Influence of microsite and salvage logging on post-windthrow recovery in three Southeastern U.S. forests

Much research has been conducted on wind-disturbance in eastern United States forests, but little is known regarding the impact of post-windthrow salvage logging on forest recovery. I studied three wind-disturbed forests in the southeastern U.S. in which portions had been salvage logged to determine whether salvaging affects forest regeneration. In Chapter 2, I examine damage, mortality, and sprouting patterns following a moderate severity downburst in western Tennessee. In Chapter 3, I document how salvaging affects microsite abundance and determine whether environmental conditions and vegetation characteristics differ between microsite types and treatments (salvaged or not). In Chapter 4, I compare forest recovery in salvaged and unsalvaged portions of three wind-disturbed forests. Though salvaging appeared to alter microsite abundance and environmental conditions and species composition of regeneration, it did not significantly change damage or mortality patterns, microsite vegetation characteristics, or density, size, species richness, or diversity of regeneration.