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Title:	Forage production after thinning a natural loblolly pine-hardwoocl stand to clifferent basal areas
Author(s):	Peitz, David G.; Shelton, Michael G.; Tappe, Philip A.
Date:	2001
Source:	Wildlife Society Bulletin 29(2):697-705
Description:	Mixed pine (Pinus spp.)-hardwood forests are common in the southern United States (U.S.), but little quantitative information exists on the response of understory forage to reductions in basal area from thinning. We determined understory forage characteristics before thinning and 2 and 4 years after thinning a 35-year-old natural loblolly pine (P. taeda)-hardwood stand (initially 27 m2/ha of pine and 8 m2/ha of hardwood basal area). A combination of 3 loblolly pine (15, 18, and 21 m2/ha) and 3 hardwood (0, 3.5, and 7 m2/ha) basal area was replicated 3 times, resulting in 27 0.08-ha plots. Understory coverage and forage biomass were determined on 25 understory plots systematically located within each plot, with data analyzed using analysis of variance and regression. Herbaceous forage biomass and coverage and light intensity were correlated negatively (P<0.05) with retained pine and harwood basal areas, with hardwood basal area being the more inportant factor. Stand thinning improved herbaceous forage availability for wildlife, but the response was timedependent. Forage from woody browse and vines also increased following stand thinning, although repsonses were not as time-dependent as herbaceous forages. Results of our study indidcate that managers can manipulate forage production by thinning stands to prescribed basal areas and compositions.
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