Silvicultural Prescriptions

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Silvicultural Prescriptions

• John Adams - Louisiana Tech
• John Dwyer - University of Missouri

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Objectives

• 1. Show you what goes into making a good
  prescription.
• 2. Give you enough information to appreciate
  that making a prescription is not easy.

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What is a prescription?

• A detailed set of written instructions for the
  treatment of a forested property.

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What makes a good prescription?

• 1. Identifies what you want to accomplish.
• What are the owners objectives?

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What makes a good prescription?

• 2. Describes and depicts the area to be treated.
• Site information
• Current stand information

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Map 1 Stand Boundaries with Acreage
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Map 2 Soil Classification on Mc Laughlin
Property
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Map 3 Elevation for Mc Laughlin Property
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What makes a good prescription?

• 3. Identify a desired target based on
  objectives.
• Use decision-making tools to simulate
• different ways of achieving the target and
• pick best way.
• Describe it in a way that it can be measured
• then you can gauge success.

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What makes a good prescription?

• 4. Develop an activity schedule.
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• How much?

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What makes a good prescription?

• 5. What do I expect will happen as a result of
  the treatment.
• Have I achieved my objective(s)?

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Upland Hardwood
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Forest Prescriptions - An Example

• Objective
• 1. Improve tree quality by
• increasing growth
• removing unhealthy/undesirable trees
• realize a periodic return

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Prescriptions - An Example

• Forest information/condition
• 1. Overstory scarlet and black oak, southern
  red oak, post oak, white oak and shellbark
  hickory
• 2. Understory/regeneration scarlet oak, black
  oak, American elm, hackberry

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Prescriptions - An Example

• 3. Poletimber stand relatively young
• 40 years of age
• ave. diameter 7.0 inches
• diameter range 1.5 to 14.3 inches
• 77 stocking (full)
• BA 65 ft2/acre, 416 trees/acre,
• Site index 70 feet

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Prescriptions - An Example

• Evaluate alternatives based on objectives
• Grow this stand looking at different what-if
  situations
• vary the timing of harvest
• vary the amount of harvest

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Prescriptions - An Example

• Activity Schedule
• When What
• 2002 Individual tree selection, thin 600 bf/ac
  and 4 cords/ac
• reduce stand BA to 60ft2/ac.
• and 65 stocking remove trees poor form
  and vigor

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Prescriptions - An Example

• Activity Schedule
• When What
• 2012 1000 bf/ac and 2 cords/ac
• reduce stand BA to 55ft2/ac.
• and 64 stocking leave crop trees

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Prescriptions - An Example

• Activity Schedule
• When What
• 2022 3600 bf/ac and 2 cords/ac
• reduce stand BA to 43ft2/ac.
• and 44 stocking leave crop trees about
  18-22, assess regeneration (plant/natural)

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Prescriptions - An Example

• Activity Schedule
• When What
• 2025 3400 bf/ac and 4 cords/ac
• remove shelterwood
• assess regeneration
• natural/plant
• release regeneration

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Prescriptions - An Example

• Outcomes
• Improved health of the forest
• Planting/thinning will diversify native tree
  species
• Provide structural diversity for improved
  wildlife habitat/foodstores
• Net income stream of over 1,350/acre.

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Your Forest Condition ?

• Rehabilitation
• Maintenance

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Rehabilitation

• Undesirable species mix - past history/old field
• Poor tree quality
• Overstocked - poor health/vigor

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Rehab Tools

• Stand improvement practices (TSI)
• Vine removal
• Planting
• Intermediate thinning

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Stand Improvement

• A treatment(s) conducted during the
• life of the forest stand to improve
• species composition, stand structure,
• health, and quality of the forest stand.

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Video clip of TSI demonstration
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Crop-tree Release - Long-term Thinning Study

• Highly stocked stand of scarlet, black, and white
  oaks
• Thinned in 1953 - 5 treatments
• Age of stand at thinning- 29 years old
• Site index of 68 base age 50

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Crop-tree Release - No treatment

• 100 crop trees selected in 1953 - no treatment
• 36 trees per acre alive today
• 15.6 inches in diameter today, 4.7 inches in 53
• Current volume - 2,940 bf/acre
• Current value - 278.80

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Crop-tree Release - Heavy thin treatment

• 100 crop trees selected in 1953 - all trees over
  1/2 were removed
• 56 trees per acre alive today
• 17.4 inches in diameter today, 4.6 inches in 53
• Current volume - 7,568 bf/acre
• Current value 1,142.84/acre

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Vine Removal
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Intermediate Thin/Stand Improvement

• Accomplishing both with one harvest
• 70-year-old stand age uniform
• white oak, black oak, scarlet oak, hickory
• before harvest 125 sq. ft./ac. Basal area
• 20 tons/acre _at_ 3.0/ton, 1,500 bd.ft. sawlogs _at_
  90/1000mbf
• 195/acre revenue

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Pioneer Forest - Sustainable Maintenance for 50
years

• Goal Harvest trees for wood products
• while continuously maintaining the
• natural character of the forest for.
• watershed protection
• recreation
• mast production for wildlife
• visual and ecological benefits

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The Pioneer Forest

• 165,000 acres privately-owned
• single-tree selection method since 1951
• almost every acre harvested 3 times
• quality and volume have risen over time

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Pioneer Prescription

• Cut cycle high site 14-18 yrs.,
• low site 18-22 yrs.
• Leave about 60 stocking after harvest
• Remove 1,400 - 2,000 board feet per acre
• When to harvest based on.
• - average growth rate per acre per year
  
• - crown closure

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Mixed Stand - Pine / Hardwood
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Pine / Hardwood

• No management tends to move toward hardwood
• Hardwood have better regeneration strategies
• Need to scarify and open the site up to keep pine
  established

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Thank You