MOFEP: scoping the forests of the future - Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project

American Forests, Jan-Feb, 1995 by James P. Jackson

If long-term ecosystem management is a goal for the future, it will need long-term research to back it up. To do that, forest and wildlife managers must set aside land, have budgetary support, and have plenty of researchers available--all with long-term commitment.

A promising effort for joining these needs was initiated in 1990 by Missouri's Department of Conservation in cooperation with the University of Missouri's School of Natural Resources. Working under the acronym MOFEP (Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project), the two groups have as their goal applying long-term ecosystem research to 9,200 acres of relatively mature second-growth Ozark forestland.

Three timber-management strategies will be applied: even-aged, which means clearcutting; uneven-aged, or selective harvesting from trees of all age groups; and no harvesting at all. These strategies will be studied for up to 100 years--the average rotation period for Ozark forest growth. And each will be replicated on three separate pieces of land ranging in size from 657 to 1,302 acres. Of the nine study plots, the six designated for harvesting will be kept undisturbed until September '96 so that pre-harvest biological studies can be conducted.

These studies include just about anything that will provide ongoing measurements of biological diversity. Among them: trees and their growth rates, all other plants by species, mammals, interior woodland songbirds, insect life from soil to tree-tops all reptiles and amphibians, and nonliving factors. All will be investigated before and after logging and during regeneration; they will also be investigated periodically on the three control areas not slated for logging.

"This project promises a roots-to-crown, bugs-to-birds view of how Ozark forestland will respond to different timbering strategies," said project coordinator Brian Brookshire. Additionally, MOFEP will allow scientists to document how Ozark forest change over time with no human intervention. This sort of long-term research should answer many questions and perhaps help resolve controversies about methods of harvesting timber.

But MOFEP also promises endless opportunities for university graduate students. Al Vogt, director of the School of Natural Resources at the University of Missouri, Columbia, says faculty and students there look forward to interacting with researchers from other universities, an ongoing part of the program. Students from Southeast Missouri State University conducted a study in forest nutrient recycling. Under the guidance of Michigan Tech professor Jiquan Chen, graduate students are investigating biological microclimates around the edges of logging operations. The research arm of the U.S. Forest Service is involved in MOFEP, as are staff biologists and foresters with the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Interested research institutions can write Brian Brookshire, MOFEP coordinator, at Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102.