Using herbicides to control interfering understories in Allegheny hardwood stands, 1. Early development of prescriptions

Abstract

I came to work at the Forestry Sciences Laboratory in 1973, about 10 years after harvest cutting had begun in the maturing second-growth Allegheny hardwood forest. Clearcutting had been selected as the forest regeneration technique because it seemed to have worked well in the turn of the 20^th century harvests on the Allegheny Plateau. But at this time, only about half the stands regenerated to desirable species; the other half regenerated to hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula), New York fern (Thelypteris noveboracensis), grasses and sedges, or to shade-tolerant understory trees such as striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia). Abundant small seedlings were required to regenerate these stands. Small seedlings were typically either inadequate or absent. Instead, ground cover was of hay-scented and New York fern, grasses and sedges, or understory trees of striped maple and American beech.

Parent Publication

• SILVAH: 50 years of science-management cooperation, Proceedings of the Allegheny Society of American Foresters training session

Citation

Horsley, Stephen B. 2019. Using herbicides to control interfering understories in Allegheny hardwood stands, 1. Early development of prescriptions. In: Stout, Susan L., ed. SILVAH: 50 years of science-management cooperation. Proceedings of the Allegheny Society of American Foresters training session; 2017 Sept. 20-22; Clarion, PA. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-186. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 37-43. https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-GTR-P-186-Paper4.