uid=HFR,o=lter,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org all public read doi:10.6073/pasta/911012e0e49a8b767aed6adac0c6c5dc Audrey Barker Plotkin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4473-9785 2024 English

Plantations have been part of forestry at Harvard Forest since its beginning. Plantations were established from 1911-1944, usually on open or cut-over land. The objectives for plantation forests at Harvard Forest were to: increase the amount of productive forest land; examine the suitability of various species and cultivars to New England conditions; and test planting and tending methods. At first, mainly small plantings (less than 1 to 4 acres) were established primarily on "blank" lands. Some larger plantations (20+ acres) were established on cut-over land around 1930. The bulk of the plantings were red pine, white pine and spruce (white and Norway), but several other conifers were also planted. The maximum amount of land in plantations came to about 270 acres (less than 10% of Harvard Forest’s land base). Tending of the plantations, especially weeding in the decade following establishment, but also in-filling, pruning and thinning, was conducted and carefully documented. However, tending of plantations ceased about 1950. Since then, the fate of the plantations has been mixed. Some plantations were out-competed by native forest with only scattered planted trees remaining. A few acres of plantations were harvested in the 1950s. About 40 acres of plantations were harvested in the 1990s. As of 2007, approximately 135 acres remained. These stands range in age from 60-90 years old. Some stands have substantial areas blown down. We developed a management plan to harvest about 80 acres of mature plantation forests beginning in 2008 in order to terminate these long term experiments, to regenerate a diversity of native tree species and restore native forests to these sites, and to initiate a new suite of long term experiments. For the next 10-15 years, the harvested areas will provide early successional habitat for a variety of wildlife species. A suite of permanent vegetation plots was established throughout the plantations to assess vegetation structure in plantations and predict future dynamics in harvested and early seral habitats. Our objective is to contrast the changing biodiversity and aboveground carbon content in the harvested and unharvested sites.

browsing coarse woody debris seedlings silviculture trees understory vegetation LTER controlled vocabulary disturbance land use LTER core area Harvard Forest HFR LTER USA HFR default

This dataset is released to the public under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (No Rights Reserved). Please keep the dataset creators informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset should include proper acknowledgement.

Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal https://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0.html CC0-1.0 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf162 Prospect Hill Tract (Harvard Forest), Tom Swamp Tract (Harvard Forest). Coordinates based on WGS84 datum. -72.23 -72.16 +42.55 +42.45 205 420 meter 2007 2022 genus Picea species abies norway spruce genus Picea species glauca white spruce genus Pinus species resinosa red pine ongoing Information Manager Harvard Forest

324 North Main Street Petersham MA 01366 USA

(978) 724-3302 hf-im@lists.fas.harvard.edu Harvard Forest

324 North Main Street Petersham MA 01366 USA

(978) 724-3302 (978) 724-3595 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu

Study Design: A set of 22, 20m by 20m permanent plots were established. Plots were placed in red pine and spruce dominated plantations, and in both harvest and control (no harvest) sites. The number of plots per plantation is proportional to plantation area. Sites less than 10 acres contain one plot. There are two plots in a 13.5-acre unharvested red pine plantation; two plots in a harvested 13.5 acre spruce plantation; five plots in a somewhat heterogenous 38-acre harvested pine plantation. Altogether, there are 4 cut pine sites covering ~53 acres, 5 control pine sites covering ~26 acres, 2 cut spruce sites covering 16 acres, and 2 control spruce sites covering ~7 acres. Plots were established and measured in 2007, prior to harvest. We plan to measure the plots every 5 years. So far, in 2012 and 2017, and 2022, all 22 plots were re-measured. Trees: Live stems at least 2.5cm dbh were measured, recording dbh and species. Live saplings more than1.3m tall but less than 2.5cm dbh were tallied by species in a 5.64 radius plot (100m2) centered on each plot. Seedlings: Presence/absence of tree seedlings (less than 1.3m tall) by species was recorded in 10, 1.13m radius (4m2) plots in each plot, and frequency calculated. This measure of stocking is often considered more useful than total densities of tree seedlings, as this metric gives some indication of how well-distributed tree regeneration is on the site. Understory vegetation: A list of shrubs, herbs, ferns, lycopods and graminoids (very roughly) occurring on each 20x20m plot was compiled, and abundance was estimated for each species using the following cover classes: 1 is less than 1% cover, 2 is 1-3% cover, 3 is 3-5% cover, 4 is 6-15% cover, 5 is 16-25% cover, 6 is 26-50% cover, 7 is 51-75% cover, 8 is more than 75% cover. Coarse Woody Debris (CWD): Two transects running diagonally across each plot were established. The diameter, species (or species group) and decay class of each downed piece of wood that intersects the line-transect was measured using a 50cm caliper. Minimum average diameter = 7.5cm. When possible, two diameter measurements are taken, to account for the fact that most stems are not uniformly round. From there we can calculate volume per unit area by using the formula V= 9.869* (d /8L), where L is length and d is diameter squared (Harmon, M.E. and J. Sexton. 1996. Guidelines for measurements of woody detritus in forest ecosystems. Not a formal publication). Snags (standing dead trees) within the entire 20m x 20m plot were measured if at least 10cm dbh Stump volume was estimated in the harvested plots in 2010 and 2012, by recording the species, diameter, height and decay class of each stump found within the plot. Minimum stump diameter was 10 cm. In 2022, short snags from unharvested plots were included in this data, and a new column defines whether the measured item was ‘cut’ or ‘not cut.’ Browsing: In 2008, browsing presence/absence by stem was surveyed in the 22 plots. Twenty-five 4m2 subplots were established in each plot, so 25% of each plot was assessed. Woody tree and shrub stems (excluding Rubus) between 0.3-3.0m tall and less than 5cm diameter were included. While moose browsing can be distinguished from deer browsing when tall (greater than 2m) or large (perhaps more than 0.5cm diameter) twigs are browsed, and these were noted, there were too few of these large saplings sampled to clearly distinguish between moose and deer browse. A complementary exclosure experiment by Faison et al. has been established in four harvested plantations to tease apart the effects of deer vs. moose browsing, and to better quantify their long-term influences on forest structure and composition. Data related to browsing after 2008 can be found in HF203: http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu:8080/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf203.

