Sixty Years of Change in the Sapling Understories of Northern Hardwood Selection Stands in New Hampshire

Abstract

Abstract Numbers of understory saplings in northern hardwood stands on granitic soils harvested once or twice by single-tree selection were monitored on 1/4-ac cruise plots from 1931–32 to 1990–91. Beech, which composed somewhat less than half the stems, either increased slightly or declined; hemlock and striped maple increased substantially, whereas sugar maple declined. The decline in sugar maple saplings may have resulted from the influence of logging disturbances prior to 1931–32, which produced early successional vegetation conducive to sugar maple regeneration, followed by single-tree selection harvests that minimized any early successional influence. North. J. Appl. For. 23(4):301–303.