Southern Research Station

Title: Group selection - problems and possibilities and for the more shade-intolerant species

Author: Murphy, Paul A.; Shelton, Michael G.; Graney, David L.

Date: 1993

Source: 9th Central Hardwood Forest Conference, p. 229 - 247

Description: The group selection method is a hybrid, drawing key elements from both even- and uneven-aged silviculture. It is perhaps the least used and understood of all reproductive cutting methods, but it is gaining popularity because of the current disfavor of even-aged silviculture. The group selection method appears promising for regenerating shade-intolerant and intermediate-tolerant species. Research has shown that larger openings create conditions favorable to shade-intolerant species, while smaller openings favor the more shade-tolerant ones. Larger openins consist of a central core that is relatively unaffected by the adjoining stand and a periphery with increasing levels of suppression. Operationally, most opening widths very around one to two times the dominant tree height in the residual stand, but research has yet to verify the long-term stand dynamics within openings. Even less is known about effective stand-regulation options available to provide sustained yields. One route is to adapt stand structure or volume control from the single-tree selection system. An alternative is to use (1) the silvical requirements of the target species to set opening size and (2) area control to determine the number of openings to create each cutting cycle. This latter approach seems to have advantages for applications in even-aged stands that are being converted to uneven-aged ones.

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Citation

Murphy, Paul A.; Shelton, Michael G.; Graney, David L.  1993.  Group selection - problems and possibilities and for the more shade-intolerant species.   9th Central Hardwood Forest Conference, p. 229 - 247