Twenty-Five Years of Intensive Forest Management with Southern Pines: Important Lessons Learned

Abstract

Abstract A commitment to long-term forest research provides the basis and opportunity to understand developmental processes and stand dynamics over an entire rotation. The southeastern United States has undergone a significant evolution in forest management practices over the last 60 years, especially in regard to the intensification of pine plantation silviculture. However, few studies have examined production relationships for an entire rotation. This article reviews results from a rotation-length experiment that tested factorial combinations of understory competition control and sustained fertilizer additions on the productivity and stand dynamics of loblolly (Pinus taeda L.) and slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. elliottii) in north central Florida. After 25 years, fertilizer and competition control treatments increased site index (base age, 25 years) from 64 to 87 ft in loblolly pine and from 75 to 88 ft in slash pine. In addition, these cultural treatments increased total stand stem volume accumulation by 1.8–2.2-fold compared with the control treatments for slash and loblolly pine, respectively; the proportion of volume in high-value product classes such as chip-n-saw (C/S) and sawtimber was also increased in both species (e.g., 39% in C/S and sawtimber in the loblolly pine control treatment versus 74–87% in the fertilizer and/or weed control treatments). Overall, results from this study, as well as others in the region, highlight the overriding importance of soil nutrient supply on long-term productivity of southern pine stands.