© 2002 by Institute of Chartered Foresters
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Examination of stand structure on quail plantations in the Red Hills region of Georgia and Florida managed by the Stoddard–Neel system: an example for forest managers
1 Missouri Department of Conservation, 1110 S. College Ave., Columbia, MO 65201, USA 2 F&W Forestry Services, 1310 West Oakridge Drive, Albany, GA 31707, USA 3 Faculty of Forestry, Czech Agricultural University in Prague, Praha 6, Suchdol, Czech Republic 4 School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65201, USA
Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) on quail hunting plantations in the Red Hills region of southern Georgia and northern Florida, USA, has been managed over the last 40 years by the ‘Stoddard–Neel’ system. Developed during World War II, the system focuses on stand structures with low densities and an open midstorey. These structures benefit both hunting and ecological concerns such as herbaceous diversity. We documented the forest stand structure on quail plantations in the Red Hills and compared it to the traditional ‘reverse-J’ structure. We conducted a variable plot cruise of the study area at an intensity of one plot per 4 hectares. Using these preliminary cruise data, we selected 22 sets of 40-ha measurement blocks. On the 40-ha blocks, we measured tree size and location in fixed-area plots on three randomly chosen transects in each block. The number of trees decreases rapidly as the diameter increases, up to a point. Next, there is a ‘bump’ or second mode in the larger diameter classes, after which the number of trees again decreases. Instead of the classic ‘reverse-J’ diameter distribution of shade-tolerant, uneven-aged forests, this distribution is bimodal. This forestwide structure was observed at the plantation and block level, with observed variation greatly increasing at the transect and plot levels. The shape of the diameter distributions reflects a preferential removal of saplings and midstorey trees for understorey diversity, aesthetics and quail management. These data further suggest that uneven-aged forests can be managed at the smaller scales as two-aged (‘two-sized’) stands. This method also has the advantage of concentrating growing space on larger, higher-value trees.