Harvard Forest

324 North Main Street Petersham MA 01366 USA

(978) 724-3302 (978) 724-3595 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu https://ror.org/059cpzx98 pointOfContact The Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program examines ecological dynamics in the New England region resulting from natural disturbances, environmental change, and human impacts. National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210. hf162-01-plots.csv plots hf162-01-plots.csv 4033 76b9c0be1d7e294ba2a1c19e0927b678 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p16/hf162/hf162-01-plots.csv plot plot number (1-22) plot number (1-22) NA missing value name plantation ID based on Harvard Forest archival records. The first two letters refer to the tract (PH=Prospect Hill; TS=Tom Swamp) and the numbers refer to the year planted (e.g. 44 was planted in 1944). Strings of two-digit numbers + one letter indicate that a plot was placed in a mix of multiple, small, contiguous plantings. plantation ID NA missing value dom_sp dominant planted species Spruce spruce dominant Pine pine dominant NA missing value treat treatment Harvest harvested Control control NA missing value harv_date harvest date harvest date NA missing value acres plantation acreage acre 0.1 real NA missing value harvest_acres acres harvested per management unit, which can be a portion of a plantation or more than one contiguous plantation acre 0.1 real NA missing value comp Harvard Forest compartment Harvard Forest compartment NA missing value tree_ht_07m average tree height in the plot in 2007 meter 0.1 real NA missing value tree_ht_12m height of the tallest tree in the plot in 2012 meter 0.1 real NA missing value tree_ht_17 height of the tallest tree in the plot in 2017 meter 0.1 real NA missing value tree_ht_22 height of the tallest tree in the plot in 2022 meter 0.1 real NA missing value ht_species_22 species of tree for which height was recorded (see hf162-02 for species codes) tree species NA missing value year_planted year plantation was established by transplanting YYYY NA missing value planted_spacing original average spacing of the plantation meter 0.0001 real NA missing value thinned whether the plantation received any thinning silvicultural treatment No Info records on thinning not found Yes thinned No not thinned NA missing value lat latitude degree 0.000000001 real NA missing value long longitude degree 0.000000001 real NA missing value ma_spm_y Y location in Massachusetts State Plane Meters, Mainland, NAD1983 meter 0.0001 real NA missing value ma_spm_x location in Massachusetts State Plane Meters, Mainland, NAD1983 meter 0.0001 real NA missing value notes_2012 notes from 2012 notes from 2012 NA missing value notes_2017 plot-level notes from 2017 plot-level notes from 2017 NA missing value 22 hf162-02-trees.csv trees hf162-02-trees.csv 173752 8fca4aca2f172734cec2492d1afa21fe 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p16/hf162/hf162-02-trees.csv plot plot number (1-22) plot number (1-22) NA missing value year year. 2007 is pre-harvest; 2008 and 2010 are post-harvest; 2012, 2017, and 2022 include all 22 plots YYYY NA missing value species four letter species code ACPE Acer pensylvanicum ACRU Acer rubrum ACSA Acer saccharum BEAL Betula alleghaniensis BELE Betula lenta BEPA Betula papyrifera BEPO Betula populifolia CADE Castanea dentata FAGR Fagus grandifolia FRAM Fraxinus americana LASP Larix species NYSY Nyssa sylvatica OVSI Ostrya virginiana PIAB Picea abies PIGL Picea glauca PIRE Pinus resinosa PIST Pinus strobus POGR Populus grandidentata POTR Populus tremuloides PRPE Prunus pensylvanica PRSE Prunus serotina QUAL Quercus alba QURU Quercus rubra QUVE Quercus velutina TSCA Tsuga canadensis NA missing value dbh diameter measured at 1.3m; trees >=2.5cm dbh are included) centimeter 0.1 real NA missing value notes notes notes NA missing value 8330 hf162-03-saplings.csv saplings hf162-03-saplings.csv 8049 b32bda2f0bf13d09906a006bc7ac9e0f 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p16/hf162/hf162-03-saplings.csv plot plot number (1-22) plot number (1-22) NA missing value year year. 2007 is pre-harvest YYYY NA missing value species four letter species code ACPE Acer pensylvanicum ACRU Acer rubrum ACSA Acer saccharum BEAL Betula alleghaniensis BELE Betula lenta BEPA Betula papyrifera BEPO Betula populifolia FAGR Fagus