Early thinning experiments established by the Fort Valley Experimental Forest

De Blois, Benjamin P. and Finkral, Alex J. and Sanchez-Meador, Andrew J. and Moore, Margaret M. (2008) Early thinning experiments established by the Fort Valley Experimental Forest. In: Fort Valley Experimental Forest - A Century of Research 1908-2008 Conference Proceedings (RMRS-P-55), August 7-9, 2008, Flagstaff, AZ.

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Abstract

Between 1925 and 1936, the Fort Valley Experimental Forest (FVEF) scientists initiated a study to examine a series of forest thinning experiments in second growth ponderosa pine stands in Arizona and New Mexico. These early thinning plots furnished much of the early background for the development of methods used in forest management in the Southwest. The plots ranged from 0.1 ac to 5 ac (0.04 ha to 2.02 ha) in size and many of the thinning plots and control plots were remeasured at 2 to 10-year intervals until the 1940s. The first thinning plots in the Southwest, called the White Spar plots, were established in 1925 on the Prescott National Forest. The residual trees on the thinned White Spar plots maintained higher growth rates than the control until the mid 1970s. The results from these early stand thinning experiments led G.A. Pearson, Director of FVEF, and others to largely abandon uniform thinning treatments and adopt the crop-tree thinning method as an improved method for thinning southwestern ponderosa pine stands.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Publisher’s Statement:	Published by US Forest Service.
Additional Information:	More information on the Fort Valley Experimental Forest: http://www.rmrs.nau.edu/fortvalley/; Long Valley Experimental Forest: https://www.fs.fed.us/rmrs/experimental-forests-and-ranges/long-valley-experimental-forest
Keywords:	Long-term research; Ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa); Range research; Silviculture; Cultural resources; Fort Valley Experimental Forest, Long Valley Experimental Forest; Fort Valley Experiment Station; Thinning; ERI Library
Subjects:	S Agriculture > SD Forestry
Department/Unit:	Research Centers > Ecological Restoration Institute
Date Deposited:	18 May 2017 19:35
URI:	http://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/2839

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