Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Maine Woodlands

Publisher

Maine Woodland Owners

Publication Date

Summer 8-2025

Publisher location

Augusta, Maine

Issue Number

8

Volume Number

50

Abstract/ Summary

The Weymouth Point Watershed Study, initiated in 1979 in the Telos area of Maine, is a 46-year long-term paired-watershed study designed to assess nutrient removals from whole-tree harvesting in a mature red spruce forest. Led by Max McCormack and C. Tattersall Smith, with contributions from Russell Briggs, Jim Hornbeck, and Wayne Martin, the study utilized a Koehring feller-forwarder for the 1981 clearcut. Whole-tree harvesting, novel at the time, removed 90% of total biomass and 91% of essential nutrients, significantly more than stem-only harvests due to nutrient concentration in foliage. Initial concerns arose over the depletion of available calcium (Ca) and potassium (K) in soil, though a 2016 assessment at 35 years confirmed that ecosystem nutrient stocks and soil organic carbon were maintained when mineral soils were included. A notable outcome was significant site disturbance, with 47% of the area rutted by harvesting machinery. Long-term vegetation changes included a complete type conversion on 25% of the clearcut to pure hardwood forest due to advance conifer seedling destruction, and the remaining area became dense fir stands, effectively making restoration of the original spruce-dominated community impossible without planting. This highlighted the historical obstacles to using shelterwood cuttings, which are now recognized as crucial for maintaining spruce in such stands.

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