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Harvard Forest Symposium Abstract 2013

• Title: Ecological Forestry for the Northern Hardwood Forest
• Primary Author: John Roe (INDEPENDENT)
• Abstract:

  The scientific literature detailing the ecology and forestry of the northern hardwood forest community, a forest dominated by sugar maple (Acer saccharum), American beech (Fagus grandifolia) and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis), is extensive and varied. However, the results of that research are not easily available to land managers. More importantly, no attempt has been made to synthesize the knowledge into a set of specific recommendations aimed to encourage the highest level of forest management that fully supports the forest’s biodiversity over the long term. My time as a Bullard Fellow is to draft a book that assembles this information by topic. Each topic will include an explanation of that topic’s ecology, specific to the details of the northern hardwood forest ecosystem, a short investigation of how timber harvesting affects that ecology, and then, usually, recommendations of how to ensure critical ecological drivers are maintained as the forest is harvested. The goal is to give both landowners and foresters a common understanding of issues. From that they can create management goals sensitive to ensuring the integrity and resilience of the northern hardwood forest, since the ecological challenges it faces in the coming decades are great Topics covered vary widely; forest age structure, coarse woody debris, vernal pools, pests and pathogens, deer, nutrient cycling and climate change to name a few. Recommendations will also include how a given topic should or should not be addressed in a conservation easement, since easements are likely to play a key role in conserving this forested landscape.

• Research Category: Conservation and Management