Carbon, mushrooms, and timber – what
more could you want? 15 years of the
Vermont Forest Ecosystem Management
Demonstration Project
Contributors:
Sarah Ford, Jared Nunery, Kimberly Smith,
William S. Keeton, Ph.D.
Heather McKenny, Nicholas Dove, Aviva
Prof. of Forest Ecology and Forestry
Gottesman, Andrea Urbano, Katherine
School
of Environment
and Natural Resources
Manaras-Smith, Thomas
Buchholz,
Austin Troy
University of Vermont
Photo credit: Sarah Ford
90
80
Species abundance
70
60
50
Sustaining a Broader Array of Forest
Biodiversity in Temperate Forest
Ecosystems?
Vertebrate habitat associations in the
U.S. Northeast
40
30
20
10
0
Early successional
Early successional
w/mature forest
component
Generalist, Midsuccessional, or req's
both early and late
attributes
Successional gradient
Late successional sp.
w/some early seral
component
Late successional
Keeton et al. 2005
Emulating natural disturbances as an element of
sustainable forestry
From: Burrascano, S., W.S. Keeton, F.M. Sabatini, and C. Blasi. 2013. Commonality and
variability in the structural attributes of moist temperate old-growth forests: A global review.
Forest Ecology and Management 291:458–479.
Forest Age-Class Distributions Since 1600
Proportion of Forest Cover
1.0
19th
century
Current
Pre-European
Settlement
Data from Cogbill (2000),
Lorimer (2001), Lorimer and
White (2003)
0
Young
Mature
Old-growth
Stand Age/Structural Condition
Vermont Forest Ecosystem Management
Demonstration Project
Forest Ecosystem Management
Demonstration Project
• Long-term study testing effects of disturbancebased silvicultural treatments on development of
late-successional forest structure and function
2001
2003
Study Initiated
Treatment
Implementation
(First year posttreatment data)
(Pre-treatment
data)
2015
Field Inventory
(12-years posttreatment data)
Study Sites
Paul Smiths College
(FERDA)
Mt. Mansfield
State Forest
UVM Jericho
Research Forest
Single-Tree Selection Unit
Pre-Harvest
Post-Harvest
Structural Complexity Enhancement Unit
Pre-Harvest
Post-Harvest
Emulating Natural Disturbances
• Structural Complexity
Enhancement: Variable
density with small gaps (0.02
ha mean)
• Modified Group Selection: Irregular
sized gaps (0.05 ha mean) with
light retention in gaps
Fungal Responses;
Aboveground Sporocarps
Dove and Keeton. 2015.
Fungal Ecology
Fungi Species Richness:
Classification and Regression Tree
CWD Volume (Decay classes 3‐5) < 71.42 m3/ha
Initial formula included
7 structural variables
Dead Stem Density < 28.85 trees/ha
12.250
Live Aboveground Biomass < 69.25 Mg/ha
4.188
Total CWD Volume < 68.59 m3/ha
5.625
*Response Variable = Species Richness
5.250
13.500
Fungi
Richness
Dove and Keeton. 2015.
Fungal Ecology
Carbon pool comparisons
• Pre- (2001) and postharvest (2003 and
2013)
• “Conventional” is
combined single and
group-selection
• Error bars = +/- one
standard error of the
mean
• Whiskers indicate
spread of data.
% Difference
Carbon stocks 10-years post-harvest: Difference
compared to simulated “No Harvest” baseline
P = 0.003
P = 0.001
Live Tree
Standing Dead
Downed Log
Carbon Management Implications
Late-successional/no-harvest
biomass (structure)
Biomass/Carbon
15.9%
Structural
Complexity
Enhancement
Measured carbon
response after 10 years
44.9%
CONVENTIONAL
Loss of biomass postharvest
Time
Adapted from Bauhus et al. 2009
• 60% of conventional
harvest volume
• Profit: f(economies of
scale, market and site
conditions)
Can management for old-growth
characteristics generate a profit?
Tree Regeneration Diversity by Treatment, 12
Years Post-Harvest
Shannon-Weiner H-Index
2.5
2
1.5
Pre-Treatment
Immediately Post-Treatment
1
10-Years Post-Treatment
0.5
0
Control
Group
Selection
Structural
Single-Tree
Complexity
Selection
Enhancement
CARBON EMPHASIS
High
Low
When, Where, and Why?
Application
# Entries
Late-Successional
Structural Development
Old-growth
promotion
One or possibly
two entries
High
Riparian
management
Single or multiple
Moderate to high
Timber emphasis
Multiple
Low to moderate
Acknowledgements
• Vermont Monitoring Cooperative
• U.S. National Science Foundation
• Northeastern States Research
Cooperative
• USDA McIntire-Stennis Forest
Research Program
• USDA National Research Initiative
Structural Complexity Enhancement unit, Mt. Mansfield
State Forest, VT. June 2014