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The 27th US Forest Service National Silviculture Workshop was held May 21–23, 2019 in Bemidji, MN. The theme of the workshop was Forest Management–Research Partnerships. The workshop series began in 1973 and was held annually until 1979, when it went on a biennial schedule. The main purpose of the workshop has been to provide a forum for US Forest Service managers and scientists to come together to share knowledge, approaches, and insights on practical issues facing the National Forests. The workshop location has been near a National Forest to facilitate a field day to review regional management practices, problems, and research on the National Forests. It has been held in 19 states over the years. Beginning in 2007, a concerted effort has been made to invite silviculture professors from university forestry programs across the nation to join in the workshop, as they also are important partners of Forest Service management and research. The objectives of the workshop were to: • Provide a forum to showcase successful partnerships and shared stewardship between forest managers and researchers. • Enhance forest management and research relationships within the US Forest Service and with external partners to meet shared goals and objectives. • Build on the US Forest Service strategic objectives to improve the condition of forests through innovative silviculture and active forest management. • Identify emerging forest-management needs to guide future research investment.

Despite the adaptation of many oak (Quercus) species to repeated surface fire, many public land managers in eastern North America resist using prescribed fire as a regeneration tool because of fire’s perceived negative impacts on timber values through the wounding of overstory trees. We retrospectively quantified fire-associated wounds in 139 oak-dominated stands across four national forests, each with a history of zero to six prescribed fires within the last 30 years. For trees > 25.4 cm dbh (n = 8093), fire-associated wounds within the first 3.67 m of height were categorized by type, measured for defect size and graded both accounting for and then ignoring the fire-associated wounds. Most fire-associated wounds (n = 3403) were catfaces (32.5%), seams (30.5%) or bark slough (30.1%), although catfaces had 2.1–6.4 times the average volume loss of any other wound type (9.90 ± 0.72 bd ft). Among the 2160 wounded trees sampled, 741 had multiple (≥2) wounds. Although 29.1% of all trees had at least one wound associated with prescribed fire, only 7.0% of those trees exhibited a reduction in tree grade. The likelihood of wounding was greater in stands receiving more prescribed burns, but unaffected by tree diameter for either thin- or thick-barked species. Considering both the likelihoods of wounding and grade reduction, white oak (Q. alba), chestnut oak (Q. montana), hickory (Carya sp.), shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) and yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) trees were more resistant to prescribed fire damage than other species. While our findings cannot be related directly to individual fire parameters, such as fireline intensity or fire duration, these results do provide estimates of the cumulative effects of multiple management-based prescribed fires that can be incorporated into fire effects models.

For millennia, natural disturbance regimes, including anthropogenic fire and hunting practices, have led to forest regeneration patterns that created a diversity of forest lands across the USA. But dramatic changes in climates, invasive species, and human population, and land use have created novel disturbance regimes that are causing challenges to securing desired natural regeneration. Climate is an ever-present background disturbance and determinant of species distribution. Changes in certain other factors such as large herbivore populations, wildfire, and pests modify forest composition and structure, and are common barriers to natural regeneration of desired species. Changes in long-standing disturbance regimes have led to the homogenization of forest landscape composition and structure. Today, forests have low regeneration potential and are low in resilience. They have reduced productivity and are prone to widespread health issues including severe forest mortality. In addition to epidemics of native invasive species due to climate change and availability of habitat at landscape scales, the continued introduction and spread of non-native pests and diseases are causing large-scale forest mortality. These ecological changes have cascading ecological consequences such as increases in severe wildfire, which pose new barriers to natural regeneration. Equally challenging are the barriers to natural regeneration that arise from social, political and economic factors. To address many of these issues requires active management that links all critical stages in the regeneration niche necessary for achieving desired regeneration to sustain forest development and production in a socially acceptable manner and economically viable market system.

Deferment cutting is a two-aged regeneration method in which the majority of the stand is harvested and a dispersed component of overstory trees—approximately 15–20% of the basal area – is retained for at least one-half rotation and up one full rotation for reasons other than regeneration. Careful consideration of residual trees, in both characteristics and harvesting, is necessary to improve the chances that individual trees will survive until the next planned harvest. A long-term experimental deferment cutting study was established on the Fernow Experimental Forest and Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia, USA in the early 1980s. Repeated tree measurements spanning the approximately 35-year study period permitted a survival analysis of the overstory cohort. The effects on survival were tested for three endogenous factors (dbh, species, crown class) and one exogenous factor (logging damage) using a Cox Proportional Hazards model, with stand effects (multiple trees measured within a stand) accounted for by using as frailty model. Survival rates were high, with 92% of trees surviving (910 of 985 trees). The mortality rate was low at six percent, (60 of 985 trees), and the number of trees cut or destroyed during logging was two percent (15 of 985 trees). Trees injured in the deferment harvest did not show increased risk of mortality, p = 0.91. Crown class also did not contribute to increased mortality, p = 0.35, as the majority of overstory trees retained were in the dominant and codominant classes. Six species, Liriodendron tulipifera L., Prunus serotina Ehrh., Quercus alba L., Quercus montana Willd., Quercus rubra L., Quercus velutina Lam., had sufficient sample sizes to test for species differences. However, species was not significant for survival, p = 0.10. The only significant factor in survival was dbh, p

We compiled data from several independent, long-term silvicultural studies on USDA Forest Service experimental forests across a latitudinal gradient in the northeastern and north-central U.S.A. to evaluate factors influencing aboveground live-tree carbon sequestration and mortality. Data represent five sites with more than 70,000 repeated tree records spanning eight decades, five ecoregions, and a range of stand conditions. We used these data to test the relative influence of factors such as climate, treatment history (uneven-aged or no management), species composition, and stand structural conditions on aboveground live-tree carbon sequestration and mortality in repeatedly measured trees. Relative to no management, we found that uneven-aged management tended to have a positive effect on carbon sequestration at low stocking levels and in areas of favorable climate (expressed as a combination of growing season precipitation and annual growing degree days > 5 °C). In addition, losses of carbon from the aboveground live-tree pool due to tree mortality were lower in managed than unmanaged stands. These findings suggest that there may be conditions at which rate of sequestration in living trees is higher in stands managed with uneven-aged silviculture than in unmanaged stands, and that this benefit is greatest where climate is favorable.

