Quantifying Trade-Offs Between Economic and Ecological Objectives in Uneven-Aged Mixed-Species Forests in the Southern United States;Forest Service general technical rept

摘要

There is a strong worldwide interest in management of uneven-aged forests. The main reason for this is the perception of uneven-aged systems as working 'close to nature.' These systems maintain a constant ground cover and use mostly natural regeneration. Uneven-aged systems favor a mix of many species and are meant to keep trees of very different ages or small tracts of land. The result is dramatically different from homogeneous plantations of a single species, which are even-aged and managed by clear cutting and artificial regeneration. The aesthetic quality of uneven-aged systems is appreciated by the general public and the gain in biological diversity is well documented.