Upland Hardwood Ecology and Management - Asheville, NC

Welcome to the Upland Hardwood
Ecology and Management
Research Work Unit (RWU-4157)

The Upland Hardwood Ecology and Management Research Work Unit (RWU) 4157 is headquartered at Bent Creek Experimental Forest in Asheville, NC.

Our RWU is one of 16 maintained under the Southern Research Station by the USDA Forest Service. Our research teams are located across the south, strategically placed to conduct research in physiographic subregions of the upland hardwood ecosystems including the southern Appalachian Mountains, the Cumberland Plateau, the Boston Mountains, and the Missouri Plateau. Upland Hardwood Ecology and Management RWU teams operate out of:

• Asheville NC
• Huntsville, AL
• Clemson, SC
• Hot Springs, AR
• Knoxville, TN

Our research partners and collaborators include universities and colleges, State forestry and wildlife agencies, national forests, and many others.

Our mission is to develop and disseminate knowledge and strategies for restoring, managing, sustaining, and enhancing the vegetation and wildlife of southern upland hardwood forests. Through experimental studies and modeling, our research program focuses on learning and predicting how upland hardwood-dominated forests and wildlife are affected by natural disturbances or silvicultural activities. We also study how forest composition, regeneration, productivity, and response to disturbances differ across changing environmental conditions such as moisture and fertility gradients.

Understanding the range of responses will enable land managers to better predict changes in forest structure, composition, tree regeneration, productivity, and habitat quality and to develop scientifically-based methods to meet their management and restoration goals. Our research is increasing knowledge about silviculture, forest ecology, and wildlife ecology throughout the southern upland hardwoods region.

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