A long-term forest management case study on the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia referred to as the Cutting Practice Level study is evaluated after 60 years. Treatments include a commercial clearcut (one time application), a 39 cm diameter-limit (applied 4 times), uneven-aged management using two variations of single-tree selection (applied 7 and 8 times, respectively), and an unmanaged reference area. We examine productivity, species composition and diversity, structure, tree quality, and revenues generated related to each treatment since establishment. The diameter-limit treatment resulted in greatest average periodic annual increment (PAI) of sawtimber volume of 3.1 m3 ha−1 yr−1 while the unmanaged reference area resulted in the least of 2.2 m3 ha−1 yr−1 (based on the difference in standing volume from 1956 to 2008). All types of partial harvesting resulted in greater sawtimber productivity than either the commercial clearcut or the reference area. Post-harvest tree quality, as measured by proportion of grade 1 butt logs, has improved from 1988 to 2008 for all but the diameter-limit treatment, which is similar to conditions in 1968. In 2008, the proportion of grade 1 trees in the residual stand ranged from a high of 0.22 for single-tree selection to 0.15 for diameter-limit harvesting. Species composition is becoming less diverse and more dominated by shade-tolerant species in all treatment groups but the change has been the greatest in the two single-tree selection treatments. Initially, size-class distributions were somewhat unimodal and reflective of even-aged stands with shade tolerant species persisting in the understory. In 2008, the single-tree selection treatments were both characterized by a reverse-J size class distribution and it appears this structure can be maintained due to recruitment of shade-tolerant species in the smaller size classes with concomitant reductions in species diversity. The net present value for each treatment in 2008, the time of the last management intervention, ranged from $20,000 ha−1 for reference area to almost $34,000 ha−1 for the single-tree selection treatment that included management of pole-sized trees based on all revenue and the value of standing timber using an internal rate of return of 4%.

Prescribed fire is used in the central Appalachians to promote and maintain mixed-oak and pine forests, create open forest conditions, improve habitat for wildlife, and to reduce the risk of impact of higher intensity wildfires on human development. Few studies have investigated responses of terrestrial salamander populations to habitat management using fire, and estimated responses have been neutral, negative, and positive depending on geography, species, and fire-severity. We examined woodland salamander (genus Plethodon) population responses to habitat management using prescribed fire on Shenandoah Mountain in the George Washington National Forest in West Virginia and Virginia, USA. We focused on responses of the Cow Knob Salamander (P. punctatus), a talus specialist and species of high conservation concern, but also examined responses of the Eastern Red-Backed Salamander (P. cinereus), a widespread habitat generalist. Three burn units were subjected to two low-severity burns and one unit was burned five times with ca. 40% tree mortality. Using a combination of nighttime visual encounter surveys and coverboard surveys, we compared terrestrial salamander abundance and body condition in unburned and burned areas. We also measured habitat characteristics at sampling sites to determine if prescribed burn histories were correlated with habitat conditions important to woodland salamanders. Mean abundance for P. punctatus was lower at sites that were burned, but there was not a strong burn effect for P. cinereus. Abundance of both species was positively correlated with canopy cover. Mean and median body condition index (BCI) score was higher for P. punctatus and lower for P. cinereus on the West Virginia side of Shenandoah Mountain, and lower in burned areas for both species. However, the most parsimonious BCI models did not contain the burn predictor. Management using prescribed fire altered microhabitat conditions that are important for woodland salamanders, such as canopy cover, leaf litter depth, and vegetation groundcover. Our study suggests that woodland salamanders in the central Appalachians can persist in forests managed using prescribed fire, but also indicates that prescribed fire can result in reduced habitat quality for some woodland salamander species.

With the increase in natural gas production in the United States, land managers need solutions and best practices to mitigate potential negative impacts of forest and soil disturbance and meet landowner objectives and desired conditions. Mitigation often includes the use of native seed mixes for maintaining plant diversity, controlling nonnative invasive species, and erosion control. The area disturbed by installing a buried pipeline to transport natural gas from a gas well near Parsons, WV was used to test the performance of a native seed mix. The seed mix was applied at the recommended seeding rate (56 kg ha-1; 50 lb ac-1) and triple the recommended rate (168 kg ha-1; 150 lb ac-1) to evaluate whether a higher seeding rate would produce greater native establishment and affect tree, weed, and invasive plant colonization. Sowed native grasses and blackberry (Rubus spp.), the latter of which was not part of the seed mix, dominated the pipeline right-of-way (ROW) 3 years after seeding. Mean coverage of these species was more than 68 percent on all the pipeline study plots. Deer-tongue (Dichanthelium clandestinum [L.] Gould) was by far the most successful species in the seed mix (overall mean cover of 33 percent), and it showed much better establishment on the drier southeast-facing hillside (mean cover of 49 percent). Autumn bentgrass (Agrostis perennans [Walter] Tuck.) fared better on the wetter northwest aspect (mean cover of 24 percent). Specific site characteristics or regeneration needs may explain the absence or limited onsite presence of some native species from the seed mix 3 years after sowing. Our results add support to the argument that a ROW project may require a variety of seed mixtures, especially when growing conditions and soil series vary across the project area.

Natural resources across the United States are increasingly managed at the landscape scale through cooperation among multiple organizations and landowners. United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) agency leaders have widely promoted this approach since 2009 when Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack called for “all lands” management. Landscape scale projects have been undertaken to address multiple goals such as single species conservation, resilience to fire, invasive species eradication, and others. The West Virginia Restoration Venture (WVRV)—one of five landscape scale conservation projects funded 2014–2016 across the Northeast and Midwest and known as “Joint Chiefs’” projects—was evaluated by an interdisciplinary team of USFS employees to gain insight into how cross-boundary landscape scale conservation projects are implemented in the region. In this paper, the team used qualitative interview data from project participants to explore processes related to developing a shared vision for the landscape, implementation priorities, and methods to work across institutional and property ownership boundaries. Grounded in the landscape and collaborative resource management literatures, the report shows how established inter-organizational networks, flexible approaches to management, and a “shelf-stock” of ready-to-implement projects led to on-the-ground success. The authors provide insight about factors that constrain and facilitate the implementation of landscape scale conservation projects that have multiple goals, landowners, and organizational partners.

