Digital Commons Network^™

Productivity, Costs, And Best Management Practices For Major Timber Harvesting Frameworks In Maine, Harikrishnan Soman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Though the timber harvesting industry in Maine ranges over two centuries, the state has more forest cover than a century ago. Currently, some of the crucial challenges faced by the forest management industry in Maine and elsewhere in the northeastern US are increasing costs of forest operations, diminishing monetary returns and falling markets.

The major goal of this study was to evaluate the production economics of timber harvesting frameworks under different silvicultural prescriptions common to the region. For which, two field studies were conducted at two different locations in Maine, US. The first field study (Study I) was conducted in …

Long-Term Sustainability Of Northern Mixedwood Management: Spatial And Temporal Aspects Of Forest Productivity, Bethany L. Munoz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Natural disturbances of moderate severity are common in northern temperate forests in Maine, USA. Given estimated return intervals of 575-1000 years for severe windstorms and 385-1200 years for severe fire events, few opportunities arise to evaluate high severity disturbances in northern mixedwood or northern conifer forests. This research evaluated 50-year results of clearcutting with whole-tree harvesting (WTH), stem-only harvesting (SOH), and stem-only harvesting with prescribed burning (SOHB) on growing stock, composition, and relationships among foliar and soil nutrient concentrations. At the other end of the disturbance spectrum, this research also investigated 60-year results of single-tree selection with a 10-year cutting …

The Effects Of Clearcutting And Glyphosate Herbicide Use On Parasitic Wasps In Maine Forests, Kristopher J. Abell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Parasitic wasps (parasitoids) play an important role as natural enemies of insects and contribute substantially to world biodiversity (May, 1988), yet they have received relatively little attention outside of agricultural settings. Clearcut harvesting and herbicide (glyphosate) application are frequent and widespread disturbances in Maine forests that drastically alter the local environment. Parasitoids are particularly susceptible to disturbance for several reasons: 1) they are vulnerable to small changes in environmental conditions, 2) they occupy a high trophic level, and 3) many are host specific. However, there may be potential benefits of disturbance such as increased food resources (floral nectaries) and increased …