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In the News -
December 2007
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| Burning is an essential step in pine natural regeneration. |
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| Vigorous hardwood competition is common on north Arkansas harvest sites. |
BATESVILLE, Ark. - Pine management in north Arkansas has gained considerable interest from many landowners in recent years.
"Landowners like several desirable characteristics of pines such as short rotation lengths, ease of management compared to hardwoods, marketability - though marketing pulpwood in this region can be a problem - and other factors," said Kyle Cunningham, a forestry instructor with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.
The main consideration for pine production in north Arkansas is that the region's native pine is shortleaf pine, while loblolly is native to southern Arkansas.
"This isn't to say that shortleaf pine is unacceptable for management; it just isn't as financially attractive as loblolly pine," Cunningham said.
While planting pine seedlings or seed is an option to establish loblolly pine stands in north Arkansas, many landowners are interested in using natural methods to regenerate mature stands.
"Natural regeneration is attractive to many landowners because it can be less costly than planting pines," said
Because loblolly isn't native to north Arkansas, questions arise about the ability of loblolly to regenerate naturally in this region. The University of Arkansas is conducting a trial at the Livestock and Forestry Branch Station near Batesville to evaluate the potential for research in loblolly pine natural regeneration, Cunningham said.
In the spring of 2006, a 12-acre pine stand was harvested using a "seed tree" harvest method. The stand consisted of 6 acres of loblolly and 6 acres of shortleaf pine. The seed tree method was designed to remove the majority of trees from the site leaving scattered "seed trees" to provide seed for regeneration.
Following harvest, chemical competition control was applied to half of the harvested area to reduce the vigorous hardwood regeneration, common to north Arkansas. A prescribed burn was employed after the chemical application effects were evident in late summer of 2006.
The goal of the controlled burn was to expose the mineral soil to seed, remove logging slash and reduce hardwood competition, Cunningham said. The site will be evaluated during the 2007 and 2008 growing seasons to evaluate the seedling numbers present for loblolly pines and shortleaf pines.
If successful, a larger study could be performed in other mature loblolly pine stands at the experiment station.
Cunningham cautioned that while interest in pine management is growing in north Arkansas, care should be taken to ensure proper management strategies are employed. For many reasons, managing pines in north Arkansas may require different strategies than management elsewhere.
For more details on seed tree harvests see the Cooperative Extension Service publication Managing Loblolly Pine Stands … from A to Z.
For more information about managing forestland, contact your county extension agent or visit www.uaex.edu and select Agriculture, then Forestry. The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.
December 7, 2007
Media Contact: Lamar James
Extension Communications Specialist
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2187 or (501) 753-0207
ljames@uaex.edu
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