FAQs: Forest Ecology and Management

Silviculture is the art, science, and practice of caring for forests with respect to human objectives. To understand silvilculture, one must first understand silvics. Silvics involves understanding how trees grow, reproduce, and respond to environmental changes. A good overview of silvics and silviculture can be found at the USDA Forest Service's "Silviculture" page. Additionally, the Forest Service produced two reference guides to "Silvics in North America" which includes comprehensive data on most continental conifers and hardwoods.

Creating or regenerating new forests of oaks after the harvest of an existing oak forest is a little more difficult than the natural regeneration of some other species. Many existing oak forests were encouraged by regular wildfires that killed competing species. High deer populations have resulted in heavy browsing of young oaks in the forest, allowing other less preferred species to take over. One common forest management technique used to encourage the growth of young oaks is called the shelterwood method. This method involves a gradual removal of mature trees in a woodlot in two or three stages. The slower canopy removal allows sunlight to stimulate the growth of new acorns and existing sprouts, until sufficient numbers exist to form a new forest. New seedlings can be protected from deer by distributing slash to protect new seedlings, fencing, or by reducing the deer population.

Because of soil conditions and climate, as some areas are better suited for pines than other species. Pines also can be planted and harvested in a shorter time than most hardwoods. An average person can plant and harvest one or more pine plantations in his/her lifetime, whereas he/she may not see the harvesting of hardwoods planted. A professional forester needs to look at your land to determine the potential for growing different forest species given your objectives and resources.

78% of Maryland's forestland is privately owned. This means that the future of Maryland's forests, their health, and their wildlife depends on the decisions of many individuals. Because fragmentation and parcelization have both positive and negative consequences and affect an area larger than an individual property, landowners should seek information and help in determining and implementing their management objectives. To minimize the effect of fragmentation, individual landowners must work together to achieve common goals because wildlife and other ecosystem processes do not stop at property boundaries. Plan your actions to maintain large blocks of forest.

A good place to start against forest fragmentation is to get a recent aerial photograph of your property and the surrounding area from the county Farm Services Agency office. An alternative method is to download and locate your property using Google Earth.

Good forest stewardship calls for an extra effort: cooperation with neighboring forest landowners to achieve goals beneficial to the larger forest as well as to the individual forest properties. Talk with your neighbors and contact the state forester or local Extension office for information on developing a forest stewardship plan and financial incentive programs to pursue the objectives you share.

Maryland's forests change and adapt as they grow and mature or as they respond to natural events such as drought, fire, storms, or insect or disease outbreaks. A changing climate may make them more susceptible to such stressors.

The key to helping your woodlands survive these changes is to create an effective plan of woodland stewardship management. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service, in conjunction with the University of Maryland Extension, the university's Center for Environmental Science, and the US Forest Service, has created a publication that summarizes these threats and effective strategies for coping with them. The publication, entitled "Helping your woodland adapt to a changing climate," is available here.