Much of the work on landscape ecology and forest management to date has focused on a simplified model, representing the landscape as a dichotomous patchwork of “pristine” forests and managed areas. In such an approach, the “pristine” is viewed as normative, and a major goal of (or constraint to) forest management is the maintenance and restoration of pristine elements within the landscape matrix. Whether or not such an approach has merit, for example, in western National Forests, it may be of questionable value in eastern landscapes that already bear the imprint of centuries of settlement and culture. A more subtle view, recognizing the influence of history on forest management objectives, opportunities, and constraints, is needed.

Unlike in other portions of the United States , forests in the Northeast have substantially increased during the last century. Historically, the majority of this region was cleared to accommodate colonial agriculture and the timber needs of a rapidly expanding population. Subsequent abandonment of many of these lands in the mid 1800s has resulted in extensive stands of second-growth forest, and the region now includes the most extensively forested states in the nation. For example, forests cover more than 80% of the land area of Maine and New Hampshire . However, recent inventory data suggest this trend is reversing, especially in southern and central New England , as suburban sprawl competes with traditional land uses.

Because the majority of plants and animals native to the Northeast are affiliated with forests, one might conclude that the abundant forests in this region provide adequate habitat for most taxa. However, the majority of the mid-successional stands that dominate the region lack important habitat features (e.g., large diameter trees, canopy gaps, and coarse woody debris). Additionally, species that require regenerating or mature stands may be experiencing habitat shortages. Left idle, it may take a century or more for the forests in this region to mature and develop the structural complexity and diverse age distributions they currently lack. Management of these forests is further complicated by a range of landscape modifications and ownership patterns that cannot easily be reconciled. Extensive suburban/urban developments with associated road networks have substantially fragmented the landscape and continuity. These modifications have altered community interactions, such as predation and competition, provided avenues for the invasion of aggressive alien species, and affected demographic processes (especially dispersal) among a variety of organisms.

It is clear that historic land-uses are having a wide range of influences on contemporary forest communities. A comprehensive understanding of these impacts is an essential first step in assuring that current levels of biological diversity will be maintained. This information should then be placed in the context of current land uses to develop realistic approaches for using silviculture to provide a range of habitats within forest ecosystems.

A basic understanding of the historic land use patterns of the northeast and of general silvicultural techniques is required to understand the basis of our management recommendations. This section provides a brief illustrated primer to each.

Click at left for short descriptions of land use history in the northeast or silvicultural techniques, with illustrations from the Harvard Forest Dioramas.