Securing desirable regeneration is essential to sustainable forest management, yet failures are common. Detailed seedling measurements from a forest inventory across 24 northern US states were examined for plausible regeneration outcomes following overstory removal. The examination included two fundamental regeneration objectives: 1) stand replacement- securing future forest and 2) species maintenance- securing upper canopy species. Almost half the plots lacked adequate seedlings to regenerate a stand after canopy removal and over half risked compositional shifts. Based on those advance reproduction demographics, regeneration difficulties could occur on two-thirds of the plots examined. The remaining one-third were regeneration-ready. However, compared to historical norms, increased small-tree mortality rates reduces that proportion. Not all forest types rely on advance reproduction and results varied among the forest types examined. Some variability was associated with browsing intensity, as areas of high deer browsing had a lower proportion of regeneration-ready plots.

The ponderosa pine forests in the Davis Mountains of western Texas recently experienced a major mortality event caused, in part, by an extended regional drought that predisposed trees and stands to mortality from both western pine beetle and wildfires. The loss of many overstory pines and the scarcity of natural ponderosa pine regeneration pose a considerable challenge to restoration. A commissioned study investigated artificial regeneration using containerized ponderosa pine seedlings with multiple planting seasons and vegetation management alternatives. Early survival was statistically greater for dormant season plantings than monsoon season plantings. Vegetation management treatments influenced early growth, survival, and herbivory rates. Physical weed control, which consisted of fibrous weed mats around the base of planted seedlings, showed early advantages over some vegetation management treatments in growth, survival and herbivory deterrence, but all vegetation management treatments had similar survival and herbivory results after 2.5 years. Early survival was poor in all treatments, mainly due to herbivory, which was identified as the principal short-term obstacle to artificial regeneration of ponderosa pine in the Davis Mountains. The larger question regarding feasibility of recovery in this isolated population, particularly if local climatic conditions become increasingly unfavorable, remains.

Reference charts have long been used in the medical field for quantitative clinical assessment of juvenile development by plotting distribution quantiles for a selected attribute (e.g., height) against age for specified peer populations. We propose that early stand dynamics is an area of study that could benefit from the descriptions and analyses offered by similar references for various tree measures. Reference charts provide a flexible quantitative framework that would complement traditional methods for assessing tree development. In young, mixed stands, competitive dynamics are, in part, a function of intraspecific, interspecific, and temporal variation in height development. A suite of reference charts can explicitly describe each of these, offering additional context and potentially greater insight into the complex development patterns of young trees. We illustrate this possibility and potential applications by constructing height–age reference charts for several tree species in young, mixed stands within the Missouri Ozarks.