• Tero, Nalbert Tarbox
  University of Maine Graduate School
  

Silviculture systems based on old-growth forest disturbance regimes have been proposed as a way to harvest forest products while maintaining natural stand structures and biodiversity. In Northeastern North America's Acadian forest ecosystem, data from old growth preserves indicate that disturbance regimes have historically been dominated by small canopy gap events, leading to complex multi aged stand structures. To evaluate the outcomes of silviculture intended to resemble these gap-driven processes we investigated forest age and structure in mature, apparently even aged second growth stands in the Scientific Forest Management Area of Baxter State Park, Maine.