Focus

Research efforts at the Forest have focused primarily on the interactions of forest management, wildlife and related ecosystem elements and processes. Disturbances such as wildfire, wind-throw, ice storms, and insect or disease outbreaks have always been a part of the natural ebb and flow of forest succession. Native Americans contributed to this disturbance, particularly through the use of fire. Today, our forests continue to be disturbed by both natural and human-induced changes. They are certainly not static systems, but rather always changing, dynamic communities. The plants and animals that live in this ever-changing environment respond in different ways to these many changes. It is this complex world that we seek to understand at the WWERF, but with particular emphasis on active forest management. It is this emphasis that sets it apart from so many other ecosystem research forests in the United States.

Studies fall loosely into three key areas. These focal areas are baseline, adaptive management, and landscape ecology research. Each serves a purpose in helping further develop our understanding of how our forests function, not just as areas that produce needed forest products, but also as a part of a larger natural ecosystem. The baseline research gives us a picture of how things operate before the forests are disturbed through timber management activities. Our adaptive management helps us understand better approaches to managing forest stands or conducting operational activities. And finally, the landscape ecology research seeks to understand how, on a landscape level, the many parts of the system function together.