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G Model FORECO-12609;

No. of Pages 13

ARTICLE IN PRESS Forest Ecology and Management xxx (2011) xxx–xxx

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Forest Ecology and Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foreco

Gap-, stand-, and landscape-scale factors contribute to poor sugar maple regeneration after timber harvest Megan S. Matonis a,b,∗ , Michael B. Walters a,b , James D.A. Millington b a b

Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, 126 Natural Resources Building, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, 115 Manly Miles Buildling, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA

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Article history: Received 7 January 2011 Received in revised form 13 March 2011 Accepted 24 March 2011 Available online xxx Keywords: Northern hardwoods Selection harvesting Canopy gaps Regeneration Sugar maple Deer herbivory

a b s t r a c t Natural regeneration in canopy gaps is a key process affecting long-term dynamics of many forests, including northern hardwood forests. The density and composition of regenerating trees are often highly variable, reflecting sensitivity to a suite of driving factors operating at different scales (e.g., harvest gap to regional landscape), including production of seeds, physical characteristics of gaps and stands, competition with non-tree vegetation, and browsing by animals. Multivariate analyses over broad geographic areas provide insights into the relative effects of these factors and permit exploration of spatial patterns in regeneration. We examined the effects of gap-, stand-, and landscape-scale factors on densities of tree seedlings (