How can we design silvicultural practices that accommodate the variety of ecosystem functions and processes as well as the variety of management objectives? As management options become more limited, what can we do to ensure that forests are resilient and adaptable to changing environmental and biological conditions? What are the tradeoffs in terms of short- and long-term productivity when we emphasize resilience and adaptability? How can we quantify these tradeoffs? What flies are they biting on?

These are questions that intrigue me. My colleagues Dave Coates, Christian Messier and I suggest that managing forests as complex adaptive systems may be helpful in this context (see A Critique of Silviculture). A closer look at complexity science provides opportunities to learn new ideas and approaches for managing forest ecosystems (see Managing Forests as Complex Adaptive Systems). But there is still much to be learned, especially in terms of management applications of these concepts, and I have initiated a research program that investigates these questions.

Order Critique of Silviculture Reviews of the book	Order Managing Forests as Complex Adaptive Systems

My recent and future work in this context deals with trying to develop silvicultural treatments that maintain or encourage ecosystem resilience and adaptability, while providing income, timber, wildlife habitat, clean water, and other goods. I believe much can be gained from linking the theories of complex adaptive systems to practical applications used by several silvicultural approaches, such as variable retention cutting, close-to-nature or continuous-cover silviculture, and other approaches that fall under the label ecosystem management.

I am involved in various experimental studies that investigate aspects related to the issues listed above. For example, the Young Plantation Study monitors development of vegetation and wildlife use in gaps in very young Douglas-fir stands on Oregon Department of Forestry land. Due to funding limitations, it is currently dormant, but the studies are installed and ready to be measured again soon.

The Young Stand Thinning and Diversity Study (initiated by the Willamette National Forest) and the Density Management Study (initiated by the Bureau of Land Management) investigate impacts of various thinning regimes in 30 to 70-year old Douglas-fir stands. I am especially interested in stand structural development and plant diversity and composition as it relates to ecosystem resilience and adaptability. Other interests include the spatial scale of interactions and gap influences. I am cooperating with other scientists to determine how changes in stand structure influence ecosystem function and processes, including microclimate (Paul Anderson), amphibian (Adrian Ares, Dede Olson) and songbird habitat (Joan Hagar, Matt Betts), and other resources.

It is a privilege to be working on the "cutting edge", to be involved in a powerful set of experiments, and to work with fine colleagues and students. Together we strive to make contributions to forest science that will help forest managers and the public to make informed decisions about forest management.

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