Laura Kenefic

Title: Research Forester
Unit: Center for Research on Ecosystem Change
Previous Unit: Ecology and Management of Northern Forests
Address: Northern Research Station
686 Government Road
Bradley, ME 04411
Phone: 207-581-2794
E-mail: Contact Laura Kenefic

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Education

• Ph.D., Forest Resources, University of Maine (2000)
• M.S., Forest Resource Management, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry (1995)
• B.A., Environmental Studies, State University of New York at Binghamton (1992)

Civic & Professional Affiliations

Society of American Foresters
New England Society of American Foresters (Forest Science Coordinator, 2004 to 2006)
Ecological Society of America

Current Research

• Ecology and Silviculture of Mixed-Species Stands – Recent and ongoing projects include short- and long-term dynamics of multi-aged stands (with a focus on selection and diameter-limit cutting), rehabilitation of degraded stands, leaf area – volume growth relationships, regeneration dynamics, stand and sub-stand structure, and relationships between forest management and understory vegetation. Many of these projects are in collaboration with the University of Maine , where I am a Faculty Associate. A substantial part of my work is conducted on the Penobscot Experimental Forest , but I also have research sites on industrial forestlands throughout Maine , as well as on the Massabesic and Dukes Experimental Forests and the Holt Research Forest . My research addresses the northern conifer, northern hardwood, and northern red oak – eastern white pine forest types.
• Sustainability – I am the principal investigator for the Maine portion of a cross-border study of northern white-cedar regeneration and growth, in collaboration with Laval University in Quebec , the University of Maine , the Cooperative Forestry Research Unit, and Maibec Industries. I also have been working with the University of Maine and NRS scientist Walter Shortle on a recently completed study of the long-term effects of harvesting on stemwood chemistry and site productivity. 

Why is This Important

The forests of the northeastern United States and eastern Canada are structurally and compositionally complex, and recent trends in forest management have been toward silvicultural systems that maintain or increase complexity of structure and species. However, the dynamics of mixed-species and multi-aged stands are incompletely understood, and information about ecosystem response to management in both the short- and long-term is needed. Additionally, focus on potentially at-risk components of complex ecosystems is important. Long-term sustainability of the northern white-cedar resource, for example, is a concern due to widespread problems with regeneration and recruitment and declining inventory in Maine. My research contributes both to effective forest management and long-term forest sustainability.

Future Research

In addition to ongoing studies, I plan to expand my research in the areas of ecology and silviculture of northern red oak - eastern white pine, focusing on the development of those species in mixture; northern hardwood silviculture; new approaches to creating and maintaining multi-aged stands; effect of soils on tree growth and stand dynamics in general and on growth and quality of northern white-cedar in particular; and silviculture of northern white-cedar.

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