Using silviculture to improve health in northeastern conifer and eastern hardwood forests

The traditional role of silviculture was to manipulate forest vegetation to provide wood and related forest products for humanity's benefit over a long period. Silviculturists soon noticed that such manipulation influenced other components of the ecosystem. In particular, insects and diseases responded dramatically to silvicultural practices-both positively and negatively. The use of silviculture to improve the health of northeastern conifers is most used in spruce-fir forests for spruce budworm, white pine and mixed white pine-oak forests for white pine blister rust and white pine weevil, and jack pine forests for jack pine budworm. Major pests that can be treated silviculturally in eastern hardwood forest types include beech bark disease in northern hardwoods, gypsy moth and oak decline in oak-hickory types, and defoliators in several types. The long-term role of silvicultural treatments in maximizing forest health needs to be evaluated for its influence on other ecosystem components.