Maintaining and restoring diversity in upland hardwood

systems of the Appalachian-Cumberland region

Tara L. Keyser, Research Forester, Southern Research Station – Upland Hardwood Ecology and Management, USDA FS, 1577 Brevard Rd., Asheville, NC 28806. tkeyser@fs.fed.us.

Wood utilization associated with subsistence living

Land abandonment

Purposeful burning by Native Peoples

Exploitive logging/wildfires

European settlement - land clearing for pasture & agriculture, continued use of fire

Domestic grazing

Photo: Southern Appalachian brook trout foundation

Source: American Memory online photographic collection, Library of Congress

Fire suppression

Relatively short time

period

Fraser fir; balsam fir; red cedar; shortleaf pine; spruce pine; table mountain pine; pitch pine; white pine; Virginia pine; eastern hemlock; Carolina hemlock; boxelder; red maple; striped maple; sugar maple; buckeye; mountain ash; mountain maple; sweet birch; yellow birch; musclewood; pignut hickory; mockernut hickory; bitternut hickory; red hickory; shagbark hickory; catalpa; hackberry; redbud; pawpaw; flowering dogwood; alternate-leaf dogwood; persimmon; beech; white ash; black ash; green ash; sweetgum; honeylocust; American holly; Carolina holly; butternut; black walnut; yellow-poplar; cucumber tree; Fraser magnolia; mulberry; blackgum; ironwood; sourwood; sycamore; black cherry; white oak; scarlet oak; southern red oak; blackjack oak; chinkapin oak; chestnut oak; northern red oak; post oak; black oak; black locust; sassafras; basswood; elm species; fire cherry; silverbell

0-19 20-39 40-59 60-79 80-99 100+0

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

6,000,000

7,000,000 Oak/pine (400)Oak/hickory (500)Maple/beech/birch (800)Other hardwoods (170 & 960)

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Why is regenerating ‘desirable’ species problematic?

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Current RWU-4157 research Quantify the effects of disturbance, both natural

and silvicultural, across environmental gradientsDevelop methods/tools for predicting and

controlling changes in the structure and composition of upland hardwood forests

Two primary studies:1. Regional Oak Study

Treatments developed for species composition

2. Femelschlag Treatments developed for both structure and

composition

Regional Oak StudyTesting 3 recommended, but largely untested

methods (even-aged) to regenerate mixed-species stands (oaks, in particular)Repeated prescribed fireMidstory control prior to regenerationHarvest – burn

Addresses ecological integrityground layer flora; entire suite of tree species;

small mammals; bird community; bats; fuels; herptofauna

FemelschlagSilvicultural system being

tested to regenerate mixed-species stands, AND to restore structural diversity

Emulate natural disturbance patterns (Ecological Forestry; Disturbance-based silviculture; Ecosystem management; New Forestry)

Biological legacies are retainedMulti-aged Vertical & horizontal

heterogeneityStructural and compositional complexity

Questions?