Complex regeneration responses of eight tree species to partial harvest in mixedwood forests of northeastern North America

Ecosystem-based forest management associated with partial harvesting (PH) is intended to balance ecological and economic values of sustainable forest management. The potential for delayed growth response and elevated mortality of advance regeneration following PH remains a critical concern, and may present a barrier to more widespread implementation of this approach. We used 835 permanent continuous forest inventory plots to examine the rate and time course of species-specific regeneration growth and mortality of eight tree species in the first fifteen years following operational partial harvests in the mixed-species forests of Maine, United States. We aimed to provide a quantitative understanding on how regeneration of different species responded to PH in terms of growth and mortality. In addition, we evaluated how the…