Abstract
Over the past five decades, research progress and implementation have been the leading factors supporting the rapid development of southern forestry. The South has become the leading timber-supplying region in the United States, taking advantage of a large accumulation of growing stock and a substantial investment in intensive, research-based management treatments. This chapter focuses primarily on intensive management of planted pine forests. Plantations commonly receive high levels of all inputs and are major beneficiaries of research advances. High plantation growth rates are essential if our increasing demand for wood is to be met and if harvest pressure on the remaining natural forests is to be reduced.
Parent Publication
Citation
Siry, Jacek P. 2004. Southern forest resource conditions and management practices from 1950-2000: Benefits of research. In: Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–75. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. Chapter 4. p. 23-31.