Data from the "Tree Quality Outcomes of Silvicultural Treatments” study at the Penobscot Experimental Forest

This data publication contains tree quality assessments from the Penobscot Experimental Forest (PEF) in Bradley and Eddington, Maine, USA. Trees were assessed using one or more of the following criteria: merchantable or unmerchantable (cull); acceptable growing stock (AGS) or unacceptable growing stock (UGS); and by tree form and risk codes. AGS trees are those that observers expected to maintain or increase in value; UGS are high risk or low quality trees not expected to maintain or increase in value (individual protocols used for datasets being presented are described in detail in the Methodology section of this publication). Data presented in this publication were collected by researchers at the U.S. Forest Service (FS), Northern Research Station, and University of Maine (UM) School of Forest Resources in permanent sample plots (PSP) between 2012 and 2015. All data were collected in management units (MUs) assigned to either the Compartment Management Study (CMS) or the Management Intensity Demonstration (MID) at the PEF, both of which are long-term studies.
As tree quality inevitably relates to past silvicultural treatments and stand history, tracking the outcomes of management activities informs land managers of the potential benefits or disadvantages of various silvicultural prescriptions. Because silvicultural treatments have been applied in the study areas on the PEF since the 1950s, tree quality outcomes are related to the silvicultural prescriptions over the past half-century, providing managers information about potential outcomes in similar environs. Furthermore, the ability to assist land managers in determining the proportion of trees of different quality categories can not only help determine potential income from forest management but also inform important considerations such as wildlife habitat, nutrient recycling, or structural diversity.
We strongly recommend that users read the accompanying documentation provided with the full data publication download before proceeding with data summary or analysis. Refer to the Entity and Attributes section of the metadata for a list of commonly used acronyms and abbreviations. Original metadata date was 11/13/2018. Minor metadata updates on 09/06/2019.