Factors Affecting Hardwoods
Factors Affecting regeneration of hard mast species in the central hardwood region
Forests in the eastern United States is in danger of widespread conversion from oak, a foundational species group, to more shade tolerant trees due to fire suppression, poor harvesting practices, and a variety of other factors. This shift would reduce ecological resilience and significantly change the ecological and economic services provided by these forests.
This project gained in-depth knowledge of the regeneration dynamics of both oak (Quercus) and American chestnut (Castanea dentata), a former foundational species in eastern forests. Using both the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment and the Crane Expanding Gap studies, researchers are monitoring regeneration survival and growth after many management practices.
This research demonstrated that the blight-resistant American chestnut can be successfully reintroduced to understories in eastern deciduous forests due to its ability to thrive in shady environments. Oak, on the other hand, requires more disturbance and germinates better with assistance of scatter hoarding small mammals.
Project Director: Dr. Michael Saunders
10/01/2012 - 09/30/2017
Print/Research
Learn More About Us
Austin Grant, a senior majoring in aquatic sciences with a minor in military science and...
More than 1.6 million square miles of forests have disappeared since 1990, according to the Food...
Sophia DeMoss, a senior forestry major with a concentration in forest management, got hands-on...
The Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources has added a number of new faces to its...
Tam Tran, a senior majoring in wildlife and minoring in aquatic sciences, spent the summer as a...
When Dr. John Kershaw grew up in southern Indiana between Mooresville and Martinsville, he had a...