Vegetation Management Effects on Planted Forests

Dear Colleagues,

Silvicultural decisions made at the time of stand establishment can have profound and long-lasting impacts on the trajectory of the new stand. Competition between early-seral vegetation and planted seedlings is often intense, requiring managers to determine the method, intensity, and timing of the vegetation management treatments needed to meet the project objectives. Optimizing vegetation management treatments is important, as the associated costs can be significant and must be carried out until harvest. Failing to control competing vegetation can result in extensive seedling mortality, growth losses, delayed stand establishment, and the proliferation of invasive noxious species. Managers, however, often have limited information on the optimal method, intensity, and timing of the vegetation management treatments required to meet project objectives. This is further complicated by several factors, including crop species, climate change, introduction of invasive species, development of new vegetation control methods, environmental regulations, and high costs. Understanding the biological, ecological, and economic impacts of forest vegetation management is pivotal to developing sustainable silvicultural systems because of their importance in successfully establishing new stands. We invite submissions to a Special Issue of Forests on the subject of “Vegetation Management Effects on Planted Forests”. Topics for submissions may include, but are not limited to, the following: forest vegetation management; silviculture; reforestation; site preparation; herbicides; biodiversity; forest economics; forest health; modelling; monitoring and so on.

Dr. Carlos Gonzalez-Benecke
Mr. Maxwell G. Wightman
Guest Editors

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