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You are here: NRS Home / Scientists & Staff / Laura Kenefic
Scientists & Staff

[image:] Laura Kenefic Laura Kenefic

Title: Research Forester
Unit: Center for Research on Ecosystem Change
Address: Northern Research Station
686 Government Road
Bradley, ME 04411
Phone: 207-581-2794
E-mail: Contact Laura Kenefic

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Education

  • Ph.D., Forest Resources, University of Maine (2000)
  • M.S., Forest Resource Management, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry (1995)
  • B.A., Environmental Studies, State University of New York at Binghamton (1992)

Civic & Professional Affiliations

  • Society of American Foresters
  • New England Society of American Foresters
  • Ecological Society of America
  • Experimental Forest and Range Working Group (Northern Research Station representative)
  • Faculty Associate and Graduate Faculty, School of Forest Resources, University of Maine
  • Cooperating Faculty, Center for Research on Sustainable Forests, University of Maine
  • Faculty Associate, Department of Wood and Forest Sciences, Laval University

Current Research

  • Ecology and Silviculture of Mixed-Species Stands - Recent and ongoing projects include short- and long-term dynamics of multi-aged stands (with a focus on selection, diameter-limit, and other forms of partial cutting), rehabilitation of degraded stands, regeneration substrates and dynamics, stand and sub-stand structure, and relationships between forest management and understory vegetation, including nonnative invasive plants. Many of these projects are in collaboration with University of Maine faculty and graduate students. A substantial part of my work is conducted on the Penobscot Experimental Forest, but I also have research sites on industrial forestlands throughout Maine, the Massabesic EF and Holt Research Forest in Maine, the Dukes EF in Michigan (in cooperation with NRS scientist Christel Kern), and the Forest Ecosystem Research and Demonstration Area in New York (in cooperation with NRS scientist Mark Twery). My research addresses the northern conifer (eastern hemlock - red spruce - balsam fir), northern hardwood, and northern red oak - eastern white pine forest types.
  • Sustainability - I am the principal investigator for the Maine portion of a cross-border study of northern white-cedar regeneration, growth, and quality, in collaboration with Laval University (Quebec), the University of Maine, and Maibec Industries. I also have been working with University of Maine and NRS colleagues on studies of soil-site-growth relationships, the long-term effects of harvesting on site productivity, the role of site in determining sub-stand-level variation in silvicultural outcomes, and residual stand and regeneration implications of mechanized partial harvesting.
  • Pioneering Studies - In addition to my current work on Experimental Forests, I am researching the history of Station research in the northern conifer forest, including experiments on the now-closed Gale River, Finch-Pruyn, and Paul Smiths EFs, and regional growth and yield studies (1900s - 1960s). I am working with University of Maine cooperators and Station colleagues to re-analyze, re-establish, and re-open these studies where possible. In addition, my research on northern hardwood silviculture at the Dukes EF includes a historic, recently re-opened 80+ year-old Cutting Methods study.

Why is This Important

The forests of the northeastern United States and eastern Canada are structurally and compositionally complex, and recent trends in forest management have been toward silvicultural systems that maintain or increase complexity of structure and species. However, the dynamics of mixed-species and multi-aged stands are incompletely understood, and information about ecosystem response to management in both the short- and long-term is needed. I am using current studies, as well as archived data and intact plots from early Forest Service research, to address problems of contemporary forest management. Additionally, focus on potentially at-risk components of complex ecosystems is important. Long-term sustainability of the northern white-cedar resource, for example, is a concern due to widespread problems with regeneration and recruitment and declining inventory in Maine. My research contributes both to effective forest management and long-term forest sustainability.

Future Research

In addition to ongoing studies, I would like to expand my research in the areas of ecology and silviculture of northern red oak - eastern white pine, focusing on the development of those species in mixture; northern hardwood silviculture; new approaches to creating and maintaining multi-aged stands; and silviculture of northern white-cedar.

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Last Modified: 02/15/2012