Forestry

Tree terms

Saw log- 6-8 inches for soft wood, 10-12 inches for hardwoods

Cut types

More Cut Types

• Selection cut- promotes uneven aged stands• Selective cut- removes oldest, most valuable

trees, bad for forest growth• Shelterwood retains 30-70% of canopy • Clear cutting is good for PA forests because it

allows sun loving trees like black cherry and oak to regenerate

Stand Types

Forest Structures

Fires• 98% ignited by humans, mostly burning debris

PA Forestry

• 30% of PA economy is based on forestry • 17 million Acres of forest cover, almost 60 % of the

State• Produces more than a billion board feet of hardwood

and three-quarters of a million cords of pulpwood• Most of PA white pine & hemlock forests cut by early

1900s• Now even aged mixed hardwoods • 90% of PA trees are hardwoods

Forest Affect on Water

• Incepts & infiltrates water• Trees Consume Storm Water • Removes Pollutants • Phytoremediation – examples trees in parking

lots • Riparian Buffers

Forestry Problems

• Skidding is the process of dragging logs from the stumps to a central location, called a log landing, where they are loaded onto trucks and transported to the mill.

• Log landings create large areas of unprotected, exposed soil

• Roads disturb soil, increase erosion • Sewage removal • Pesticide use

More facts

• Trees are plants that can reach at least 15 ft tall

• Forest is land with at least 10% trees

Forest Fragmentation • Increases spread of invasives• Decreases mobility and habitat size of natives

Mixed-oak forests

• Contain primarily the oaks; including northern red oak, chestnut oak, white oak, scarlet oak; along with the maples, yellow-poplar, ash, hickories, and miscellaneous deciduous species.

• The understory vegetation is mountain laurel and blueberry.

Northern hardwood forests

• Contain primarily black cherry, the maples, American beech, the birches

• Understory composition often comprised of ferns, striped maple and beech brush.

• Hemlock and eastern white pine are common to both forest types and both produce valuable wood products

Succession

Forest Types

• Forest Openings- herbaceous rather than woody growth; insects, small mammals

• Brush stage- small, dense, woody vegetation; browse and fruit, nesting cover

• Pole timber- less wildlife value, more timber value

• Mast/Mature timber- (mast is the fruit of woody plants) high protein and fat for animals,

Tree Types

• Large old- nesting cavities, roosting, mast• Snags and cavity- dead but standing, perches,

cavities• Evergreens- cover from cold and snow• Vines, shrubs, fruit- form understory• Riparian- form fish and wildlife habitats, act as

sponges

Special Habitats

• Wetlands- most productive, but least common in PA; greatest biodiversity

• Seep Springs- Snow free in winter, providing water and food

• Cliffs- secure nesting and unique habitats• Caves- shelter, nesting, and roosting

Biodiversity Levels

Factors the Increase Extinction

• Specializers • Sought by People• Rare• Codependent • Top of the Food Chain • Low Reproduction Rate