Plantation or not common terminology in the south east.

[fordw60s]

Hopefully this is in the right forum:
So I have a question as it pertains to the south eastern US that at what stage is the common terminology of a plantation changed to just a stand?

Example is I consider a pine plantation a monotonous or homogenous stand with little variability in the diameters, same age, and heights usually with in 10-15% of each other.
vs.
Stands with about 2 stories, multiple age classes and diameters along with mixed species such as southern yellow pines, oaks, sweetgums etc..
Thoughts?



 

 

 

 

[barbender]

 Well I don't know about down there, but here a plantation is planted. Many fire adapted pine species form even aged that look like plantations, but are not. Many of those species have been selected for use in plantations because they thrive in that condition naturally.

There have been other species that don't adapt to plantations as well. One up here is white spruce. It is usually a component of mixed forests, but it became a popular plantation species because of high demand for the pulpwood for paper mills. However, it tends to experience a lot of disease outbreaks in plantations. The one local paper mill has switched to planting it as a component in aspen regeneration because of this.

[fordw60s]

what makes this fun is that Most of the south east was clear cut in the 1800's to the early 1900's so in theory it is all plantation as they have all started that way but the next point is when would it move from being considered a plantation to just a mature stand?

To me a plantation is younger and has only one species mainly and it changes out of a plantation after a cutting or two and more species start to get into the overstory and end up with multi-story stands and not looking uniform but as you say still looks like a plantation since they are fire adaptive so many mature stands may have one main species but it isn't a plantation anymore.   

[Ianab]

in my mind Plantation Forestry is growing trees like you grow corn. You plant rows of trees, let them grow, then harvest the whole area, and replant. Rinse and repeat, just on a longer time scale than corn.  Now if you don't harvest and replant the trees, then you will get natural regeneration of the forest. It's no longer a plantation, even if it's mostly pines, that's simply what most of the seeds in the area were. But you get other species randomly mixed in, and the forest develops over time into whatever mix most suits that area. Same if land was cleared and farmed at one point, then has been left to regrow forest naturally.

It's also possible for a mono-culture forest to develop naturally, at least for a while. Some area of NZ are naturally tussock and grass as no native trees do well in that particular area. But introduced pine trees have become an invasive species and gradually spread over large areas. It's a mono-culture forest, as there is only one species of tree, but they weren't planted by anyone, so not a plantation.

Another mono-culture we see here is Manuka on abandoned farmland. That's the small tree that makes that expensive manuka honey. Because seeds are very small and windblown, and it's able to grow in exposed situations, it's the first tree to colonise a bare site. So you may see acres of land covered with only manuka. But it's not a permanent thing. Manuka is only a small tree, and might only live for 20-30 years, and basically needs full sun to regenerate. This means that under the canopy of the manuka more shade tolerant species are sprouting, and as the manuka dies off these 2nd stage trees will take over. Even those tend to get replaced over time by the very long lived, slow growing but super shade tolerant species, although it's hundreds of years for that sort of forest to mature and become stable.

[Magicman]

In my mind and on my property, "plantation" trees were planted and regeneration (natural) was not.  In 2005 I did plantation Pine (machine planted) and in 2010 I did plantation Oak (hand planted)  The remainder of my property is natural regeneration.

Different subject but I now regret that I ever planted a Pine Beetle killed Pine tree.

[Magicman]

As a side note, the vast numbers of Beetle killed SYP trees in my area had nothing to do with whether they were planted or not.  ROW trees along the Interstate Highways, etc. are dying just as fast as the planted trees.  The DOT is falling and windrowing them along the ROW edges and in the center medians @ a cost of $40 per tree.  

I am constantly answering phone calls and emails from folks asking questions and wanting trees sawed.  Matter of fact, I have done nothing other than that so far today.  Some folks understand and some probably do not.  Folks are not asking about Oak trees because they don't know that they are dead yet.  Some will not leaf out and others will leaf out and then turn brown.  Spring and Summer will tell the tale.  bluesad

[rusticretreater]

Plantation is a common technical term used in the industry.  Most of the time you will hear people say tree farm though, due to the prevailing censorship levied upon us that all things Old South must be eradicated.

The US Forestry Service uses the term in its technical papers and it refers specifically to those areas where trees are densely planted and harvested.

In the 1950s, vast acreages of cutover forest land and degraded agricultural land existed in the South. Less than 2 million acres of southern pine plantations existed at that time. By the end of the 20th century, there were 32 million acres of southern pine plantations in the Southern United States, and this region is now the woodbasket of the world.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/9647

[plantita]

Makes sense that after a couple harvests/regeneration cycles with more species mixing in, it becomes just a mature stand. The south having so much historic clearing definitely adds another layer. 

[Ron Scott]

"Plantation" describes a general forest or Christmas tree stand that has been planted by hand or machine to a structured and controlled formation of rows and spacing of trees/acre. 

A natural stand is unlike a plantation where nature takes its course, and trees grow in an uncontrolled ecosystem and are sustained without structure and formation.

[Ianab]

And a "Tree Farm"  may or may not be plantation style. A natural looking mixed forest may also be a tree farm, if it's being managed to improve the results. Difference is it's not being left to it's own devices, the "farming" involves some modification to the natural order. Thinning / pruning / weed control / selective harvesting all modify the forest to some extent. Plantation style forestry is just the extreme end of management methods, but also tends to produce the maximum value in the shortest time. It's no more right or wrong than growing rows of corn or strawberries on the land.   

[SwampDonkey]

Then there are stands that regenerate naturally after a cut or fire, but at a certain size and age, the desired trees are spaced with clearing saws. The result is they are not trees in straight rows but staggered. They will usually be mixed species, but most often trees left behind follow a pecking order depending on what the mill or land owner wants. It can look plantation-like where one species is very dominant in the mix. One site might be dominant to balsam fir, another to sugar maple, for instance. We actually don't plant either, except fir is planted on fields for Christmas trees, not pulp or logs initially. But fir can fill all 3 markets, as some Christmas tree farms were planted but tending and trimming was abandoned. Fir is versatile and grows fast on well drained ground.

[Magicman]

My entire farm property is designated as a tree farm.

My American Tree Farm sign is displayed on the Pecan tree just below the flag on the right.

A portion is "plantation" consisting of machine planted Pine and hand planted Oak.  The great majority of the property is naturally regenerated hardwood and softwood. 

[Ianab]

That's what I mean. A "Tree Farm" can be plantation, or natural regeneration, or a mixture. Main thing is that it's being managed in some way.