This presentation can fit into step 9 of this activity to enhance students’ learning of forest management practices that can help prevent the spread or occurrence of disease in a forest.

So to review, for a disease to have an impact on a forest three elements must be present. These are … Bottom pictures from left to right: Pitch canker, Oak leaf blister, Laurel wilt on a Redbay tree Go to next slide …

Ask your students to name the three elements of the disease triangle out loud. Then go to the next slide

Environmental Conditions Host Pathogen Environmental Conditions

Environmental Conditions Excellent! Host Pathogen Environmental Conditions

Now let’s discuss forest management techniques that can help prevent disease from occurring or spreading in forests. Photo: Extensive damage of planted longleaf pines by the redheaded pine sawfly.

First, what is forest management? It is a process to provide a forest with the proper care to remain healthy and provide the products and services that landowners desire. - The Ohio State University Forest management is a process meaning landowners have to be flexible and adaptive to change their management techniques to get what they need and want from the forest. If something doesn’t work, managers must figure out what went wrong and try again. It is a process that combines science and human values. Human values of a forest can range from valuing the natural beauty of the forest, valuing the wildlife habitat and ecosystem services it provides (see It is a Forest!), valuing the forest products such as wood and nuts that come from it, and so on. Forest management may sometimes need to balance multiple values for a forest at the same time.

Forest Management Techniques The management techniques used depend on the social, economic and ecological values of the forest. Some techniques are: Harvesting Spaced out planting Thinning Prescribed burning

Harvesting Harvesting is the removal of trees from a forest. This can be done to get wood for timber and paper, for wildlife habitat, and for easier access for hunting and recreation. Harvesting trees can help maintain the health of the forest which makes it easier for the trees to resist disease. Harvesting allows more sunlight, nutrients, and water to be made available to the trees in the forest which contributes to their health. Healthy trees are better able to resist disease. Some wildlife species are dependent on multiple ages of trees existing in an area, such as seedlings along with mature trees for food, mating, nesting, and shelter. By cutting down some trees in a forest and leaving others stand, there will be more age diversity. Harvesting provides economic benefits to landowners by allowing them to sell timber and forest products from their forest. These products can also provide social benefits too as people use the timber and forest products for building construction, food, medicines, paper products and so on.

Harvesting Group Selection Seed tree There are multiple harvesting methods all of which depend on the social, economic, and ecological benefits that are desired. Here are two examples. Group selection is when groups of trees within a forest are removed. These groups of removed trees are rotated so that within 40 to 50 years all areas of the forest would have been at what time removed. This allows pockets of young vegetation to grow up which are beneficial to many wildlife species. It also allows people to remove large high quality timber because the trees are given time to grow and mature before they are cut down again. Seed tree harvesting involves removing most of the trees in a forest accept for a few healthy mature trees that produce seeds. 5 or more trees are left on each acre to produce seeds for the next generation of trees. Only the healthiest strongest trees are left to be seed trees which can over time make the forest much more healthy and resistant to disease. Wildlife also enjoy eating the seeds and insects that can be found on the open ground. Source: North Carolina Forestry Association - http://www.ncforestry.org/WEBPAGES/FOREST%20MANAGEMENT/FORESTMANAGEMENTINDEX.htm

Spaced out planting Forest landowners can maintain the health of a forest and help prevent the spread of disease by planting their trees further apart or by planting fewer trees in an area. Spaced out planting makes it more difficult for some pathogens to travel from tree to tree. Trees that are planted further from each other are often more healthy. Can you guess why? It is easier for trees that are spread out to get sunlight, nutrients and water to stay healthy. And as we’ve discussed already, healthy trees are usually better able to resist disease.

Spaced out planting Although there may be fewer trees planted in this forest, the extra distance between the rows will help maintain the health of the forest against disease.

Thinning This involves removing select trees that already exist in a forest. The trees that are removed are usually less healthy or less desirable for landowners. For the same reasons as in harvesting, removing select trees can help maintain the health of a forest. Thinning can be done selectively on a tree-by-tree basis, or more systematically, such as every third tree in a row on a plantation. Trees that have been hit by lightning or damaged by disease are examples of trees that may be selected for thinning. Unwanted species of trees, such as an oak tree in a pine forest, can also be selected for thinning.

Thinning Photo: Doug Maguire, Oregon State University, Bugwood.org

Prescribed Burning Excessive vegetation and dead wood can harbor disease-causing pathogens. Too much understory vegetation also competes with the overstory trees for limited water and nutrients. Prescribed burning decreases the amount of dead wood as well as the undergrowth in an area. Thinning can be done selectively on a tree-by-tree basis, or more systematically, such as every third tree in a row on a plantation. Trees that have been hit by lightning or damaged by disease are examples of trees that may be selected for thinning. Unwanted species of trees, such as an oak tree in a pine forest, can also be selected for thinning.

Prescribed Burning A prescribed burn at Goethe State Forest to remove unwanted live oaks, water oaks, and understory vegetation growing in a pine forest. Photo by: Amanda Burnett

How would you manage your forest? Now that you are familiar with some forest management techniques, how would you choose to manage your paper plate forest to resist disease? Thinning can be done selectively on a tree-by-tree basis, or more systematically, such as every third tree in a row on a plantation. Trees that have been hit by lightning or damaged by disease are examples of trees that may be selected for thinning. Unwanted species of trees, such as an oak tree in a pine forest, can also be selected for thinning. Give it a try!