This photograph (Fig. 1), taken in June of 1923 by E.S. Ship, depicts a red spruce (Picea rubens) stand with advanced reproduction near the summit of Mount Mitchell in the Pisgah National Forest of North Carolina. According to Hopkins (1899), the original extent of red spruce encompassed as much as 1,500,000 ac in the southern Appalachians; by 1895, this had been reduced to 225,000 ac. To help restore this ecosystem, the Appalachian Forest Experiment Station (AFES) was established in 1921. Headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina, the AFES covered an area of 120 million ac in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina and parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. Earl Frothingham was the first AFES director, and one of his first hires was Clarence Korstian. Red spruce studies brought Korstian to cutover lands owned by the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company in West Virginia and Champion Paper land in North Carolina (Maunder 1969).

A long-term study on the Fernow Experimental Forest (FEF) in West Virginia provided an opportunity to test for differences in the timber quality of trees harvested from three silvicultural practices (HarvestType): diameter-limit, patch cutting, and single-tree selection. The effects of HarvestType and site index (SI) over time on the harvested proportion of trees with grade 1 butt logs within a compartment were tested using a repeated-measures linear mixed model. HarvestType*Time was a significant interaction (P = 0.0018) and SI had a slight positive effect (P = 0.0036). When examining the harvested proportion of grade 1 butt logs on a volume basis, the two terms were again significant (P = 0.0003 and P = 0.0208, respectively). The diameter-limit proportion of grade 1 butt logs consistently decreased while patch cutting and single-tree selection proportions consistently increase over time. Recent preharvest cruise data show a significantly greater residual proportion of grade 1 butt logs for single-tree selection compartments versus diameter-limit compartments on a per-tree and per-volume basis (P = 0.0013 and P < 0.0001, respectively). Results indicate that the production of grade 1 trees in diameter-limit harvests is not sustainable productivity wise whereas the single-tree selection harvests are. The sustainability of the production of grade 1 logs from patch cutting remains inconclusive.

Ten-year results for an administrative study on the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) that examined their cleaning (precommercial thinning) prescriptions and standards for success in maintaining oak (Quercus spp.) composition in young stands and maintaining oak stems in a competitive position are presented. Two studies were installed. One study was in a 25- to 30-year-old stand where we released intermediate and suppressed oak species, in particular white oak (Quercus alba), to see if they would survive and improve in crown class. The other study was installed in two 16-year-old stands where cleanings using crown-touching crop-tree release treatments were done, with untreated control plots reserved. A total of eight treated and eight control plots in two stands were examined. In the first study, mortality of white oaks in the lower canopy (intermediate or overtopped) was 83 and 39% in control versus treated areas, respectively. The cleaning treatments were successful in keeping trees alive, but crown vigor declined and no trees increased in crown class. In the second study, the mortality of crop trees was 15 and 2% in control versus treated stands, respectively. The proportion (number of stems) of crop trees of all species in the upper canopy (dominant or codominant) dropped 22% versus 1% for control versus treated trees over the 10 years. Stand-level oak composition in control stands was 11.3% of basal area after 10 years (11.7% initially). In treated stands, it was 18.3% of basal area after 10 years (10.7% initially), a 71% increase in oak. The treatments successfully increased survival, growth, and composition of oak.

Identifying habitat preferences of species of concern is fundamental to the practice of conservation, but disturbances and other environmental processes can substantially affect suitability. Trifolium stoloniferum, or running buffalo clover, is a federally endangered plant species that occurs on the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia. Previous work and extensive anecdotal evidence suggests that this species is maintained in part by periodic disturbances to its habitat. In the Fernow Experimental Forest, this disturbance is in the form of intermittent logging activities. We investigated the role of forest harvesting practices and environmental variables in fostering T. stoloniferum at the stand level. Censuses have been conducted on T. stoloniferum occurrences in the Fernow since 1994, and occurrences are grouped by subcompartment or watershed, which are the basic management units within this experimental forest. Site characteristics and disturbance history were assessed for their impact upon T. stoloniferum presence and density. Classification tree analysis identified total number of forest harvest events in a subcompartment since 1948 as the most important predictor of T. stoloniferum presence or absence. Regression tree analysis identified aspect as important in determining T. stoloniferum abundance, with west-facing compartments supporting larger populations. This study confirms the importance of disturbance in maintaining T. stoloniferum populations. However, site characteristics independent of disturbance history are also predictors of T. stoloniferum presence and abundance, suggesting that managers attempting to restore or create habitat for T. stoloniferum should account for the interaction between disturbance history and site characters in determining suitability of habitat for T. stoloniferum.

Energy production presents numerous challenges to both industry and land managers across the globe. The recent development of unconventional (shale gas) plays around the world [US Energy Information Administration (USEIA), 2011] has brought attention to the potential for rapid change in affected landscapes and associated ecosystem services. While shale-gas development specifically has been the focus of recent research on how landscapes are changing, continued scientific investigation can lessen the resulting ecosystem disturbance across all energy infrastructure. In April 2012, the Pennsylvania State University hosted the 2012 Goddard Forum Oil and Gas Development Impacts on Forested Ecosystems--Research and Management Challenges.

