Three decades of forest harvesting along a suburban–rural continuum

Abstract

Timber harvest is an important ecological disturbance that influences species composition, understory conditions, stand structure and growth, and carbon dynamics. Regional variation in harvest regimes and the associated ecological consequences are linked to social and biophysical attributes of the landscape. We analyzed three decades of change in commercial timber harvesting on all private and public forest throughout 328 towns in Massachusetts (USA). We quantified changes in harvest activity over time and estimated probability of harvest occurrence and proportion of a town’s harvest as functions of biophysical and social settings. We found little evidence of any temporal trends in harvest activity at the state or town scale. Across the suburban–rural interface, the probability of harvest occurrence on private land was consistently a function of the proportion of a town’s land in forest and the distance to the urban center (Boston). The proportion of private land in a town subject to harvest was negatively related to a town’s median household income. There was a significant difference in the proportion of private forest harvested in suburban vs. rural towns. The proportion of public forest subject to harvests was not related to any of the variables we examined. Total statewide estimates of commercial timber that fail to account for the suburban–rural transition may overestimate available or potential volume. Ecologically, the timber harvest disturbance regime in landscapes dominated by private ownership is strongly influenced by socioeconomic factors such as affluence and proximity to urban development, unlike other forms of natural disturbance typical of the region (e.g., wind).