Advantages and Disadvantages of the Clearcutting Method

Nyland (1996) listed the following general advantages and limitations of the clearcutting method:

Advantages of the clearcutting method

1. High yields per unit of area potentially lower the harvesting costs.
2. Setup and control require few technical skills, except for the skid trail system.
3. Brightness of the area will sustain even the most shade-intolerant species, and promote the rapid growth of most species.
4. Cutting all trees facilitates site preparation to control pests and competing vegetation, improve seedbeds, and ameliorate soil deficiencies (for example, by cultivation, drainage, or fertilization).
5. Easy access by machines simplifies artificial regeneration.
6. Clearcutting controls pests that damage older trees left by partial cutting.
7. Clearcutting facilitates natural regeneration of species with serotinous cones.
8. Clearcutting precludes blowdown of residual trees, and removes decadent trees from a site.
9. High density of the new community promotes early lower branch mortality, formation of long clear boles, and less taper on surviving trees.
10. Herbaceous vegetation and woody shoots close to the ground provide abundant food and excellent cover for many birds and small mammals.
11. Limiting the regeneration period to a small part of the rotation facilitates later uses, such as grazing or recreation.
12. When applied systematically across a forest ownership, clearcutting creates well-defined age classes in distinct stands, simplifying the management for evenflow sustained yield from a forest.

Limitations of the clearcutting methods

1. Landowners must depend on stored seeds, and those dispersed into the site from adjacent sources.
2. Any shortage of seed on site limits regeneration to light-seeded species, barring an unusual dispersal mechanism.
3. The abundance and uniformity of any particular species, and the spacing and species composition of a new stand depend on an uncontrollable seed supply.
4. Dependence on seed trees in adjacent stands and seeds already stored on site reduces the chance to control the seed source for genetic improvement of the new community.
5. Cutting during poor seed years may lead to regeneration failure or irregular stocking, and particularly with species that have a distinct periodicity for seed production.
6. The open environment may inhibit some species, and will favor many herbaceous plants that impede the regeneration of desirable trees.
7. Dense competing vegetation or harsh soil conditions may require costly site preparation.
8. Soils with a shallow depth to the water table may become saturated or waterlogged due to reduced transpiration, inhibiting seed germination and reducing seedling survival.
9. Reduced transpiration increases percolation and subsurface flow, and accelerates nutrient leaching until a new vegetation cover develops It also increases the chances of mass soil movement on steep slopes.
10. In flattened or concave topography, the lack of overstory protection may increase the chance of freezing temperatures early in a growing season killing or damaging all but frost-resistant species.
11. On dry sites, the unshaded surface may become unsuitable for many species.
12. Disturbance of the surface litter during logging displaces stored seeds and increases chances for surface erosion on hillsides, at least until new plants colonize the site.
13. Overstory removal precludes a second chance for regeneration if unusual conditions cause failures immediately after clearcutting.
14. Prolonged litter decomposition in areas that do not regenerate promptly may change moisture balance and nutritional status of the soil.
15. Removing all the mature trees, leaving abundant logging slash and fresh stumps, and exposing soil across the area degrades the visual quality for many forest users.
16. Abundant dry logging slash increases the fire danger during dry periods, and provides ideal habitat for some harmful insects and small mammals.
17. Resulting even-aged communities have less resistance than uneven-aged stands to snow and wind damage.
18. Removing all the large trees eliminates essential habitat for some wildlife.