CFEOR Signature Projects
Long Term Signature Project - 2008
Developing Adaptive Management Strategies for Ecosystems in Transition: A Collaborative Research Project of Cooperative for Conserved Forest Ecosystems
Principal Investigator:
Kimberly Bohn, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida
wfrec.ufl.edu/forest_ecology/bohn.html
Project Funders:
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Suwannee River Water Management District
Northwest Florida Water Management District
Florida Department of Forestry
Florida Park Service
Project Summary: (Photos)
Management of conserved forests must consider the sustainability of variety of ecosystem products and values. Increasingly, uneven-aged forest management is considered an ideal strategy for maintaining ecosystem function and structure to ensure the sustained production of both commodity products and other ecosystems services including wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, and recreational value. In forest ecosystems ofthe Southeast, in particular, the longleaf pine dominant ecosystems, uneven-aged management is also considered to mimic natural disturbance processes (Brockway et aI., 2006; Jose et aI., 2006). For example, the group selection and the single-tree selection methods simulate mortality caused by lightning strikes or small insect outbreaks. The irregular shelterwood method represents circumstances where a partial stand of longleaf pine or longleaf pine-slash is left following a catastrophic event, such as a hurricane. Despite the increased desire to incorporate uneven-aged management on conserved forests, uneven-aged methods such as selection system have received much less scrutiny than even-aged methods, in general, because oftheir perceived lack ofoperational efficiency and, in southern forest types, because of a perceived inability of shade-intolerant species to regenerate under a partial overstory. Currently, a large proportion of conserved forests in the Southeast has an even-aged structure either due to historic fire suppression or due to conversion to plantations and is in need of restoration.
The long-term sustainability of any uneven-aged management regime is dependent on the ability ofthe system to provide consistent values over time, whether they are for commodity or non-commodity purposes. Hence our overall objectives is to examine a range of uneven-aged reproduction methods with two different fire frequencies (reproduction matrix) in order to achieve a sustainable multifunctional ecosystem that can provide a number of commodity (parameters that we will assess: timber production and carbon sequestration) and non-commodity (parameters that we will assess: biodiversity enhancement and habitat quality for red cockaded woodpecker-RCW, and recreational value) services.
Specific Objectives
Objective 1: Can the proposed uneven-aged management strategies (3 reproduction methods, 2 fire regimes) lead to long-term sustainable longleaf/slash pine ecosystems in terms of species composition (both overstory and understory), structure and productivity (timber yield and carbon sequestration potential)?
Objective 2: Can the proposed uneven-aged management strategies lead to long-term sustainable noncommodity
benefits such as habitat value for RCW, and enhanced recreational opportunities?
Objective 3: What would be the market and non-market value ofcommodities and services derived from multifunctional uneven-aged longleaffslash pine ecosystems?