grandifolia FRAM Fraxinus Americana MASP Malus, species not identified NYSY Nyssa sylvatica PIAB Picea abies PICsp Picea, species not identified PIRE Pinus resinosa PIST Pinus strobus POGR Populus grandidentata POTR Populus tremuloides PRPE Prunus pensylvanica PRSE Prunus serotina QUAL Quercus alba QURU Quercus rubra QUVE Quercus velutina TSCA Tsuga canadensis Total sum of all saplings in plot NA missing value number number of saplings in plot number 1 whole NA missing value notes notes notes NA missing value 421 hf162-04-seedlings.csv tree seedlings hf162-04-seedlings.csv 12045 672809faf261ffbdaaa9d49bdbb6a341 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p16/hf162/hf162-04-seedlings.csv plot plot number (1-22) plot number (1-22) NA missing value year year. 2007 is pre-harvest YYYY NA missing value species four letter species code ACPE Acer pensylvanicum ACRU Acer rubrum ACSA Acer saccharum BEAL Betula alleghaniensis BELE Betula lenta BEAL.LE Betula alleghaniensis and/or Betula lenta BEPA Betula papyrifera BEPO Betula populifolia CADE Castanea dentata FAGR Fagus grandifolia FRAM Fraxinus americana NYSY Nyssa sylvatica PIAB Picea abies PIGL Picea glabra PICsp Picea, species not identified PIRE Pinus resinosa PIRU Picea rubens PIST Pinus strobus POGR Populus grandidentata POSP Populus (grandidentata or tremuloides) POTR Populus tremuloides PRPE Prunus pensylvanica PRSE Prunus serotina PRSP Prunus, species not identified QUAL Quercus alba QURU Quercus rubra QUVE Quercus velutina SOAM Sorbus americana TSCA Tsuga canadensis ZOverall any tree seedlings NA missing value percent percent of the 10 plots that contained seedling species dimensionless 1 whole NA missing value 692 hf162-05-under.csv understory vegetation hf162-05-under.csv 50214 f32f6c5c61e666fe596dc0f735318d6f 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p16/hf162/hf162-05-under.csv plot plot number (1-22) plot number (1-22) NA missing value year year (2007 is pre-harvest) YYYY NA missing value species species code species code NA missing value cover_class cover class. NOTE: if species code is add.tree or add.unk, see values under num-tree-species and numb_unk_species 1 less than 1% cover 2 1-3% cover 3 3-5% cover 4 6-15% cover 5 16-25% cover 6 26-50% cover 7 51-75% cover 8 more than 75% cover NA missing value num_tree_species number of tree species greater than 1.3m tall ('add.tree', used in all years) dimensionless 1 integer NA missing value num_unk_species number of unknown species seen in a plot ('add.unk', used occasionally in 2010, 2012, and 2017) dimensionless 1 integer NA missing value 2107 hf162-06-cwd.csv coarse woody debris hf162-06-cwd.csv 82437 a6a146091f392c13f1b0b7785900d835 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p16/hf162/hf162-06-cwd.csv plot plot number (1-22) plot number (1-22) year year sampled YYYY NA missing value transect location of transect within plot, running diagonally from: SW.NE southwest to northeast plot corner SE.NW southeast to northwest plot corner NW.SE northwest to southeast plot corner NE.SW northeast to southwest plot corner NA not clearly recorded NA missing value tlength length of transect in meters; always 28.28m meter 0.01 real NA missing value diam1 diameter of wood at point it crosses the transect line centimeter 0.1 real NA missing value diam2 second diameter of piece, measured perpendicular to diam1; it was not always possible to obtain two measurements centimeter 0.1 real NA missing value decay decay class as defined below 1 solid wood, recently fallen, bark and twigs present 2 solid wood, significant weathering, branches present 3 wood not solid, bark may be sloughing but nail still must be pounded into wood 4 wood sloughing and/or friable, nail may be forcibly pushed into wood 5 wood friable, barely holding shape, nail may be easily pushed into wood NA missing value genus genus genus NA missing value species species species NA missing value notes notes notes 1811 hf162-07-snags.csv snags hf162-07-snags.csv 12288 4d3d19adbce965da3bf1bc2aaf2736fd 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p16/hf162/hf162-07-snags.csv plot plot number (1-22) plot number (1-22) year year sampled YYYY NA missing value dbh diameter at 1.3m centimeter 0.1 real NA missing value species species, genus, or type (deciduous/conifer) ACPE Acer pensylvanicum ACRU Acer rubrum BEAL Betula alleghaniensis