Intermediate Cutting in Mixed Upland Oak Stands on the Western Highland Rim, Tennessee, After a Quarter of a Century
This article is part of a larger document. View the larger document here.Abstract
In 1973 and 1974, a study was established at Stewart State Forest (SSF) and Lewis State Forest (LSF) to evaluate Roach and Gingrich’s “Even-Aged Silviculture for Upland Central Oaks” on the Western Highland Rim. Harvesting to the “B-level” of the stocking guide primarily removed cull and low-quality stems. Basal area was reduced from 110 to 80 square feet per acre at SSF and from 99 to 75 square feet per acre at LSF. Although there were no differences between uncut and cut plots before harvest at either state forest, density, basal area, volume and value were significantly higher on the uncut plots immediately after harvest and also at 10 and 26/27 years, except for number of merchantable trees at age 26/27. Current value of the sawtimber and of all merchantable trees was not significantly different between uncut and cut plots. After a quarter of a century, the number of saplings decreased substantially on both the cut and uncut plots at both state forests. At SSF, at least 90 percent of the saplings were undesirable timber species or understory species; at LSF, nearly 70 percent were undesirable.