Project Area
The Manistee Conservation District’s 40-acre parcel is in the NE ¼ of the NE ¼ of Section 27, T23N R14W (Maple Grove Township), Manistee County, Michigan. The entrance to the 40-acre parcel is located at Latitude/Longitude 44.3690, -85.9850.Most of the parcel is dominated by a historic red pine plantation, with inclusions of jack pine, Scots pine, white pine, and deciduous trees such as black cherry and oak. The southwestern corner of the parcel is characterized by mixed deciduous and coniferous forest. The northwest corner of the parcel is characterized by non-forested habitats, including an area that has previously been used as a landing area for timber harvesting. The northern edge of the parcel (adjacent to 9 Mile Road) is characterized by a mixture of non-forested habitats and patches of young deciduous and coniferous forest.
Management Goals
Use adaptive management to enhance the biological and structural diversity of forested and non-forested habitats. For each habitat:
Red pine plantation:
-Thin red pine as part of a commercial harvest, allowing white pine seedlings and saplings to recruit.
-Remove invasive Scots pine when red pine is commercially thinned.
-Where regeneration not dominant, plant additional tree and shrub species to increase biological diversity.
-Retain biological legacies by leaving at least two dying or dead standing trees per acre, at least one super canopy per 10 acres, and slash material from timber harvesting as coarse and fine woody debris.
Jack pine inclusions:
-Remove mature jack pine when red pine is thinned, leaving at least 2 trees per acre to become snags.
-Plant jack pine seedlings to ensure that this species remains part of the ecosystem.
Mixed deciduous and coniferous forest:
-Remove non-native invasive trees and shrubs such as autumn-olive, black locust, Japanese barberry, and Scots pine.
-Plant under-represented trees and shrubs, including those predicted to do well according to climate change models.
Non-forested habitat:
-Convert areas dominated by non-native invasive species (such as spotted knapweed and smooth brome) to native wildflowers and native grasses historically found in dry sand prairie habitats of Northern Michigan.
Climate Change Impacts
Regional Impacts as they pertain to the project area in Northern Michigan:
Regional Impacts as they pertain to the project area in Northern Michigan: -Temperatures will increase between 4°F and 10°F by the end of the century, with more warming during winter. Certain tree species, such as red pine, are not expected to fare well.
Winter snowpack will be reduced from 30-80% by the end of the century. This will result in moisture stress, particularly for young tree seedlings such as deciduous trees and shrubs that require more moisture.
Northern Michigan will have 30-50 fewer days of frozen ground during the winter by the end of the century. Shifts in freeze-thaw cycles will change which plant species are favored.
The growing season will increase by 30 to 70 days by the end of the century. This will likely favor invasive species.
Intense precipitation events will continue to become more frequent in northern Michigan. Erosion issues may occur, especially in non-forested areas that are not completely colonized by plants.
Soil moisture patterns will change, with drier soil conditions later in the growing season. Moisture stress may result due to a decrease in otherwise predictable rainfall and soil moisture in autumn.
Many invasive species, insect pests, and pathogens in northern Michigan forests will increase or become more damaging by the end of the century. Native insects and fungi will likely occur at abnormally high levels.
Challenges and Opportunities
Climate change will present challenges and opportunities for accomplishing the management objectives of this project, including:
Challenges
Scots pine is highly invasive and removal frequently requires non-merchantable entry.
For many of the focal species of this property, projections for which may or may not do well in the face of climate change can be a moving target as information is updated, and for other species it is difficult to find specific information.
All of the invasive species are spreading at alarming rates, and some (e.g., Japanese barberry) are predicted to do well in the face of climate change.
Opportunities
If red pine and white pine struggle in the long term due to impacts from climate change, other native species will occupy the growing space, the net result still being a diverse native forest ecosystem.
Controlling invasive species at our 40-acre parcel is a priority for us at the Manistee Conservation District. We have and will continue to ensure that we slow the spread of invasive species on the parcel. This will occur irrespective climate change.
Focus on planting additional native tree and shrub species that have historically done well on the soil types found on the parcel, and species that are predicted to do well in the face of climate change.
As jack pine declines, there will be a higher number of snags per acre and more woody debris on the forest floor.
Species historically found in dry sand prairie habitats are already adapted to sandy soils and droughty site conditions, so these species will likely do well in the face of climate change impacts such as abnormal droughts.
In terms of future fire potential, many of the native species found on the 40-acre parcel would be favored by periodic fires.
Adaptation Actions
Project participants used the Adaptation Workbook to develop several adaptation actions for this project, including:
Area/Topic
Approach
Tactics
Forests - all forested areas
In all forested areas, remove invasive plants, including trees such as black locust and Scots pine; and shrubs such as autumn-olive and Japanese barberry. (ongoing).
Forests – all forested areas
Wherever there is growing space to do so, plant tree and shrub species historically found in ecosystems of Northern Michigan, that can thrive on the soil types found on the parcel, and that are under-represented in the subcanopy and ground layers.
Also plant climate-adapted species with a dominant range that is farther south in Michigan. Species that have already been planted include aspen, black cherry, hazelnut, red maple and white oak. (ongoing)
Forests – all forested areas
When thinning is implemented, retain at least 2 trees per acre of a native tree species and allow to die to serve as habitat. Retain at least one red pine per 10 acres to become super canopy trees. Retain existing overstory white pine. (2024-2029)
Forests – red pine plantation
Continue to thin overstory red pine, complete removal of Scots pine, and partial removal of jack pine, approximately every 10 years, allowing a diversity of native trees to replace the red pine plantation. (2014 and every 10 years)
Wildlife Management – non-forested habitat
In small patches of non-forested areas of the parcel, remove invasive trees and shrubs using direct control methods; convert areas dominated by non-native herbaceous plants to native wildflowers and grasses characteristic of historic dry sand prairies.
Plant the same native tree and shrub species that will be planted in the forested areas. (2020 and ongoing)
Monitoring
Project participants identified several monitoring items that could help inform future management, including:
Beginning the growing season of 2025 and approximately every five years thereafter, estimate percent cover of native and non-native woody and herbaceous plants (including invasive species), and use those data to calculate diversity and floristic indices
Continue white-tailed deer monitoring to assess browse pressure
Future implementation strategies might include using point count surveys of birds; live trapping methods for small mammals; cover boards to monitor salamanders; and various methods (pitfall traps, sweep net surveys, sticky traps) to monitor arthropods
The purpose of monitoring both wildlife and plant diversity is to track changes in ecosystem diversity as management practices are implemented
On roughly 5-year return, use mixture of sampling methods to quantify: standard forest inventory metrics (basal area, trees per acre, etc.); shrub and tree regeneration to include survival of planted stems
Abundance of super-canopy trees, snags, and coarse and fine woody debris (after next harvest)