A Decisionmaking Model for Managing or Regenerating Southern Upland Hardwood Forests

A decisionmaking model was developed to assist hardwood resource managers in determining the management potential, for sawlog production, of southern upland hardwood stands within the Cumberland Plateau, Western Highland Rim, and Upper Coastal Plain physiographic provinces. The model determines stands to be either manageable (using intermediate stand management) or in need of regeneration. Stand index values were established for even-aged stands using stocking guidelines, individual tree characteristics, and tree class. Threshold index values for continued stand management were established for four sawtimber management objectives in the Cumberland Plateau and three sawtimber management objectives in the Western Highland Rim and Upper Coastal Plain. Stand index values above or below the threshold value returned a decision to continue to manage or initiate regeneration methods for a stand, respectively. In the Cumberland Plateau and Western Highland Rim provinces, a similarity of percentage between model decisions and decisions from an expert panel of hardwood silviculturists was calculated to assist in determining model effectiveness. The overall agreement between the model and experts was 71%.