Silviculture for Structural Diversity: A New Look at Multiaged Systems

Abstract

Abstract Movement away from even-aged silviculture and toward maintenance of continuous cover and structural diversity has generated renewed interest in two-aged and uneven-aged silvicultural systems. New approaches for multiaged stands suggest managers can achieve many goals with systems that integrate the structural features associated with natural disturbance processes with systems that are simpler than the uneven-aged silviculture of the past. The result is flexible systems for designing and implementing diverse stand structures for many objectives, including biodiversity. An understanding of forest stand dynamics and landscape ecology is a prerequisite.