Research towards refining framework forestry
Elliott, S., 2012. Research towards refining framework forestry. Pp 47-56 in “Restoring Forests for Biodiversity, Communities, and Ecosystem Services”, published by Environmental Leadership and Training Initiative, Yale University.
FORRU-CMU has conducted extensive research to refine the framework species method of forest restoration. FORRU-CMU staff periodically enters the target forest area, to collect data on the fruiting and flowering of different tree species. They have collected seeds of over 420 species, and developed methods to propagate the planting stock of candidate framework species. In the nursery, they have also tried experimenting with different types of soil medium, containers, fertilizers, and methods of application. All of this research in the nursery is designed to figure out how to grow native forest tree species so that they will all be ready at the optimal time of planting.
FORRU-CMU has also conducted extensive field trials of different species. They have developed plots to compare performance among tree species, to determine which really are the framework species. They have also tested different silvicultural methods, by manipulating fertilizer input, weeding, mulching and other factors, to see which yielded the best results. Monitoring planted plots to compare biodiversity recovery with that in non-planted control plots is also performed.