BELE Betula lenta conifer conifer deciduous deciduous FAGR Fagus grandifolia PIAB Picea abies Picea spruce, but species not discerned PIGL Picea glauca Pinus pine, but species not discerned PIRE Pinus resinosa PIST Pinus strobus PRPE Prunus pensylvanica PRSE Prunus serotina QURU Quercus rubra TSCA Tsuga canadensis Unknown not identified NA missing value notes notes notes NA missing value 566 hf162-08-browsing.csv browsing hf162-08-browsing.csv 99346 3fa8927a5ee90509ffd13a1b2c4e89e8 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p16/hf162/hf162-08-browsing.csv year year sampled YYYY NA missing value plot plot number (1-22) plot number (1-22) NA missing value subplot subplot (A-Y) subplot (A-Y) NA missing value species species, see hf162-02-trees.csv and hf162-03-seedlings.csv and hf162-04-under.csv species NA missing value height.cl height class 1 0.3-1.99m 2 1.0-1.99m 3 >2m NA missing value dbh diameter at breast height, if stem tall enough centimeter 0.01 real NA missing value browsing browsing N browsing not observed Y browsing present NA missing value browsing2m browsing at or above 2m N browsing at/above 2m height not observed Y browsing at/above 2m height observed NA missing value browsingd05 browsing of stem >=0.5cm dbh N not a browsed stem >=0.5cm dbh Y browsed stem >=0.5cm dbh NA missing value notes notes, includes notes on subplots that contained no vegetation notes NA missing value 3214 hf162-09-stumps.csv stumps hf162-09-stumps.csv 58643 ab5ab72b325c73daff311718532524bd 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p16/hf162/hf162-09-stumps.csv plot plot number (1-22); but stumps tallied in harvested plots only plot number (1-22) NA missing value year year sampled; post-harvest only YYYY NA missing value species species, genus, or type (deciduous/conifer) ACPE Acer pensylvanicum ACRU Acer rubrum BEAL Betula alleghaniensis BELE Betula lenta Betula birch, but species not discerned conifer conifer deciduous deciduous LASP Larix species PIAB Picea abies Picea spruce, but species not discerned Pinus pine, but species not discerned PIRE Pinus resinosa PIST Pinus strobus PRSE Prunus serotina Prunus Prunus, but species not discerned QUAL Quercus alba QURU Quercus rubra Quercus oak, but species not discerned TSCA Tsuga canadensis Unknown not identified NA missing value type type (only cut trees included 2007-2017; not cut trees included in 2022) cut tree was cut down not cut tree fell naturally NA missing value diam1 stump diameter centimeter 0.1 real NA missing value diam2 second diameter in cm. measured perpendicular to the first, if possible. Not measured in 2010 centimeter 0.1 real NA missing value height stump height; listed as negative for hollows as this is negative space to be subtracted from the plot volume meter 0.01 real NA missing value decay decay class as defined below 1 solid wood, recently fallen, bark and twigs present 2 solid wood, significant weathering, branches present 3 wood not solid, bark may be sloughing but nail still must be pounded into wood 4 wood sloughing and/or friable, nail may be forcibly pushed into wood 5 wood friable, barely holding shape, nail may be easily pushed into wood NA missing value notes notes notes NA missing value 1599 hf162-10-understory-speciescode.csv understory vegetation species codes hf162-10-understory-speciescode.csv 50214 f32f6c5c61e666fe596dc0f735318d6f 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p16/hf162/hf162-10-understory-speciescode.csv type life-form tree tree shrub shrub herb herb fern fern clubmoss clubmoss (lycopod) graminoid grass, sedge, or rush NA missing value name_Haines_2011 species name, based on Arthur Haines’ “Flora Novae Angliae: A Manual for the Identification of Native and Naturalized Vascular Plants of New England” (2011) species name NA missing value old_name species name before updating to Haines (2011) species name before updating to Haines (2011) NA missing value common_name English language name English language name NA missing value code species code (first 3 letters of genus and species) species code NA missing value notes notes on whether a taxon is identified to genus only, or other notes notes NA missing value 2107 biodiversity conservation long-term measurement https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf110 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf174 meterCubedPerHectare