboveground biomass in all harvest scenarios in all forest type and region combinations. The magnitude of the increase, however, varied dramatically—increasing from 3% to 120% above current landscape averages as harvest frequency and intensity decreased. The variation can be largely explained by the disproportionately high harvest rates estimated for Maine as compared with the rest of the region. Despite steady biomass accumulation across the landscape, stands that exhibited old‐growth characteristics (defined as ≥300 metric tons of biomass/hectare) were rare (8% or less of stands). Intensified harvest regimes had little effect on species composition due to widespread partial harvesting in all scenarios, resulting in dominance by late‐successional species over time. Our analyses indicate that forest biomass can represent a sustainable, if small, component of renewable energy portfolios in the region, although there are tradeoffs between carbon sequestration in forest biomass and sustainable feedstock supply. Integrating harvest regimes into a disturbance theory framework is critical to understanding the dynamics of forested landscapes, especially given the predominance of logging as a disturbance agent and the increasing pressure to meet renewable energy needs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Timber harvest as the predominant disturbance regime in northeastern U.S. forests: effects of harvest intensification

et al. 2018

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Emerald ash borer intensifies harvest regimes on private land

Holt

Smetzer

Borsuk

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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Invasive forest insects have significant direct impacts on forest ecosystems and they are also generating new risks, uncertainties, and opportunities for forest landowners. The growing prevalence and inexorable spread of invasive insects across the United States, combined with the fact that the majority of the nation's forests are controlled by thousands of autonomous private landowners, raises an important question: To what extent will private landowners alter their harvest practices in response to insect invasions? Using a quasi‐experimental design, we conducted a causal analysis to investigate the influence of the highly impactful emerald ash borer (EAB) on (1) annual probability of harvest; (2) intensity of harvest; and (3) diameter of harvested trees, for both ash and non‐ash species on private land throughout the Midwest and mid‐Atlantic regions of the United States. We found that EAB detection had a negative impact on annual harvest probability and a positive impact on harvest intensity, resulting in a net increase in harvested biomass. Furthermore, our estimates suggest that EAB detection will influence private landowners to harvest greater quantities of ash, relative to non‐ash species. We also found that harvested trees in EAB‐infested areas had smaller diameters, on average, compared with those unaffected by EAB. These results can help policymakers, forest managers, and extension programs to anticipate and better advise landowners and managers about their options and the associated outcomes for forests.

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Carbon budget of the Harvard Forest Long‐Term Ecological Research site: pattern, process, and response to global change

Finzi

Giasson

Plotkin

et al. 2020

Ecological Monographs

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How, where, and why carbon (C) moves into and out of an ecosystem through time are long-standing questions in biogeochemistry. Here, we bring together hundreds of thousands of C-cycle observations at the Harvard Forest in central Massachusetts, USA, a mid-latitude landscape dominated by 80-120-yr-old closed-canopy forests. These data answered four questions: (1) where and how much C is presently stored in dominant forest types; (2) what are current rates of C accrual and loss; (3) what biotic and abiotic factors contribute to variability in these rates; and (4) how has climate change affected the forest's C cycle? Harvard Forest is an active C sink resulting from forest regrowth following land abandonment. Soil and tree biomass comprise nearly equal portions of existing C stocks. Net primary production (NPP) averaged 680-750 g CÁm À2 Áyr À1 ; belowground NPP contributed 38-47% of the total, but with large uncertainty. Mineral soil C measured in the same inventory plots in 1992 and 2013 was too heterogeneous to detect change in soil-C pools; however, radiocarbon data suggest a small but persistent sink of 10-30 g CÁm À2 Áyr À1. Net ecosystem production (NEP) in hardwood stands averaged~300 g CÁm À2 Áyr À1. NEP in hemlock-dominated forests averaged 450 g CÁm À2 Áyr À1 until infestation by the hemlock woolly adelgid turned these stands into a net C source. Since 2000, NPP has increased by 26%. For the period 1992-2015, NEP increased 93%. The increase in mean annual temperature and growing season length alone accounted for~30% of the increase in productivity. Interannual variations in GPP and NEP were also correlated with increases in red oak biomass, forest leaf area, and canopy-scale lightuse efficiency. Compared to long-term global change experiments at the Harvard Forest, the C sink in regrowing biomass equaled or exceeded C cycle modifications imposed by soil warming, N saturation, and hemlock removal. Results of this synthesis and comparison to simulation models suggest that forests across the region are likely to accrue C for decades to come but may be disrupted if the frequency or severity of biotic and abiotic disturbances increases.

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Social and biophysical variation in regional timber harvest regimes

Cited by 36 publications

References 38 publications

Timber harvest as the predominant disturbance regime in northeastern U.S. forests: effects of harvest intensification

Timber harvest as the predominant disturbance regime in northeastern U.S. forests: effects of harvest intensification

Emerald ash borer intensifies harvest regimes on private land

Carbon budget of the Harvard Forest Long‐Term Ecological Research site: pattern, process, and response to global change

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