Can uneven-aged management improve the economic performance of longleaf pine?

Abstract

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) is a keystone tree species in the Coastal Plain of the southern United States. To reverse habitat loss and restore critically important forest ecosystem services in this region dominated by private landownership, longleaf pine’s economic performance must be addressed. Uneven-aged forest management has been suggested as a viable alternative for longleaf pine, but evidence of its economic performance under uneven-aged versus even-aged management is lacking. Here, we compare the economic viability of three competing longleaf pine management scenarios — thinned even-aged, unthinned even-aged (conservation and non-conservation land objectives), and uneven-aged — considering timber and nontimber benefits. We find that managing existing uneven-aged longleaf pine forests with a 10-year cutting cycle is economically preferred to even-aged management for land conservation ($1643.9·ha−1 versus $1548.8 to $1641.6·ha−1). However, these estimates exclude costs associated with switching to uneven-aged management ($174.3 to $694.9·ha−1), which are considerable. Annual subsidies of between $5 and $22·ha−1 for 50 years would be required to offset costs of conversion to uneven-aged management. For establishment of new longleaf pine stands, an uneven-aged scenario would be the economically preferred management approach, providing higher economic gains ($176.9·ha−1) than unthinned, high-density even-aged management when the primary objective is timber production.