University of New Brunswick researchers Grant Virgin and Dave MacLean’s article, Five Decades of Balsam Fir Stand Development After Spruce Budworm-related Mortality, has just been published online in Forest Ecology and Management.
Highlights
- Five decades of stand development in spruce budworm affected plots in New Brunswick.
- Stand development and self-thinning patterns varied based on post-outbreak stocking.
- Thinned and unthinned plots had more volume at younger ages than budworm plots.
- Lower stand-level production post-budworm outbreak resulted from understocking.
- Budworm and balsam fir forests form a self-regulating cyclical successional system.