Forest Restoration at Sewanee

Abstract

Two methods used to restore oak-hickory forests include prescribed burning and the removal of non-native tree species. The objective of this study was to restore a 30-acre stand in Sewanee, Tennessee by removing non-native loblolly pine and eastern white pine, planting native shortleaf pine, and encouraging oak-hickory regeneration with fire. A forest inventory was performed by taking the dbh of all trees >4.5 feet in height in 1/10 acre plots, counting advanced oak regeneration in 1/1000 acre plots, and completing an understory inventory. Brown transects, soil, litter, and duff depths, and photographs were also taken at each plot. The average pretreatment basal area was 125.2 ft2/acre, the tree density was 501 stems/acre, and the oak seedling density was 4150 stems/acre. Before treatment, the site had an average of 7.81 ton/acre of down woody debris, and Vaccinium and Smilax dominated the understory cover. The study is an ongoing project, as the harvest, redistribution of slash, burning, reseeding of grass, and planting of shortleaf have not yet occurred.