The impact of settlement era fires on Appalachian forests was substantial, but whether these fires affected the ex- tent of fire-adapted ridgetop plant communities is poorly understood. Here we present fire history and stand structure of an Appalachian ridgetop (Pike Knob, West Virginia) based on fire scars from three species (Pinus pungens Lamb., Pinus resin- osa Soland., and Quercus rubra L.) and stand structure from two species (P. pungens and P. resinosa). Our research objec- tives are to determine (i) the degree to which the fire frequency on Pike Knob was affected by European American settlement (~1780-1900) and (ii) how the history of fire on Pike Knob shaped the current age structure of P. resinosa and P. pungens. All three species documented fire activity beginning in the mid- to late 1800s and continuing into the middle of the 20th century, when pasture lands were most active. The majority of P. pungens and P. resinosa established during or shortly after the ~85-year period of fires (1868-1953), suggesting a strong influence of past land use on current forest com- position. Ridgetop pine communities have been resilient to both the absence of fire and frequent fire, indicating that pine communities will also be resilient to modern fire management, whether fire is excluded or re-introduced. Resume : L'impact des feux a l'epoque de la colonisation sur les forets appalachiennes a ete important mais on ne sait pas si ces feux ont influence l'etendue des communautes vegetales adaptees au feu sur le sommet des montagnes. Nous presen- tons ici l'historique actuel des feux et la structure du peuplement situe sur un sommet des Appalaches (Pike Knob en Virgi- nie-Occidentale) en se basant sur les cicatrices de feu presentes sur trois especes (Pinus pungens Lamb., Pinus resinosa Soland. et Quercus rubra L.) et sur deux especes (P. pungens et P. resinosa) dans le cas de la structure du peuplement. Nos objectifs consistaient a determiner (i) dans quelle mesure la frequence des feux a Pike Knob a ete influencee par la colonisa- tion de l'Amerique par les europeens (~1780-1900) et (ii) comment l'historique du feu a Pike Knob a modele la structure d'âge actuelle de P. resinosa et P. pungens). Les trois especes temoignaient de l'activite du feu a partir du milieu a la fin des annees 1800 jusqu'au milieu du 20e siecle, lorsqu'il y avait le plus de pâturages. La majorite des P. pungens et P. resi- nosa se sont etablis durant ou peu de temps apres la periode des feux qui a dure 85 ans (1868-1953), ce qui indique que l'utilisation passee des terres a fortement influence la composition actuelle de la foret. Les communautes de pin situees sur les sommets ont resiste tant a l'absence du feu qu'au passage frequent du feu, ce qui indique que les communautes de pin resisteront aussi a la gestion moderne du feu, que le feu soit exclu ou reintroduit. (Traduit par la Redaction)

Forest restoration requires an understanding of the natural disturbance regime of the target community and estimates of the historic range of variability of ecosystem components (composition, structure, and disturbance processes). Management prescriptions that support specific restoration activities should be consistent with these parameters. In this study, we describe gap-phase dynamics of even-aged, second-growth red spruce-northern hardwood stands in West Virginia that have been significantly degraded following early Twentieth Century harvesting and wildfire. In the current stage of stand development, gaps tended to be small, with mean canopy gap and extended canopy gap sizes of 53.4 m2 and 199.3 m2, respectively, and a canopy turnover rate of 1.4% year−1. The majority of gaps resulted from the death of one or two trees. American beech snags were the most frequent gap maker, partially due to the elevated presence of beech-bark disease in the study area. Gaps ranged in age from 1 to 28 years, had a mean of 13 years, and were unimodal in distribution. We projected red spruce to be the eventual gap filler in approximately 40% of the gaps. However, we estimated that most average-sized gaps will close within 15–20 years before red spruce canopy ascension is projected (30–60 years). Accordingly, many understory red spruce will require more than one overhead release – an observation verified by the tree-ring record and consistent with red spruce life history characteristics. Based on our observations, silvicultural prescriptions that include overhead release treatments such as thinning from above or small gap creation through selection harvesting could be an appropriate activity to foster red spruce restoration in the central Appalachians.

Using coverboard arrays, we monitored woodland salamanders on the Fernow Experimental Forest in the central Appalachian Mountains, West Virginia, USA prior to and following two prescribed fires in mixed oak (Quercus spp.) forest stands. Treatments were burn plots on upper slopes or lower slopes fenced to prevent white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) herbivory or control plots that were unfenced and unburned. Most of the 7 species we observed were the mountain dusky salamander (Desmognathus ocropheaus), red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) and slimy salamander (Plethodon glutinosis). Significant population responses were difficult to interpret with numerous treatment and year interactions. Results largely were equivocal. We found no change in woodland salamander assemblage prior to burning or afterwards. There were few differences in adult to juvenile ratios of salamanders among treatments. Still, a priori contrasts of mountain dusky salamanders and red-backed salamander counts corrected for detection probability were greater under coverboards in the 2 years monitored after both prescribed fires had occurred than before burning or in unburned controls. This suggests that these species responded to the reduced leaf litter on the forest floor by utilizing coverboards more. Similarly, the three predominate species of salamanders also were more numerous under coverboards in plots subjected to deer herbivory with less subsequent forest floor vegetation as compared to those burned plots that were fenced. Our observations would suggest that woodland salamanders somewhat are tolerant of two prescribed fires within close temporal proximity. However, because woodland salamanders can be significantly reduced following timber harvest, continued research is needed to fully understand impacts of fire as a pre-harvest management tool in central Appalachian forests.

Cathedral State Park (CSP) is a 54-ha, old-growth, eastern hemlock-hardwood forest located in the central Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia. Hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) (Adelges tsugae Annand) is an exotic insect that currently threatens eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.) in its native range, and was found in CSP in 2002. In 2006, field plots established in 2000 were re-measured to assess adelgid-induced changes to forest structure and species composition. The herbaceous plant community was also measured during the 2006 growing season to describe how the ground flora has changed since it was originally surveyed in 1965. In addition, characteristics of snags and downed dead wood in CSP were compared to published data on 25 old-growth hemlock-hardwood stands in the eastern United States. From 2000 to 2006, little HWA-induced change occurred in CSP. Density and basal area of overstory hemlock did not change, while snag density and basal area decreased over time. However, more than ...

