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Forest Sciences

Michigan Tech Publications

Northern hardwoods

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Influence Of Strip Clearcuts, Deer Exclusion And Herbicide On Initial Sapling Recruitment In Northern Hardwood Forests, Stefan Hupperts, Christopher R. Webster, Robert Froese, Brandon Bal, Yvette L. Dickinson Jul 2022

Influence Of Strip Clearcuts, Deer Exclusion And Herbicide On Initial Sapling Recruitment In Northern Hardwood Forests, Stefan Hupperts, Christopher R. Webster, Robert Froese, Brandon Bal, Yvette L. Dickinson

Michigan Tech Publications

Sapling recruitment in hardwood forests is often suppressed by overstory shade, interspecific competition, and browsing pressure from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmerman). In some northern hardwood stands, these three interacting factors may cause persistent recruitment failure of the dominant canopy species, sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.), into the sapling size class. In this study, we compared initial (two-year) sugar maple and hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana ((Mill.) K. Koch) seedling and sapling recruitment in strip clearcuts to strip selection cuts, with combinations of herbicide and deer exclosures, in a northern hardwood forest with limited sugar maple sapling recruitment. We found that sugar …


The Composition And Height Of Saplings Capturing Silvicultural Gaps At Two Long-Term Experiments In Managed Northern Hardwood Forests, Sam Knapp, Christopher R. Webster, Christel C. Kern Oct 2019

The Composition And Height Of Saplings Capturing Silvicultural Gaps At Two Long-Term Experiments In Managed Northern Hardwood Forests, Sam Knapp, Christopher R. Webster, Christel C. Kern

Michigan Tech Publications

Managing forests for mixtures of canopy species promotes future resilience and mitigates risks of catastrophic resource loss. This study describes the compositions, heights, and locations within openings of gap-capturing saplings in two long-term group-selection experiments in managed northern hardwoods. We expected opening size to affect the composition of gap-capturing saplings and that composition would match advance regeneration where relatively large stems remained following harvest. We also expected sapling height to respond positively to opening size, but plateau in gap areas above 200 m2, and legacy-tree retention to negatively affect sapling height. In two group-selection experiments, we found that …


Assessing Site Availability Of Aspen And Northern Hardwoods For Potential Feedstock Development In Michigan: A Case Study, Sara Alian, Ann Maclean May 2015

Assessing Site Availability Of Aspen And Northern Hardwoods For Potential Feedstock Development In Michigan: A Case Study, Sara Alian, Ann Maclean

Michigan Tech Publications

The importance of wood and wood byproducts as biomass feedstocks is of increasing interest as a source of ethanol and electricity. Second generation woody feedstock sources in Michigan, e.g., hybrid poplar and hybrid willow (Populus spp.), and native forests, particularly aspen and northern hardwoods, are a potential source of woody biomass for these uses. This study provides a geographic information system (GIS) framework for assessing the current spatial extent of aspen and northern hardwoods) and their proximity to roads. Additionally, the potential for expanding the area of these feedstock sources based on pre-European settlement vegetation cover is assessed. Utilizing GIS …


Efficacy Of Treatments Against Garlic Mustard (Alliaria Petiolata) And Effects On Forest Understory Plant Diversity, Lindsey M. Shartell, Linda M. Nagel, Andrew J. Storer Aug 2012

Efficacy Of Treatments Against Garlic Mustard (Alliaria Petiolata) And Effects On Forest Understory Plant Diversity, Lindsey M. Shartell, Linda M. Nagel, Andrew J. Storer

Michigan Tech Publications

Garlic mustard, an invasive exotic biennial herb, has been identified in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but is not yet widely distributed. We tested the effectiveness and impact of management tools for garlic mustard in northern hardwood forests. Six treatment types (no treatment control, hand-pull, herbicide, hand-pull/herbicide, scorch, and hand-pull/scorch) were applied within a northern hardwood forest invaded by garlic mustard. We sampled understory vegetation within plots to compare garlic mustard abundance (distinguishing first and second year plants) and native plant diversity before and after treatment. Results immediately following treatment indicated that garlic mustard seedling abundance was significantly reduced by …