Brian J. Palik

Title: Team leader and Research Ecologist
Unit: Center for Research on Ecosystem Change
Previous Unit: Ecology & Silviculture of the Lake States Forests
Address: Northern Research Station
1831 Hwy 169 East
Grand Rapids, MN 06514
Phone: 218-326-7116
E-mail: Contact Brian J. Palik

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Education

• Ph.D., Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, 1992, Forest Ecology.
• M.S., Department of Botany, Michigan State University, 1988, Plant Ecology.
• B.S., Alma College, 1983, Biology.
• Additional Study: Organization for Tropical Studies, Costa Rica, 1987, Tropical Ecology

Civic & Professional Affiliations

• Member: Society of American Foresters, Forest Guild
• Riparian Science Technical Committee, Minnesota Forest Resources Council
• Chair-elect, Ecology Working Group, Society of American Foresters
• Science Advisory Committee, Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota
• Adjunct Faculty: University of Minnesota, iowa State University, Michigan Technological University
• 2003-present: NCRS representative to National Experimental Forest Working Group, USDA Forest Service.
• Peer Reviewer: Ecology, Canadian Journal of Forest Research, Journal of Ecology, American Midland Naturalist, Journal of Vegetation Science, Biotropica, Forest Ecology and Management, Journal of Forest Research, Plant Ecology, Forest Science, Conservation Ecology, Landscape Ecology, Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research, Journal of Forestry, Journal of Biogeography, Northwest Science, USDA Competitive Grants, NSF Competitive Grants, British Columbia Forest Service Competitive Grants

Current Research

My research has two central themes:

1. ecological linkages between upland forests and small streams and wetlands and
2. understanding and restoration ecological complexity in managed forests.

Both of these themes are addressed primarily through use of operational-scale management experiments designed to be statistically robust, realistic, but also novel in terms of the treatments examined, and inclusive of a large number of response variables. Much of this work is accomplished through close collaboration with university and agency researchers from across the region. My particular research foci include questions related to plant biodiversity and community composition, tree regeneration dynamics, and aboveground productivity. I am interested in tradeoffs between productivity (biomass, volume) and sustainability of other ecological characteristics (e.g., native species diversity and habitat). Ultimately, my interest is in developing and evaluating silvicultural and management approaches that sustain ecological complexity in forests managed for wood production.

Why is This Important

Understanding forest ecosystem responses to disturbance is key to developing the knowledge and tools needed to sustain ecological and economic objectives in managed ecosystems and landscapes. Many ecologists believe that sustainability is achieved by using natural disturbance and stand development processes as guides for management approaches. The goal is not to mimic nature directly, or even to closely emulate it. Rather the goal is to develop management approaches that reduce disparities between natural and managed systems in structure, composition, and function. While many organizations are attempting to develop natural disturbance and stand development-based management prescriptions, they have little practical experience in doing so, nor are the research findings available to guide their attempts. My work, particularly through use of operational-scale experiments that involve managers, provides this experience and knowledge

Future Research

1. Development/refinement of stand-scale forest dynamics models that are robust at predicting growth and yield, structural development, composition, etc., in multi-cohort, mixed species stands.
2. Collaboration with others from across the Northern Station in an effort to develop a comprehensive regional synthesis of results from our respective long-term silvicultural research.
3. A cross-regional, multi-location experiment that tests fundamental ideas of silvicultural approaches for optimizing productivity of wood and restoration of stand-scale structural complexity.
4. Quantification of response curves that relate amount of stand-scale structural features (e.g., snags, old trees, down logs, rare tree species abundance) to ecological indicators of native biological diversity (e.g., songbird abundance, species richness).

Featured Publications

Additional Online Publications