Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest 'Methods of Cutting' study plots 8-11: 88+ years of tree regeneration and forest understory cover data

The data presented here were collected as part of the Sierra Nevada-wide historical ‘Methods of Cutting’ (MOC) study led by USDA Forest Service silviculturist Duncan Dunning and resampled after 88+ years. These data represent forest understory cover and tree regeneration in four large forestry plots (MOC8, MOC9, MOC10, and MOC11) in what is now the Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest (Stanislaus National Forest) in California. Historical data were collected before logging in 1928/1929 and almost annually after logging through 1948 to examine progress towards restocking plots in 440 milacre quadrats. After rediscovery, tree regeneration, shrub and ground cover, and presence of adult trees were re-measured partially in 2008 and fully in 2016. Data include quadrat- and individual-level seedling growth measurements as well as quadrat-level herb, shrub, and ground cover measurements. Also included are scans of original hand-drawn maps and data sheets. Maps show individual seedlings and saplings as well as shrub and ground cover between 1928 and 1948. Data sheets contain hand-written tabular data for herb and shrub cover, and tree regeneration counts by species between 1928 and 1931.
The purpose of the MOC study was to determine the influence of different logging practices on residual stand growth and tree regeneration (both advance and post-logging). For MOC plot 8, special interest was taken in whether logging could promote the growth of pine in a stand undergoing natural succession to fir.
Spatial data representing overstory structure from the same plots was published in Knapp and Carlson (2021). For more information about this study and these data, see Dunning (1926) and Brodie et al. (in review).