GISF - Yale Silviculture: Research

Silvicultural research at Yale concentrates on the regeneration and stand dynamics of complex natural forests in boreal, temperate and tropical regions. Five faculty are associated with the Silviculture Laboratory.

David M. Smith (Morris K. Jessup Professor of Silviculture Emeritus) studies the regeneration of tree seedlings as affected by microsite. He also seeks to understand mixed-species forests in order to develop new methods of silviculture for their management. Much of the development of his ideas in silvicultural and ecological research has come through his work with thirty six doctoral students whose studies he directed over forty years.

Mark S. Ashton's research focuses on the regeneration of forests. Areas of his interest concerning forest regeneration include seedling physiological ecology in relation to light and soil water availability, forest microclimates and disturbance dynamics, soil seed banks, fire ecology and regeneration, regeneration guilds in relation to disturbance, silvicultural regeneration methods - particularly shelterwood systems - for non-timber and timber crops, restoration of complex forests, creation of mixed plantation analogs to natural forests.

Several other faculty at the School that are doing collaborative work with faculty in the silviculture laboratory. Graeme P. Berlyn works closely with Mark Ashtonon the structure and devlopment of leaves in relation to light and drought. John C.Gordon has worked on the role of nitrogen fixation in agroforestry and silvicultural systems. John's work continues to explore ways of better estimating forest productivity. Robert Mendelsohn has worked on the valuation and prioritization of silvicultural systems for different uses. Tim Gregoire works with sampling design and growth and yield of forest stand development. Ann Camp, Florencia Montagnini and Chad Oliver are new faculty at Yale's School of Forestry & Environmental Studies working on various Silvilcultural projects throughout the country.

Research Sites

Long-term research sites by silviculture faculty of the school is being conducted in boreal forest (Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan), temperate confiferous forest of the Pacific Northwest (Kamloops, British Columbia), temperate deciduous forest of northeastern U.S. (Yale-Myers, Connecticut) and tropical rain forest of southeast Asia (Sinharaja, Sri Lanka). Additionally, new faculty work in collaboration with CATIE in Costa Rica, the Landscape Management System at the University of Washington, and PRORENA in Panama. Other sites faculty from the silvicultural laboratory are involved with indirectly are: Copper River Delta, Alaska; Lambir, Sarawak; and the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico.

Graduate students within the Silviculture Laboratory are conducting research on the ecology and silviculture of forests throughout the world

GRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE SILVICULTURE LAB

David Ellum
(Yale Myers Forest)

Alexander Evans
(Yale Myers Forest)

Alex Finkral
(Yale Myers Forest)

Cesar Flores
(Manu, Peru)

Uromi Goodale
(Sinharaja, Sri Lanka)

Bronson Griscom
(Puerto Maldonado, Peru)

Jefferson Hall
(Tri National Park area, Cameroon)

Richard Karty
(New Haven Watershed)

Heather Peckham
(Panama)

Andrew Richardson
(Northeastern United States)