Yield, Stand, And Volume Tables For Even-Aged Upland Oak Forests

The upland oak region comprises 100 million acres, or one-fifth of the commercial forest area of the United States. It contains 43 billion cubic feet, or one-third of the total stand of hardwoods; and furnishes 2% bilhon cubic feet, or 40 percent, of the annual cut of such species. In addition, it is favorably located in respect to the great industrial regions and centers of population. 'It is recognized as the great center of the Nation's hardwood resources'' {26),^ There are two principal forest types in the region {26),^ the chestnutchestnut oak-yeUow poplar type, and the oak-hickory type (fig. 1). These have been further divided {27) into 21 cover types, practically all of which are represented in this study. Forest management in this extensive region has been dependent on a number of volume and yield studies (6, 8, 9, 12,18, 29, 30) based on local data, some of which were very meager. Since the advent of the chestnut blight (Endothia parasitica), oak stands in the eastern part of the region have lost one of their fastest-growing components. This has altered the growth capacity of many stands and accordingly lessened the usefulness of some of the earlier jdeld. tables. Recently, yield tables {15) and yields for the average site {1) for oak in Pennsylvania have been published