Graduate Student Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States
Thinning mitigates stem breakage damage and expedites recovery from stem breakage, enhancing forest productivity. Our study reveals the long-term effectiveness of thinning and its potential as a strategic tool in forest management, particularly in mitigating impacts of disturbances like ice storms and hurricanes.
Learning Objectives:
Upon completion, participants will be able to describe the role of thinning in accelerating the recovery from stem breakage and its long-term effectiveness. They will understand how thinning treatments can expedite recovery from disturbances such as ice storms and hurricanes, and ensure the sustainability of forest productivity.
Upon completion, participants will be able to differentiate between the impacts of tree-level damage (i.e., crown damage for individuals) and plot-level damage (percentages of damaged trees). They will comprehend how the severity of crown damage for individual trees significantly affects the periodic annual increment of volume, and how thinning can alleviate these impacts.
