Title Dendroecology of Non-Leucobalanus Trees in a Managed Forest: A Baseline Dataset for Forest Management in an Altered Climate
- Funding through the
Southern Research Station
of the U.S. Forest Service
Abstract
The proposed project will use tree-ring analysis to reconstruct stand history and climatic
response of non-Leucobalanus (white oak) species in the Cold Hill Area of the London District
of the Daniel Boone National Forest (DBNF), complementing work in-progress by Dr. Stacy Clark,
U.S.F.S research forester. It will supplement the silvicultural research project "Silvicultural
Approaches and Operational Dimensions to Sustain Oak Ecosystems and Improve Forest Health on
the Daniel Boone National Forest" currently being conducted under Title IV of the Healthy Forest
Restoration Act (HFRA) by the USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station and the Northeastern
Research Station. The first goal of the study is to reveal stand history, age structure, growth
trends and successional patterns in response to natural disturbances and current forest management
designed to improve forest health in the DBNF. The second goal is to reveal the climatic response
of each non-Leucobalanus species. This will help forecast which species may perform better in a
future climate that is likely to be much different than the climate of the 20th century. As most
tree ring research is conducted in unmanaged forests, a larger questions this research will address
is: "Is it reasonable to think that managed forests would respond to changes in disturbance regimes
or climatic change in the same way as unmanaged forests?
In combination with Dr. Clark's Leucobalanus tree-ring collection, we will investigate the stand-
and species-level climate response. This type of analysis will be relatively straightforward,
in terms of methodology, and yet quite different than most tree-ring studies. Overall, this study
will create a baseline for several important species in the DBNF. Such information can be used to
help managers anticipate future environmental impacts in this region
coring a scarlet oak (image courtesy of Dr. Stacy Clark)
Research Objectives: Objectives:
a new friend, Agkistrodon contortrix (image courtesy of Dr. Stacy Clark)
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