To understand long-term impacts of partial cutting practices on stream-dwelling salamanders in the central Appalachians, we examined pooled abundance of Desmognathus fuscus and D. monticola salamanders (hereafter Desmognathus) in headwater streams located within long-term silvicultural research compartments on the Fernow Experimental Forest, Tucker County, West Virginia. We sampled Desmognathus salamanders in 12 headwater streams within silvicultural research compartments that have been subjected to partial cutting for approximately 50 years. We used an information-theoretic approach to test five a priori models explaining partial cutting effects at the compartment-level on Desmognathus abundance and eight a priori models explaining stream reach-scale habitat effects on Desmognathus abundance. Our modeling efforts resulted in the selection of two competing models explaining partial cutting effects on Desmognathus abundance at the compartment-level. The VOLUME model, which incorporated cumulative timber volume harvested within compartments, received the greatest support and indicated that Desmognathus abundance was impacted negatively by increased timber volume removal. The second model, LASTDISTURB, incorporating the single variable of time since last harvest activity, indicated that Desmognathus abundance increased with time since last harvest at the compartment-level. For stream reach-scale habitat variables, the EMBEDDED model incorporating the percent of embedded substrate within streams, received the strongest support for explaining Desmognathus abundance. Our results suggest that long-term partial cutting suppresses Desmognathus abundance, possibly by increasing stream sedimentation and thereby reducing available cover for juvenile and adult salamanders. However, these practices do not appear to have threatened long-term persistence of Desmognathus in central Appalachian headwater streams.

Red spruce (Picea rubens)–dominated forests occupied as much as 600,000 ha in West Virginia prior to exploitive logging era of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Subsequently, much of this forest type was converted to northern hardwoods. As an important habitat type for a number of rare or sensitive species, only about 12,000 ha of red spruce forests presently remain in the state. In order to assess the prospects for restoration, we examined six northern hardwood stands containing understory red spruce to (1) characterize stand dynamics and regeneration patterns and (2) simulate the effectiveness of restoration silviculture to enhance red spruce overstory recruitment. Stands originated in the late 1800s to early 1900s and are currently in the (late) stem exclusion or understory reinitiation stages. Five of the six stands had even-aged overstories that originated after clear-cutting. Tree-ring chronologies show high initial growth rates consistent with stand initiation. One stand, partially harvested in 1915, was uneven aged with older, legacy residuals in the canopy. Most stands had two cohorts of understory red spruce, with more than 40% of these individuals showing prior release. Our 100-year growth simulation suggested that a 50% basal area thinning from above could double red spruce basal area to support a mixed spruce– hardwood stand in approximately 20–40 years. These results indicate that restoration silviculture could be an effective tool for increasing the amount and quality of this reduced forest type in the central Appalachians.

In 1993, a crop tree study was established in a pole-sized stand consisting of black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) and northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.). Black cherry was the predominant species in the stand and appeared to be on the verge of virtually eliminating northern red oak based on its greater height growth potential. To assess crop tree management for maintaining the competitiveness of oak in this situation, the stand was compartmentalized into treated and untreated areas and crop trees were selected. In the treated areas, crop trees received a three- or four-sided crown-touching release. Individual tree characteristics were measured following the growing seasons of 1993 and 10 years later. Crop tree release resulted in slowing the height growth of codominant black cherry, but not northern red oak. Ten-year mean height growth of northern red oak exceeded that of released black cherry, but not that of unreleased black cherry crop trees. Crown expansion and diameter at breast height (dbh) growth also increased as a result of crop tree release for both species, but black cherry clear stem development was suppressed. Based on increment core analysis, dbh growth of released northern red oak crop trees in 2003 was about twice that of unreleased northern red oak, although black cherry treatment related differences in radial growth were no longer present. Ten years after crop tree release, northern red oak crown class distribution improved and black cherry crown class distribution was unchanged. These results suggest crop tree management will improve northern red oak competitiveness in pole-sized stands when growing in association with black cherry and, perhaps, other fast growing species.

Fallen or down dead wood is a key element in healthy forest ecosystems. Although the amount of down wood and shrubs can provide critical information to forest resource managers for assessing fire fuel build up, data on biomass of down woody materials (DWM) are not readily accessible using existing databases. We summarized data collected by the USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program into biomass for mixed-oak forest types in Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina to obtain a baseline average for Appalachian mixed-oak forests. We sampled a subset of 76 plots from 16 oak forest types and computed biomass for each DWM component, using slightly different equations for each. Biomass of DWM components was summarized using simple statistics. The mean of all DWM components combined was 32 Mg/ha, and the median was 29 Mg/ha. Over half the mean DWM was duff and litter (18 Mg/ha combined); coarse woody material (CWM) was less than 15% of mean DWM; and fine woody material (FWM) (7 Mg/ha) was almost twice CWM. The range of mass for individual components was quite large. These estimates compare favorably to those found in studies for other forest types. South. J. Appl. For. 28(2):113–117.

Long-term silvicultural trials contribute to sustainable forest management by providing a better scientific understanding of how forest ecosystems respond to periodic timber harvesting. In this study, species composition, diversity, and net periodic growth of tree species in a mixed mesophytic forest in the central Appalachians were evaluated after about a half century of management. Three partial cutting practices on 18 research compartments and on 3 unmanaged reference compartments were evaluated (1951–2001) on 280 ha. Single-tree selection, diameter-limit harvesting, and timber harvesting in 0.162-ha patches were assessed on three northern red oak site index50 (SI) classes: 24, 21, and 18. Shannon–Weiner's diversity index (H′) declined from the first (1951–1959) to last (1987–2001) measurements and was related to both SI (P = 0.004) and treatment (P = 0.009). Sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and red maple (Acer rubrum L.) were the two most abundant species in recent years (1987–2001); in contrast, in initial inventories (1951–1959), northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) and chestnut oak (Quercus prinus L.) were most abundant. Net periodic annual increment (PAI) of merchantable trees (DBH ≥12.7 cm) was related to both SI (P = 0.004) and treatment (P = 0.003). Mean PAI ranged from 4.6 m3·ha–1·year–1 for single-tree selection to 2.5 m3·ha–1·year–1 for unmanaged reference areas across all SI classes. The decline of oak species suggests that only intensive and specific forest management focused on maintaining oak species can obtain historical levels of diversity.

