SEAFWA 2018

AUTHORS: Kent A. Keene, William D. Gulsby – School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences; Allison G. Colter, James A. Martin – Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources; Darren A. Miller, Weyerhaeuser Company; Karl V. Miller, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

ABSTRACT: Planted stands of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) represent approximately 19% of forested land in the southeastern U.S. Accordingly, public and private landowners are often challenged with managing these stands for both timber production and wildlife habitat for a variety of species, including white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; deer). However, the tradeoffs among thinning intensity, deer forage production, and stand economics have not been quantified. Thus, we designed an operational-scale, manipulative experiment to evaluate the effects of three thinning treatments (i.e., residual basal areas of 9, 13, and 18 m2/ha), with and without prescribed fire, on percent cover and biomass of preferred deer forage and net present value (NPV) of five loblolly pine stands (36-53 hectares/stand) in Georgia’s Piedmont. We implemented thinning treatments during March-July 2017 and measured understory vegetation during July-September 2017. Overall, understory vegetation increased in all treatments in the first year following thinning, although percent cover of deer forage did not differ among 9 m2/ha (mean = 16.4, SD = 13.3), 13 m2/ha (mean = 16.6, SD = 12.2), or 18 m2/ha (mean = 18.9, SD = 13.1) treatments. During the late dormant season of 2018, we applied prescribed fire to half of each treatment unit. We expect differences in deer forage to manifest over the next two years of monitoring, during which we will also use timber growth models to compare NPV among treatments. The results of this research will assist private landowners and state agencies with timber management decisions on lands managed for multiple objectives.