• Start-up
  • Planning
  • Action
  • Evaluation

Glover’s Ledge is an outdoor classroom which aims to support a diverse transitional hardwood forest aligned with future climate scenarios, while supporting multiple uses for Antioch University New England and the surrounding region.

Glover’s Ledge demonstrates forest ecology and stewardship over 80-acres of transitional hardwood forest along the lower Connecticut River. The property aims to hold resistance, resilience, transition, and no action demonstration areas geared toward this forest type, while also addressing regeneration risks due to introduced invasive plants and excessive deer browse.
Oak forest stand
Forest with maple and red pine
Old hemlock forest
Students standing near a solar array
A group of people looking at trees in the forest

Project Area

Map showing a forested area with trails and ponds
Glover’s Ledge is an 80 acre forested property owned by Antioch University since 2014 and is located in Langdon, New Hampshire. The property is comprised of transitional hardwoods along with young forest areas, wetlands, rock outcrops, and other natural features. Antioch University New England manages Glover’s Ledge as an outdoor classroom that supports hands on learning, research, recreation, environmental education, community connection, and sustainability. The property offers approximately three miles of walking trails, including a half mile ADA accessible trail, as well as a solar array, a Motus wildlife tracking station, young forest demonstration areas, and an educational barn and pavilion. To guide long term stewardship, Glover’s Ledge is supported by student property managers, ongoing graduate level courses, and a 15 year forest management plan.

Management Goals

A young forest with many trees seedlings and saplings establishing

 

 

 

 

 

Goal 1: Maintain and enhance the diversity of forest community composition and structure within the Transitional Hardwoods forest type.

Stand 1- Enriched Transitional Forest

  • Recruit sawtimber sugar maple, white pine, red oak, and iron wood into larger size classes, while retaining uneven-aged diameter distribution in the next 30 years.
  • Identify at least 4 seed trees per acre for mast release to create desirable seedbed composition in the next 5 years.
  • Retain red pine as legacy of artificial regeneration by crown thinning to improve vigor in the next 30 years.

Stand 2- Matrix Transitional Forest

  • Retain open-and-closed canopy cover in existing matrix.

Stand 3- North-facing Hemlock Transitional Forest

  • Maintain continuous canopy cover and retain at least 35% of basal area as conifer component.

Stand 4- South-facing Oak Transitional Forest

  • Shift composition to red oak and white pine to at least 40% basal area by removing unsuited species and poor-formed crown stems.

Goal 2: Maintain and improve wildlife habitat for identified Species of Greatest Conservation Need (e.g., Prairie Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Blue-winged Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Ruffed Grouse, Veery, and American Kestrel) per latest New Hampshire State Wildlife Action Plan.

Stand 1- Enriched Transitional Forest

  • Maintain closed-canopy conditions with improved midstory creating vertical stratification in the next 30 years (e.g., for Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrush)
  • Identify at least 4 seed trees per acre for mast release for food crops (e.g., red oak, white pine, and red pine) in the next 5 years.

Stand 2- Matrix Transitional Forest

  • Retain a permanent 2.5-acre gap for early succession every 10 years (e.g., for Prairie Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Veery, Blue-winged Warbler)
  • Recruit pole-sized stems of desirable composition mixture every 20 years (e.g., for Ruffed Grouse, Veery)
  • Retain conifer component in unharvested area especially of midstory strata (e.g., for Wood Thrush) 

Stand 3- North-facing Hemlock Transitional Forest

  • Retain closed-canopy conditions and conifer component in unharvested area especially of midstory strata (e.g., for Wood Thrush)
  • Monitor standing and downed deadwood volumes (e.g., for Ruffed Grouse)

Stand 4- South-facing Oak Transitional Forest

  • Establish mixed-canopy cover 40-60% over the next 30 years as positioned near Matrix Transitional Forest (e.g., for Scarlet Tanager, Eastern Towhee)
  • Identify at least 4 seed trees per acre for mast release for food crops (e.g., red oak, white pine) in the next 5 years.

