Point Sampling Report

By: Nicole Bendixen

Introduction

Ecological restoration is imperative for the health of an ecosystem. It is important to

restore a degrading habitat to support the native flora and fauna that thrive under those specific
site conditions, increase the ecosystem functionality and increase it’s value. In the New Jersey
Pine Barrens these open forest communities, consisting of pine and oak, provide habitat for a
number of native species. Restoring these areas allows for more young aged stands where you
have an end result of differing aged trees serving different purposes. Mature or old aged stands
tend to be more susceptible to disease and pests. If all the surrounding forest communities were
even aged this would result in a higher risk of damage and decreased resilience to those forest
ecosystems. The differing aged stands allows for increased biodiversity and increased resilience
towards threats such as wildfires, hurricanes, pests, and diseases. Woodlands are less common
than in the past due to the less frequent fires and development. Without human interaction these
young forests would continue to disappear. These woodland areas tend to have higher
biodiversity and conserve important native species, primarily short leaf pine as being restored
here. The forest benefits from the open forest communities because it brings organisms to the
forest to complete life cycles and undergo nutrient cycling. Woodland restoration is a potential
method to adapt to climate change by having the ability to understand how specific trees react to
a changing climate.The more we understand the more we can plan the restoration process to best
fit the climate and still get desired outcomes. These young stands are able to adapt due to its
higher resilience. Another thing is these ecosystems in New Jersey heavily rely on fire to
preserve itself. Woodlands could reduce the vulnerability to wildfires by limiting the amount of
ground cover that acts as fuel to increase the fire intensity. The native flora of the Pine barrens
has evolved with fire allowing it to outcompete non native species and have adaptations to
survive a fire. These young stands consisting primarily of Shortleaf Pine not only provide shelter
and food for native species, it is also sold as lumber. This could potentially generate revenue
from timber sales of the shortleaf pine to help support continued restoration. Shortleaf Pine is a
softwood that is typically used in the construction of bridges, railroads and plywood making it an
economically important species (NCSF, 2016). In this report the restoration of open-forest
communities, or woodlands, was measured on a thinned site in Brendan T. Byrne State Forest.
Methods

Data was collected at Brendan T. Byrne State Forest Upper Mill Shortleaf Pine
Restoration site in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. This site included 10 acres and underwent
thinning methods in 2016. Measurements in this report were taken in October of 2021. At the site
two different plots in the restoration site were observed to measure the species composition and
their DBH. This was done by marking a spot on the ground and using an angle gauge at 3.0
observing which trees around the marked spot fell into the plot. If a tree fell into the plot the
species and DBH for that tree was recorded. If the tree was borderline then the species, DBH,
and distance in meters from the marked plot were measured. If any snags were within the plot
they were measured as well. A pink tape was tied around the first tree measured so as to not
repeat any measurements accidentally. From there the data was entered into an excel file and the
TPA, BAPA and stocking were determined.

Results

Species composition in Plot 1:

Figure 1
Species composition in Plot 2:

Figure 2

Figure 1 and figure 2 show the species composition of the measured plot 1 and plot 2 of
the Upper Mill Shortleaf Pine restoration site. The most dominant tree in plot 1 is both Eastern
White Pine and Pitch Pine. The most dominant tree in plot 2 is Shortleaf Pine. Plot one was
located in close proximity to the road on the edge of the site and Plot 2 was deeper into the stand.
The species composition between the two plots vary where Pitch Pine was observed in plot 2
while being a dominant tree in plot 1.

Figure 3

Plot 1 TPA BAPA

Sum 387.265078 129.67812

Figure 4

Plot 2 TPA BAPA

Sum 195.542232 89.77716

Figure 3 and figure 4 represent the measured trees per acre and basal area per acre of the two
plots. Plot number one was too large to interrupt on the stocking chart. Plot number two came
out to 100 percent stocking.
Figure 5

Figure 5 shows a stocking chart with plot one and two trees per acre and basal area per acre data
applied. Plot one was determined to have 115% stocking and plot two was determined to have
79% stocking.

Discussion

The Post treatment target for the Upper Mill shortleaf restoration site was 30 percent to
75 percent. The observed trees per acre of plot one was 387.265078 and a basal area per acre of
129.6781. Plot two had a tree per acre of 195.542232 and a basal area per acre of 89.77716. The
restoration treatments did not reach the general goal of creating a woodland structure based on
the results found in this report. The stocking percentage was determined using the provided
stocking chart and the previously stated information from the thinning targets of the residual
stand. It had a stockting range of around 115% for plot 1 and around 79% for plot two. Based on
the results of plot one and plot two Stocking percentages were too high for the treatment target.
Plot one and plot two had varying tree compositions likely due to location. Plot one was located
along the edge of the stand near the road where mature trees were left on the border to provide
shade and seeds. Plot two was located further into the stand resulting in a higher composition of
shortleaf Pine. Other treatments to consider when restoring or maintaining this shortleaf pine
restoration are controlled burns every five to seven years. Controlled burns allow the shortleaf
pine to outcompete other or invasive species. Shortleaf Pine has the ability to resprout after a fire
and has high resilience to these high heat conditions. The time frame to burn is every five to
seven years because it gives enough time for the native desired vegetation to establish itself. This
time frame also mimics the historically observed fire frequency in these forest ecosystem types.
Another treatment method is to continually clear cut species such as mountain laurel that may
grow too fast and crowd out the canopy. Leaving unwanted species for too long can also result in
greater difficulty eradicating the species. Also resulting in a loss of time and money. This would
result in not enough sunlight for seedlings to grow. Keeping up with management will ensure a
successful restoration.
Works Cited

NCFS, 2016. Silvics of Shortleaf Pine. [online] Ncforestservice.gov. Available at:

<https://www.ncforestservice.gov/publications/ShortleafLeaflets/SL-1.pdf> [Accessed 1 November 2021].