Mechanical site preparation is frequently proposed to alleviate problematic soil conditions when afforesting retired agricultural fields. Without management of soil problems, any seedlings planted in these areas may exhibit poor growth and survival. While mechanical site preparation methods currently employed in hardwood afforestation are proven, there is a substantial void in research comparin...

Site geology: The geology of the Oak Park site is one of limestone-drift materials overlying regional limestone-bedrock (over which two broad groups of soils occur: light-textured gravelly soils derived from limestone, and more heavy-textured soils derived from till). The soil underlying Miscanthus-plantations used in the experiments the former type, with a perched clay/subsoil layer under the ...

California has a fire-prone Mediterranean climate, and many of its nine species of native oak trees are thought to have evolved with fire. Little has been widely published about the role of fire in the oak recruitment and mortality in the western United States, and there has been some debate about how to reintroduce fire into oak woodlands. We present here a review, synthesis, and analysis of t...

The San Francisco Bay Area was home to some of the most celebrated valley oak lands in California, their grandeur much chronicled by early visitors and residents. Despite extensive loss, there remains substantial local interest in their preservation and restoration, necessitating an understanding of historical distribution and subsequent change. Assembling and interpreting historical and curren...

Stump sprouts are considered an important regeneration source in hardwood management, especially in upland oak-dominated forests. Less is known about stump sprouting in bottomland oak forests. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the success and growth of stump sprouts following 2 thinning levels, 70-75 percent of initial stocking (light thinning) and 45-50 percent of initial...

topography and geology. The most viable and often cost-effective option to improve poor quality stands on the better sites is through clearcutting. Assessments of ground disturbances that result from silvicultural operations under site conditions similar to the Cumberland Plateau region have focused on physical site characteristics. Relevant studies for the mid-Cumberland do not exist. Studies ...

We used logistic regression to identify environmental and management history factors associated with blue oak (Quercus douglasii) sapling recruitment. Recent canopy gaps caused by natural mortality or clearing were positively associated with sapling recruitment. Plots with very high or low levels of tree canopy cover were less likely to have saplings than those with intermediate canopy cover le...

We measured 2188 oak trees (Quercus spp.) on the Hoosier National Forest in southern Indiana before and 1, 5, and 10 years after clear-cutting to determine the influence of parent tree age, diameter breast height, and site index on the probability that there was one or more living sprouts per stump: (i) 1 year after clear-cutting (sprouting probability) or (ii) that were competitively successfu...

Microorganisms have many roles in nature. They may act as decomposers that obtain nutrients from dead materials, while some are pathogens that cause diseases in animals, insects, and plants. Some are symbionts that enhance plant growth, such as arbuscular mycorrhizae and nitrogen fixation bacteria. However, roles of plant pathogens and diseases in natural ecosystems are still poorly understood....