North Central Research Station

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North Central
Research Station
202 Natural Resources
Columbia, MO 65211

(573) 875-5341

Silviculture Research

[Photograph]: Two Central Hardwood Scientists examing acorn production on a bottomland site

Why is this a priority?

The demand for wood products is increasing at twice the rate of population growth, and there is concern that demand will exceed supply in the 21st century. The public increasingly demands diverse of benefits from forests including commodities, aesthetics, clean water, wildlife habitat, recreation, spiritual values, and native biological diversity. To address these social trends, we need to assess traditional silvicultural methods and systems and develop some new, innovative approaches. Silvicultural systems are used to create specific forest conditions desired by society. This is accomplished by controlling diversity and structure of plant populations through planned disturbances based on an ecological understanding of forest succession and landscape processes.

Current Areas of Silviculture Research

Research on Oak Decline
Long-Term Soil Productivity
Regenerating Oaks in Missouri's Bottomlands
Uneven-Aged Silviculture
Fire as a Management Tool

Featured Publication

The status of timber resources in the North Central United States
Stephen Shifley and Neal Sullivan. Summarizes forest area, ownership, volume, growth, harvest, products, product consumption, trends, and sustainability for the North Central United States including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin.

USDA Forest Service - North Central Research Station
Last Modified: October 26, 2004