Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project: A Long-Term, Landscape-Scale, Collaborative Forest Management Research Project

Abstract

The Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP) is a long-term, landscape-scale study that exemplifies a model of forest research emphasizing interagency and multidiscipline collaboration. Established in 1989 in the Ozark Highlands of southeastern Missouri, MOFEP uses a randomized complete block design to test the effects of three forest management systems (even-aged management, uneven-aged management, and no-harvest management) on response variables across a range of disciplines. Within this overarching experimental design, other studies have been nested to address specific research questions across spatial and temporal scales. This project is driven by management needs and is designed to evaluate the effects of forest management systems practiced by a state agency, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), on an operational scale. Treatments are applied with entries at 15-year intervals over the course of the project’s planned 100-year rotation length. To date, MOFEP has produced over 65 publications in peer-reviewed journals from scientists at federal, state, academic, and nonprofit organizations. This project is unique in that it is supported and maintained by a state agency, with keys to success including long-term commitment of resources and personnel, communication of results to scientific and management communities, and collaboration among and within those communities.