Publication Details

Year Published

2010

Publication

Forst Ecology and Management. 260: 1138-1148.

Abstract

Tree mortality shapes forest development, but rising mortality can represent lost production or an adverse response to changing environmental conditions. Thinning represents a strategy for reducing mortality rates, but different thinning techniques and intensities could have varying impacts depending on how they alter stand structure. We analyzed trends in stand structure, relative density, stand-scale mortality, climate, and correlations between mortality and climate over 46 years of thinning treatments in a red pine forest in Northern Minnesota, USA to examine how thinning techniques that remove trees of different crown classes interact with growing stock manipulation to impact patterns of tree mortality. Relative density in unharvested plots increased during the first 25 years of the study to around 80%, then began to plateau, but was lower (12-62%) in thinned stands.

Keywords

Citation

Powers, Matthew D.; Palik, Brian J.; Bradford, John B.; Fraver, Shawn; Webster, Christopher R. 2010. Thinning method and intensity influence long-term mortality trends in a red pine forest. Forst Ecology and Management. 260: 1138-1148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2010.07.002.