We compared the germination rates of running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum) seeds that had been passed through the digestive tract of a captive white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) with those that had not. We found no significant difference among germination rates of seeds passed through deer and those not, nor with seeds that were cold-stratified prior to planting and those that were not. Although white-tailed deer are viable vectors for running buffalo clover seed, our data suggest that the rates of ingested seed germination and survival are low. Dispersal and establishment of new populations by white-tailed deer herbivory may not contribute quickly or significantly to the recovery of running buffalo clover at present.

Uneven-age management in forestry refers to a system of management that periodically selects individual trees or small groups of trees for harvest. In general, the concept of uneven-age management entails the sustained yield of forest products while maintaining continuous forest cover. In North America, interest in uneven-age management grew in the second half of the twentieth century after most of the old-growth forests had been harvested. In West Virginia, uneven-age management and its surrogates have been studied intensively since 1948 at the Forest Service Fernow Experimental Forest. The Fernow Experimental Forest is located in the Allegheny Mountains of the Central Appalachian Broadleaf Forest and has characteristics of both mixed-oak and northern hardwood forests, depending on site characteristics. In stands managed with the type of uneven-age management known as “single-tree selection,” only those species capable of developing in reduced sunlight conditions have thrived. Concerns that the increased dominance of these so-called shade-tolerant species would lead to lower productivity have not been validated. It appears that managing the stocking level, or the size and number of trees after harvesting, has helped to sustain higher than expected levels of wood production and carbon storage. Economically, uneven-age-managed stands have produced periodic revenue that resulted in higher net present values than either clearcut or unharvested stands, and, unlike more exploitive procedures, did not deplete the residual stand value. Unexpected insights into forest ecology and management also were realized by carefully studying the response to treatments for more than a half century and the benefits of long-term forestry research are discussed.

Red spruce forests in West Virginia are found in island-like distributions at high elevations and provide essential habitat for the endangered Cheat Mountain salamander and the recently delisted Virginia northern flying squirrel. Therefore, it is important to identify restoration priorities of red spruce forests. Maximum entropy modeling was used to identify areas of suitable red spruce habitat, with a total of 32 variables analyzed. Maximum temperature of the warmest month and minimum temperature of the coldest month were identified as variables explaining the most information about red spruce forest habitat. In addition, habitat maps identifying areas of high, medium, and low suitability were created and quantified at the county level. These results will benefit current and future conservation and restoration management activities as they identify core areas that possess the necessary environmental conditions for supporting future complex red spruce communities. Restoration efforts focused in areas possessing high suitability ensure peak potential of success and will ultimately give red spruce forests in West Virginia the greatest resilience to future climatic conditions by establishing connectivity between red spruce forests and increasing genetic diversity.

Red spruce (Picea rubens) and red spruce-northern hardwood mixed stands once covered as much as 300,000 ha in the Central Appalachians, but now comprise no more than 21,000 ha. Recently, interest in restoration of this forest type has increased because red spruce forests provide habitat for a number of rare animal species. Our study reports the results of an understory red spruce release experiment in hardwood-dominated stands that have a small component of understory red spruce. In 2005, 188 target spruce were identified in sample plots at six locations in central West Virginia. We projected a vertical cylinder above the crown of all target spruces, and in 2007, we performed a release treatment whereby overtopping hardwoods were treated with herbicide using a stem injection technique. Release treatments removed 0-10% (Control), 11-50% (Low), 51-89% (Medium), and >= 90% (High) of the basal area of overtopping trees. We also took canopy photographs at the time of each remeasurement in 2007, 2010, and 2013, and compared basal removal treatments and resulting 2010 canopy openness and understory light values. The high treatment level provided significantly greater six-year dbh and height growth than the other treatment levels. Based on these results, we propose that a tree-centered release approach utilizing small canopy gaps that emulate the historical, gap-phase disturbance regime provides a good strategy for red spruce restoration in hardwood forests where overstory spruce are virtually absent, and where red spruce is largely relegated to the understory. USDA Forest ServiceUnited States Department of Agriculture (USDA)United States Forest Service; Division of Forestry and Natural Resources, West Virginia University; US Geological SurveyUnited States Geological Survey; West Virginia Division of Highways Initial funding was provided by the USDA Forest Service and the Division of Forestry and Natural Resources, West Virginia University, with additional support from the US Geological Survey and the West Virginia Division of Highways. Adele Fenwick produced the map. Kent Karriker, Shane Jones, and Nathan Beane provided helpful initial reviews of this manuscript. This is scientific article No. 3223 of the West Virginia Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station. Public domain – authored by a U.S. government employee

Development of a natural gas well and pipeline on the Fernow Experimental Forest, WV, raised concerns about the effects on the natural and scientifi c resources of the Fernow, set aside in 1934 for long-term research. A case study approach was used to evaluate effects of the development. This report includes results of monitoring projects as well as observations related to unexpected impacts on the resources of the Fernow. Two points are obvious: that some effects can be predicted and mitigated through cooperation between landowner and energy developer, and that unexpected impacts will occur. These unexpected impacts may be most problematic.

Pre- and post-treatment seed-bank characteristics of woody species were compared after two prescribed fires in a mesic mixed-oak forest in the central Appalachians. Nineteen woody species were identified from soil samples. Mean species richness declined but evenness did not after prescribed burning. The seed bank was dominated by black birch, yellow-poplar, blackberry, grapevine and Hercules club before burning. Following burning, the median density of seed bank propagules declined by 45 percent. Black birch, yellow-poplar, and grapevine declined by 69, 56, and 40 percent, respectively. The results illustrate the importance of the seed bank as a robust source of non-oak regeneration in mixed-oak forests and of the potential effect of fire in altering it.

In 2008, Forest Service Research and Development celebrated the Centennial Anniversary of these Experimental Forests and Ranges. This publication celebrates the many scientists who over the course of decades conducted the long-term studies that began and are continuing to shed light on important natural resource issues. Story suggestions were solicited from the Experimental Forest and Range Working Group and were selected to demonstrate the array of research issues being addressed on these living laboratories. Gathering a wealth of information from her interviews with scientists, Gail Wells proceeded to write these “…wonderful success stories from 100 years of research.” Studies established decades ago on many of these sites are still going strong. Experimental forests and ranges provide a valuable, long-term stream of information about the land and its resources. Over the years, researchers have built an impressive body of science to support good land management and further understanding of natural processes. Their research sheds light on many important questions. These experimental forests serve as living laboratories that help us connect the future to the past.

