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You are here: NRS Home / Scientists & Staff / Daniel C. Dey
Scientists & Staff

[image:] Daniel C. Dey Daniel C. Dey

Title: Research Forester
Unit: Sustainable Management of Central Hardwood Ecosystems and Landscapes
Previous Unit: Ecology & Management of Central Hardwood Ecosystems
Address: Northern Research Station
202 ABNR Bldg., University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211-7260
Phone: 573-875-5341; ex 225
E-mail: Contact Daniel C. Dey

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Education

  • PhD Quantitative Silviculture University of Missouri 1991
  • MSc Silviculture University of Missouri 1980
  • BS Forest Management University of Missouri 1976

Civic & Professional Affiliations

Society of American Foresters

Current Research

My research focuses on evaluating silvicultural practices to manage forests that produce the wide array ofgoods and services that land owners and society desire. I specialize in solving forest regeneration issues inhardwood-dominated forests in both uplands and bottomlands. Much of my experience is in the naturalregeneration and development of hardwood-dominated forests and in the afforestation of bottomlandagricultural lands. I have done extensive work with collaborators on determining historic fire regimes inoak/pine-dominated ecosystems throughout the Midwest and Great Lakes Regions. I apply this knowledgeby developing methods of using prescribed fire to restore native forest communities, favor firedependentspecies, reduce fuels and fire risk, restore natural ecosystem processes, etc. I model forestresponses to specific silvicultural practices. I develop forest management guidelines for practitioners. I amworking with a collaborator on a study of the role and management of large wood in river systems. Fornow, this research is focusing on developing a long-term (i.e., 14,000-year) oak tree ring chronology fromancient wood buried in alluvial soils. We are using this tree-ring information to reconstruct climate andcorrelate tree growth with global climate metrics.

Why is This Important

Forest managers often want to regenerate mature forests, or to restore forests where they use to be. In either case, it is a very specific type of forest they are trying to manage for the future. They not only desire to shape the structure and composition of the forests, but also promote the production of a diversity of goods and services. And to do this with some degree of certainty, in an economical manner is not an easy task. My research addresses priority issues in forest regeneration in the northern region. I provide a better understanding of how forests respond to natural and human disturbances, and how management can be used to guide forest regeneration and succession. I evaluate innovative combinations of traditional silvicultural practices for managing forests. I produce models of forest regeneration, which are useful tools for forest managers. They allow evaluation of current forest conditions and prediction of future outcomes for specified types of management. My work in fire and vegetation history provides an ecological foundation for forest restoration work. Ultimately, this research is the basis for forest management guidelines and standards.

Future Research

I plan on continuing my work in forest regeneration and restoration in primarily oak/pine forests and inthe afforestation of bottomland forests. I am interested in wildlife and forest interactions during the regenerationprocess. I also am interested in developing regional regeneration models for the Central HardwoodRegion. I am initiating new research in the silviculture of pine/oak forests with emphasis on shortleaf pineregeneration and development in natural upland forests. I will continue with my work in the managementof riparian forests and interactions between terrestrial and aquatic systems. We seek funding and additionalcollaborators to advance our work in constructing the American long oak chronology-the 14,000-yeartree-ring record derived from buried ancient oak logs in alluvial soils, and to advance our climate modelsbased on the dendrochronological record.

Featured Publications

Additional Online Publications

Last Modified: 11/19/2008