Daniel Yaussy

Title: Supervisory Research Forester
Unit: Sustaining Forests in a Changing Environment
Previous Unit: Quantitative Methods for Modeling Forest Ecosystems
Address: Northern Research Station
359 Main Road
Delaware, OH 43015
Phone: 740-368-0101
E-mail: Contact Daniel Yaussy

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Education

• The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; MS, Theoretical Statistics, 1984
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA; MS, Forest Biometry, 1978
• The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; BS, Natural Resources (Industrial Forestry), 1976

Civic & Professional Affiliations

Society of American Foresters, The Association for Fire Ecology

Current Research

• As Site Manager of the Central Appalachian Plateau site of the National Fire and Fire Surrogate study, I manage partners in universities, industry, State and Federal land management agencies, and nongovernmental organizations, investigating the restoration of the oak ecosystem with the use of prescribed fire and thinning. This study examines the effects of controlled burning and mechanical treatments on many components of the ecosystem, including soils, understory plants, insects, birds, plus the effects on tree species.
• Modeling the mortality of trees in the Central Hardwoods Forest is complex due to the paucity of data and the subtle, varied, and infrequency of the events that trigger it. Long-term data from studies established around 1960 provide a time-span that may be adequate to tease out the intricate relationships between climate, insects, competition and differential species mortality. With these models as a baseline, the increased and delayed mortality due to the increased stress of wildland fire may be modeled.

Why is This Important

The Central Hardwood Forest is the largest forest type in the United States. These forests are currently dominated by oak species. Oaks produce hard mast that sustains many forms of wildlife through the winter. Fire was the process that maintained the oak forest. With the fire suppression programs instituted in the 1920s, oak species in forests are being replaced by trees less tolerant of frequent low-intensity fires, such as maples, tuliptree, and blackgum, which do not produce hard mast. Methods need to be developed to manage the existing oak forests sustainably.

Future Research

• Timing of prescribed fire in relation to mast crops.
• Differential ecological effects of seasonal burning.

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