Goal 3: Developed long-lived, multi-aged stands with desired regeneration recruited.

Stand 1- Enriched Transitional Forest

  • Reduce glossy buckthorn to less than 10% stems per acre of seedling and saplings. Desired regeneration is black birch, bitternut hickory, ironwood, and sugar maple in next 5 years.
  • Recruit two piles of fine woody material per acre around desirable advanced regeneration in next 10 years.

Stand 2- Matrix Transitional Forest 

  •  Achieve 30% of regeneration stems in gaps to desired regeneration (natural/artificial) sugar maple, bitternut hickory, or oaks (e.g., scarlet or white) in the next 10 years.
  • Achieve at least 40% survival of plantings above browse height in the next 20 years.

Stand 3- North-facing Hemlock Transitional Forest 

  • Recruit deadwood as regeneration substrate of at least one nurse log (>14-inch diameter and >16 feet long) per acre over the next 20 years.

Stand 4- South-facing Oak Transitional Forest 

  • Regenerate red oak and white pine (at least 100 seedlings and 50 saplings per acre).
  • Recruit at least 15 pole-sized oak stems per acre in the next 20 years.

Climate Change Impacts

For this project, the most important anticipated climate change impacts include:
Forest composition will change across the landscape (e.g., Monadnock Plateau ecoregion holds great mixtures of Central, Transitional, Northern hardwood, and Spruce Fir communities in proximity along elevation gradients).
However, shifts in forest composition will take at least several decades to occur in the absence of major disturbance.
Many invasive plants will increase in extent or abundance (e.g., Multi-flora Rose, Common Buckthorn, Glossy Buckthorn, Honeysuckle, and Barberry).
Certain insect pests and pathogens will increase in occurrence or become more damaging (e.g., hemlock wooly adelgid, emerald ash borer, red pine scale).
Low-diversity systems, such as even-aged forests with past high-grading, are at greater risk to disturbances.
Warmer temperatures and altered precipitation will interact to change soil moisture patterns throughout the year, with the potential for both wetter and drier conditions depending on the location, aspect, soil composition and season.
The winter season will be shorter and milder, generally leading to less precipitation falling as snow and reduced snow coverage and retention throughout the season.

Challenges and Opportunities

Climate change will present challenges and opportunities for accomplishing the management objectives of this project, including:

Challenges

Limited winter snowpack and summer temperature variation may limit desirable regeneration and stress existing canopy trees.
Present populations of insects and diseases (e.g., red pine scale and hemlock woolly adelgid) may create additional risks to conifers.
Increased temperatures may allow for greater spread of existing invasive plants or may introduce new invasive species on site (e.g., multi-flora rose).
Hemlock is a significant component of the forest but is the most vulnerable to various introduced stressors.

Opportunities

The site has high species richness and redundancy in functional groups and guilds, including species that are projected to be well-adapted to future climates.
An extended growing season may support higher productivity and development of advanced regeneration.
The site has diverse topographic aspects and soils aspects to which support varied forest communities and refugia for threatened species.
The site's proximity to the Lower Connecticut River Valley may provide a source for desired future regeneration of climate-adapted species and enhance landscape connectivity.
Wildlife Species of Greatest Conservation Value present on site are projected to have suitable habitat in future climate scenarios.

