Large-scale, long-term silvicultural experiments in the United States: historical overview and contemporary examples.

Treesearch Home

About Treesearch

Research & Development

	Forest Products Lab
	International Institute of Tropical Forestry
	Northern
	Pacific Northwest
	Pacific Southwest
	Rocky Mountain
	Southern

Help


	All Treesearch publications were written or produced by Forest Service personnel and are in the public domain.

US Forest Service
P.O. Box 96090
Washington, D.C.
20090-6090

(202) 205-8333

Publication Information

Title:	Large-scale, long-term silvicultural experiments in the United States: historical overview and contemporary examples.
Author(s):	Seymour, R. S.; Guldin, J.; Marshall, D.; Palik, B.
Date:	2006
Source:	Allg. Forst-u. J.-Ztg, Vol. 177: 104-112
Description:	This paper provides a synopsis of large-scale, long-term silviculture experiments in the United States. Large-scale in a silvicultural context means that experimental treatment units encompass entire stands (5-30 ha); long-term means that results are intended to be monitored over many cutting cycles or an entire rotation, typically for many decades. Such studies were installed widely between 1 930 and 1 955 when forest rehabilitation accomplished by partial cutting dominated research and practice, but fell from favor during the profound nationwide switch to even-aged silviculture during the 1960s (SEYMOUR, 2004). Concerns over the widespread use of clearcutting and the resulting even-aged regimes have rekindled an interest in the use of other silvicultural systems and large-scale and long-term experiments. Contemporary studies (since 1990) from four representative forest regions of the United States—the Northeast, Lake States, mid-South, and Pacific Northwest—are described and compared. Notable contributions of early (ca. 1925-1950) experiments, some of which remain active, are also reviewed, and contrasted to modem studies.
Keywords:	experimental forests, multi-aged silviculture, regeneration methods, clearcutting, biodiversity, experimental design, structural retention, gap harvests
	View and Print this Publication (327 KB)
Pristine Version:	An uncaptured or "pristine" version of this publication is available. It has not been subjected to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and therefore does not have any errors in the text. However it is a larger file size and some people may experience long download times. The "pristine" version of this publication is available here: View and Print the PRISTINE copy of this Publication (1.15 MB)
Publication Notes:	We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information. This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.
	Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

Seymour, R. S.; Guldin, J.; Marshall, D.; Palik, B. 2006. Large-scale, long-term silvicultural experiments in the United States: historical overview and contemporary examples.. Allg. Forst-u. J.-Ztg, Vol. 177: 104-112

US Forest Service - Research & Development
Last Modified: January 12, 2009