Financial maturity, diameter-limit (FMDL) selection was proposed more than three decades ago as a replacement for diameter-limit cutting. FMDL incorporates financial maturity guidelines for individual trees, high-priority removal of poorquality trees, and guidelines for residual basal area. We provide the first long-term assessment of this practice after more than three decades of implementation. FMDL selection is evaluated in terms periodic yield of merchantable board feet, residual basal area, butt-log quality, and species composition. Recommendations for lowering the minimum residual basal area are presented. Management implications regarding controlling species composition are discussed.

A rule-based approach was employed in GIS to map fire-adapted vegetation and fire regimes within the proclamation boundary of the Monongahela National Forest. Spatial analyses and maps were generated using ArcMap 9.1. The resulting fireadaptation scores were then categorized into standard fire regime groups. Fire regime group V (200+ yrs) was the most common, assigned to more than 510,000 ha, primarily in the Allegheny Mountains Section. Fire regime group I (low & mixed severity, 0-35 years) and fire regime group III (low & mixed severity, 35-200 yrs) were assigned to almost 198,000 ha, primarily in the Ridge and Valley Section and one subsection of the Allegheny Mountains Section. These systems will likely require active silviculture using fire and/or fire surrogates for their maintenance or restoration. The transparent rule-based procedure can be easily modified and, as such, possesses the flexibility for universal application to other ecosystems with similar spatial databases.

When unplanned major disturbances affect desirable mixed-oak forests, both the amount of time and viable options available for influencing the composition of postdisturbance regeneration are reduced greatly. We evaluated the use of tree shelters to protect planted northern red oak seedlings following salvage logging that resulted in a range of residual stand densities. This practice was common on the Allegheny National Forest in the early 1990?s following widespread gypsy moth defoliation and subsequent mortality. A better understanding of this practice will enhance efforts to implement artificial regeneration of oak after unplanned major disturbance due to insects and diseases or factors such as storm damage.

Uneven-aged and diameter-limit management were compared with an unmanaged control on the Fernow Experimental Forest near Parsons, West Virginia, to determine how treatment affects the quality of red oak (Quercus rubra L.), sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.), and yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.). Periodic harvests slightly increased stem lean, which often causes tension wood. The grade of red oak was lower under the diameter-limit treatment compared with that of the control, but this was due primarily to tree size; in contrast, uneven-aged management improved red oak grade irrespective of tree size. Sugar maple grade was poorest in the control but similar in the two treatments, regardless of tree size. Yellow-poplar grade was best in the control, even when tree size was taken into account. Sapwood thickness range was small among all red oaks, although the sapwood of the control trees was narrower than that of the treated trees. For yellow-poplar, sapwood thickness increased with tree diameter but was independent of treatment. Sapwood thickness was extremely variable in sugar maple. It increased with diameter in both treatment sites but not in the control, and it was not significantly correlated with tree age. Young, vigorously growing sugar maples produce wide sapwood, but heartwood discoloration begins to affect the trees disproportionately as they reach maturity.

The fire history of an oak stand located near Pike Knob, Pendleton County, WV is described. A 156-year fire history chronology was developed from 1846 to 2002 and fire intervals ranged from 7 to 32 years for a single forest stand. The Weibull median fire interval was 14.76 years for one or more trees scarred during a single year, and 17.11 years when at least two trees were scarred during a single year. Oak recruitment ceased after 1937, during an unusually long fire-free interval, offering indirect support of the important role of fire in perpetuating oak forests of the region.

This review of literature pertaining to the biotic and abiotic mechanisms in the establishment of northern red oak seedlings is designed to aid forest managers and researchers interested in sustaining the oak component of the eastern and central hardwood forest regions. Recommendations for future research are presented.

To better understand the dynamics of red oak regeneration, we evaluated the composition of understory woody species and recruitment characteristics of a mixed mesophytic forest in the central Appalachian region at the time of old-growth logging. We also evaluated canopy disturbance history during both the old-growth and second-growth periods. Stemwood radial growth patterns were used to evaluate the frequency of disturbance. Levels of red oak radial growth change were greatest from 1906 to 1911, which is indicative of a major disturbance. The oak regeneration in all sampled areas that developed into the second-growth forest was dominated by seedling-size individuals that were recruited from 1902 to 1910. The stand-wide median canopy disturbance interval was 30.83 years between 1797 and 1983.

Public concern over the adverse visual impact of clearcutting has heightened interest in developing and testing alternative regeneration practices for central Appalachian hardwoods. Group selection can meet aesthetic goals while providing suitable light conditions to reproduce shade-intolerant species. Volume control and residual stand density are used to regulate periodic cuts. In central Appalachian hardwoods, openings must have a minimum size of 0.4 acre; all stems 1.0 inch d.b.h. and larger are cut to reproduce desirable shade-intolerant species. Openings should be located using the worst first approach to give the growing space occupied by mature trees or risky trees to faster growing, desirable regeneration.

Closure of logging wounds on 96 sample trees was evaluated after 2, 5, and 10 years for Appalachian hardwood trees in north-central West Virginia. For yellow-poplar, northern red oak, black cherry, and white oak, many small wounds, 1 to 50 square inches in size, closed between 5 and 10 years after logging. For larger wounds, 50 to 200 square inches, it appears that many of these wounds may not close for at least 15 or perhaps 20 years after logging. Recommendations are provided to minimize logging wounds on residual trees in partially cut stands.

Survival, total height, diameter at breast height (d.b.h.), and stem quality of sugar maple trees of different provenances were compared 25 years after establishment in north-central West Virginia. Provenances were from Michigan, Minnesota, West Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Quebec, Canada. There were significant differences between provenances for all traits except stem quality. By provenance, total tree height ranged from about 49 to 37 feet; d.b.h. from 6.7 to 3.6 inches; and survival from I00 to 15 percent. The predictability of total tree height 25 years after establishment based on mean provenance height at age 2,6, 10, and 15 years is discussed. Results suggest that juvenile height growth may be a good predictor of mature height performance, thus decreasing the need for rotation-length trials.