Adaptation Actions

Project participants used the Adaptation Workbook to develop several adaptation actions for this project, including:

Area/Topic
Approach
Tactics
Stand 1- Enriched Transitional Forest
1.4. Reduce competition for moisture, nutrients, and light.
2.1. Maintain or improve the ability of forests to resist pests and pathogens.
3.3. Alter forest structure to reduce severity or extent of wind and ice damage.
5.1. Promote diverse age classes.
5.2. Maintain and restore diversity of native species.
6.1. Manage habitats over a range of sites and conditions.
Perform free-thinning from 122.5 to 85 ft.²/acre, while maintaining uneven-diameter distribution, increasing wind tolerance of red pine, and retaining biological legacies (e.g., cavity trees and pasture trees).
5.3. Retain biological legacies.
9.5. Disfavor species that are distinctly maladapted.
Free-thinning and crop tree release should favor species suitable to future climate conditions (e.g., black birch, red oak, sugar maple, and white pine) and disfavor less adapted species (e.g., paper birch, hemlock)
2.2. Prevent the introduction and establishment of invasive plant species and remove existing invasive species.
2.3. Manage herbivory to promote regeneration of desired species.
Use cut stump herbicide application and mechanical pulling 50 ft. from stand edges
Create fine woody material piles and retain slash created by hand felling or horse logging
Stand 2- Matrix Transitional Forest
2.1. Maintain or improve the ability of forests to resist pests and pathogens.
Delineate areas for crown release of hemlock or hardwoods in upland sites to lessen susceptibility to hemlock woolly adelgid and maintain canopy cover.
4.1. Prioritize and maintain unique sites.
6.1. Manage habitats over a range of sites and conditions.
3.1: Maintain or restore forest and riparian areas
Delineate reserves of existing Cinnamon Fern- Hemlock Forest natural community as a part of matrix forest
Retain permanent mature forest within the matrix
2.2. Prevent the introduction and establishment of invasive plant species and remove existing invasive species.
In patch cuts of intensive glossy buckthorn, perform rotations with applied cover seed mixes (e.g., sedges, goldenrods, white pine, birches)
In patch cuts of less intensive glossy buckthorn, use cut stump herbicide application and mechanical pulling
Use status of different patch cuts to inform which patch cuts should be left to mature or be permanent young forest.
Stand 3- North-facing Hemlock Transitional Forest
2.1. Maintain or improve the ability of forests to resist pests and pathogens.
4.1. Prioritize and maintain unique sites.
5.4. Establish reserves to maintain ecosystem diversity.
6.1. Manage habitats over a range of sites and conditions.
Maintain old-growth characteristics found on the north-facing slope (legacies of 1938 hurricane)
Mark additional biological legacies to retain to promote old forest characteristic benchmarks for standing and downed deadwood.
Stand 4- South-facing Oak Transitional Forest
5.1. Promote diverse age classes.
5.2. Maintain and restore diversity of native species.
6.1. Manage habitats over a range of sites and conditions.
9.1. Favor or restore native species that are expected to be adapted to future conditions.
9.2. Establish or encourage new mixes of native species.
Conduct extended irregular shelterwood on a south-facing hill to favor red oak and white pine regeneration
Establish uneven-aged diameter distribution, while retaining biological legacies (e.g., pasture trees), advance regeneration of black birch, and seedbed regeneration of red oak and white pine
Time establishment cut to align with red oak crop year
Harvest poor-vigor hemlock stems, while providing adequate light and spacing to increase vigor of residual hemlocks and other threatened species in the overstory

Monitoring

Antioch University New England stewards and conducts classes and programs that use the site to learn from and monitor project outcomes. In addition, Glover’s Ledge scholarship will support a graduate student to monitor ecological and learning outcomes of the site and adjust goals as needed. Specific ecological and educational monitoring items will include:
Establish permanent plots in patch cuts to determine regeneration trajectory, deer browse, and introduced invasive species.
Continued monitoring of continuous forest inventory plots as sampled in 2015 and 2025.
Continue monitoring of bird point count stations as sampled in 2018 and 2025.
Track the number of Antioch University New England property stewards, classes, and programs that interact with the site (i.e., forest and wildlife management course offered every two years)

Next Steps

Next steps include distributing the adaption plan to different Antioch University partners for implementation, engaging students in through Glover’s Ledge new work study student opportunities, and establishing new permanent monitoring plots.

Learn More

Keywords

Forest types
Management plan
Research
Wildlife habitat

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