Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Forests provide diverse ecosystem services that humans rely on for economic and cultural well-being. Family-owned forests smaller than 200 acres represent the largest forestland ownership type in the United States. Yet there is a lack of guidance for these small and medium-sized private forest landowners to manage their forests for multiple ecosystem services they deem desirable. We propose to fill this gap through stakeholder engagement and use of Penn State's forestlands. We will answer the question: What is the potential of small and medium private forests to meet ecosystem service needs of landowners and society? Specifically, our objectives are to: 1) evaluate small private forest landowner's desire and capacity to manage for multiple ecosystem services using focus groups and surveys, 2) quantify the biophysical capacity of small forests to provide ecosystem services of timber and non-timber forest products, carbon sequestration, and wildlife habitat with empirical data and forest ecosystem models, and 3) combine social and ecological data to identify forest management and landowner assistance strategies suited for ecosystem service provision.This project addresses the AFRI Small and Medium-Sized Farms Program priority area to "develop effective strategies and tools to assist small and medium-sized forest/woodland owners in managing and sustaining their timberland". Small private forest landowners face many challenges in sustaining their forests. The proposed project will test the feasibility of managing forests less than 200 acres for timber and non-timber forests products, carbon, and wildlife habitat to deliver concrete guidance to forest landowners on how they can achieve their goals.
Animal Health Component
75%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
25%
Applied
75%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
The overaching goalof this project is to identifythe potential for small and medium private forests to meet ecosystem service needs of landowners and society. To reach this goal, we have the objectives to1) evaluate small private forest landowner's desire and capacity to manage for multiple ecosystem services, 2) quantify the biophysical capacity of small forests to provide ecosystem services of timber and non-timber forest products, carbon sequestration, and wildlife habitat, and 3) combine social and ecological data to identify forest management and landowner assistance strategies best suited for optimizing ecosystem service provision on small private forests.The understanding gained from this research will be shared with stakeholders through extension programming and demonstration forest management areas on Penn State forestlands, including landowners, consulting foresters, and government and non-government organizations working with landowners. The demonstration forests will be a tool for engaging forest landowners, students, and other members of the public, and will be the foundation for long-term research on multiple ecosystem service production on small forestlands.
Project Methods
The following methods will be used to achieve our three research objectives:Objective 1: To identify the interest and capacity of small private forest landowner to manage for multiple ecosystem services using focus groups and self-administered surveys.We will query small forest landowners about their interests, motivations, and resources for managing their land for multiple ecosystem services. By identifying their capacity to manage for multiple ecosystem services, we can quantify landowner and societal benefits and design forest management strategies to facilitate their priorities.Objective 2: To measure the capacity of small forests for timber and non-timber products, carbon sequestration, and wildlife habitat.Landowner capacity to manage small private forests for ecosystem services must align with the biophysical/ecological capacity of small forest ecosystems to produce those services. We will use repeated forest inventory data, collocated forest management history, the Forest Vegetation Simulator model, and experimental plantings of forest understory native food crops to quantify ecosystem service production for forests less than 200 acres in size. The results of these analyses will be directly compared with landowner capacities identified in Objective 1.Objective 3: To develop and implement dynamic forest management portfolios that combine a range of landowner and ecological capacities for small forests to provide multiple ecosystem services.We will identify how landowner capacity (Objective 1) and ecological capacity (Objective 2) are aligned or mismatched to target forest management approaches that produce a combination of ecosystem services that serve landowner priorities. Based on current practices, small forest areas have little to no capacity for timber or carbon management. We expect that the multiple benefits of particular harvesting techniques such as individual tree removal or forest thinning could promote timber, non-timber, carbon, and habitat services and become viable forest management approaches for small forest landowners interested in multiple ecosystem services with personal, economic and societal benefits.The efforts included in this project to change understanding and actions include 1) engaging small private forest landowners in this project from start to finish so they can inform us of their priorities and challenges and provide feedback to our forest management recommendations, 2) engaging consulting foresters, non-governmental organizations, and public land managers in our outreach efforts so that they can be "hubs" of information for small private forest landowners interested in managing for multiple ecosystem services, and 3) engaging students at Penn State in the research and extension activities through graduate thesis research, research opportunities for undergraduate students, and incorporating material into the curriculum of one undergraduate course (FOR308 Forest Ecology) and one graduate course (FOR597 Research Integrity and Communication).The project will be evaluated annually through meetings with the research team (PIs, posdoc, graduate and undergraduate students) to discuss successes and failures, evaluating progress towards measuring the capacity of small forests to produce ecosystem services, and recording the number of stakeholders participating in focus groups and surveys. As the project ends, it will be evaluated through the completion of graduate degrees, presentation of results at national scientific meetings, publishing of manuscripts, production of written and video extension materials, and installation of demonstration areas in Penn State's Forestlands. An additional evaluation criteria will be our success of engaging students and stakeholders from under-represented groups in both forestry education and forest landowners.