The survival, growth, and stem form of 45 white ash (Fraxinus americana L.) families nested within 22 provenances were evaluated 15 years after establishment in north central West Virginia. Geographic family origins encompassed a wide area in the eastern and central United States, including locations from Maine in the North to Mississippi in the South to Nebraska in the West. Significant differences were identified among provenances for survival, stem form, total height, and stem diameter and among families within provenances for stem form and total height. Latitude was a significant indicator of provenance performance with performance declining north and south of the plantation latitude. Performance gains may be realized by using proper provenances and then identifying superior families within these provenances for white ash artificial regeneration activities in West Virginia.

Evaluates SILVAH, FIBER, NE-TWIGS, and OAKSIM, simulators commonly used in the northeastern United States, by comparing predicted stand development with actual stand development records for periods ranging from 15 to 50 years. Results varied with stand parameter, forest type, projection length, and geographic area. Except in the spruce-fir forest type where FIBER stands out as the best simulator, no single simulator is clearly superior to the others for all locations within a forest type. In general, FIBER, NE-TWIGS, and SILVAH performed best in the northern hardwood (beech-birch-maple) forest type; NE-TWIGS and SILVAH performed best in the Allegheny hardwood (cherry-maple) forest type; SILVAH and OAKSIM performed best in the oak-hickory forest type; and SILVAH was most suitable in the transition hardwood (mixture of northern hardwoods and oaks) forest type. Results give growth and yield model users more information for selecting the simulator most suitable for their particular needs and the results also can be used as a diagnostic tool for growth and yield model development.

The survival, growth, and rate of target canker infection of 34 black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) families were evaluated 15 years after establishment in north-central West Virginia. The progenies originated at locations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. There were significant differences between families in survival, incidence of target canker infection, total height, and diameter at breast height. The North Carolina and Tennessee sources were less suitable for the growing conditions of the test site, local and slightly more northern sources seem more suitable. Near the northern extremity of the range of black walnut, maintaining a viable native population of this species and using local seed sources in artificial regeneration activities are recommended.

Explains the Northeast Stand Exam (NEST Version 2.1) program. The NEST program was designed for use on the Polycorder 600 Series electronic portable data recorder to record data collected from the standard permanent plot as described by the Stand Culture and Stand Establishment Working Groups of the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station.

This study examined the composition of woody species in a mixed mesophytic forest in the central Appalachian region with respect to both time and different disturbance regimes. Species composition and diversity were assessed from 1856 to 1997 on a tract of land that currently is part of the Fernow Experimental Forest in north-central West Virginia. Additionally, the effect of different silvicultural disturbances are described using inventory data from four silvicultural demonstration areas initiated in 1948. These areas included a commercial clearcut, diameter- limit harvesting, single-tree selection, and an area that has not been artificially manipulated since initial logging around the turn of the century (ca 1907). Witness tree data from early land surveys (1856 and 1915) conducted in the same watershed were used to gain some insight into species frequency prior to and after initial logging. A forest inventory conducted in 1922 provided a more detailed description of the vegetation in the vicinity of the post-1948 stand data. The Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index was calculated based on species importance values for all time periods and management activities. Detrended correspondence analysis was used to assess differences in composition related to time and management activity. Data from old-growth (1856), early second-growth (1915 and 1922), and more mature second-growth stands were well separated in ordination space. A decline in species diversity from a high in 1922 to a low in 1997 appears to be driving this separation. Diversity declined primarily due to a reduction in evenness, which was significantly correlated with increasing importance of Acer saccharum. Relative A. saccharum importance is increasing in both the overstory and understory for all disturbance regimes. The increasing dominance of this species with time, regardless of stand age or disturbance regime evaluated, may be unprecedented and suggests new silvicultural techniques are needed to maintain the diversity of central Appalachian forests.

Schuler, T.M. and Smith, F.W., 1988. Effect of species mix on size/density and leaf-area relations in southwest pinyon/juniper woodlands. For. Ecol. Manage., 25: 211-220. The effects of species mix on stand structure and growth are evaluated for 117 pinyon (Pinus edulis Engelm.) and juniper ( Juniperus monosperma (Engelm.) Sarg and J. osteosperma (Tort.) Little) woodlands of the southwestern United States. Maximum-size/density relations, leaf area and growth of pure and mixed-species woodlands are compared. Structure of pure and mixedspecies woodlands appeared to be restricted by maximum-size/density relations. Maximum Stand Density Index (SDI) for mixed-species woodlands was 30% greater than for pure woodlands. Ceiling leaf areas were 3.6 for mixed-species, 3.5 for pure pinyon and 1.0 for pure juniper woodlands. Ceiling leaf area varied with species mix and soil type. Highest growth of mixed-species woodlands occurred at maximum woodland and pinyon SDL We suggest that higher size/density, leaf area and growth relations in mixed-species woodlands than in pure woodlands are related to differences in rooting habit and water relations between pinyon and juniper.

Site quality and growth-growing stock relations were developed for southwestern woodlands of pinyon (Pinus edulis) and one-seed juniper (Juniperus monosperma) or Utah juniper (J. osteosperma). Anamorphic height-age site index curves for pinyon were developed from a regional sample of 60 woodlands. Site index was unaffected by variation in stocking and was correlated with woodland yield when used in conjunction with density. Pinyon and juniper PAI, when taken separately, were highly correlated with stand density and pinyon site index. Pinyon was twice as productive as juniper at similar stand densities. Pinyon and juniper yields in woodlands of average density and site index were estimated at 0.29 and 0.15 m3ha-1y-1. At high densities pinyon and juniper yields increased to 0.61 and 0.31 m3ha-1y-1 Pinyon and juniper yields appeared independent of the density of the other species in an individual woodland. Maximum yield of dense mixed species woodlands on average sites was 0.78 m3ha-1y-1, and occurred when pinyon constituted 65% of woodland density. West. J. Appl. For. 3(3):70-74, July 1988.