About

The Forest Productivity Cooperative (FPC) is an international partnership committed to creating innovative solutions to enhance forest productivity and value through the sustainable management of site resources. The partnership is led by forestry faculty at North Carolina State University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, the Universidad de Concepción, and the Universidade Federal de Lavras. Team members have expertise in silviculture, forest nutrition, ecophysiology, soils, plant community ecology, growth and yield modeling, process-based modeling, remote sensing, spatial analysis and GIS, and statistics.

Partners include the four host universities, forest industry, timber investment management organizations, forestry consultants, governmental agencies, private landowners, and others interested in intensive plantation management. Members own or manage over 25  million acres (10 million hectares) of pine and broadleaved plantations in the southeastern US and Latin America, making the FPC one of the world’s largest cooperative silviculture research and education programs.

Our approach includes a mix of applied research, fundamental research, graduate and undergraduate education, technology transfer, continuing education, and consulting. This mix provides a productive environment for addressing questions and immediately incorporating research results into silvicultural practices for cost-effective and environmentally sustainable plantation management.

History

The Forest Productivity Cooperative celebrated its 50th year of operation in 2019, representing a significant milestone that is a tribute to the strength of the partnership between forest industry and the university scientists who work together to increase the productivity and value of planted forests through the sustainable management of site resources.

The North Carolina State Forest Fertilization Cooperative (NCSFFC) was organized in 1969 by J.O. Cantrell, T.E. Maki, and C.B. Davey, bringing together interested parties from North Carolina State University, forestry industry, and fertilizer manufacturers. Initially, the Cooperative was a five-year program with the objective “to determine the economic feasibility of forest fertilization” for loblolly pine in the Piedmont and northern Coastal Plain regions of the southeastern United States. The first advisory council meeting was held May 28, 1970, and the first “Regionwide” field study began in winter 1970-71.  That has expanded to include 28 Regionwide trials. The Coop now has the largest forestry field trial base in the world with study sites located in the US, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Uruguay.

Since 1970, the FPC has evolved from a regionally based fertilizer cooperative into an internationally recognized research and education program in forest production, silviculture, and soils. In 1986, the Cooperative’s name was changed to the North Carolina State Forest Nutrition Cooperative (NCSFNC) to reflect a broader emphasis on forest production and nutrition. The name was shortened to Forest Nutrition Cooperative (FNC) in 2003 when Virginia Tech joined as a partner. The University of Concepción joined as a partner in 2005. In 2010, the name was changed to Forest Productivity Cooperative (FPC) to reflect the broadening silvicultural scope of the Coop. In 2016, the cooperative formed a partnership with Dr. Otávio Campoe, now located at the Universidade Federal de Lavras, to better serve the industry members in Brazil. 

At North Carolina State University, Wayne Haines served as the Cooperative’s first director until 1977. He was followed by Bob Kellison (1977-1978), Russ Ballard (1978-1980), Lee Allen (1981-2008), Dan Kelting (co-director 2000-2003), and Jose Stape (2008-2015). Rachel Cook serves as the current co-director at NCSU since 2016. At Virginia Tech, Tom Fox served as co-director from 2003 to 2017. David Carter now serves as the co-director at Virginia Tech since 2018. In  2007, Rafael Rubilar became a co-director at UdeC in Chile and in 2016, Otávio Campoe became associate co-director in Brazil.

Impact

The Forest Productivity Cooperative continues to change how plantations are managed in the Americas. The area fertilized annually since 1990 is one indication of the impact the FPC has had on plantation management.

Over the last 50+ years the FPC has:

• Demonstrated that leaves grow trees, resources grow leaves, and that optimum value will only be realized with site-specific manipulation of both site and genetic resources

• Provided fertilizer prescriptions for millions of acres of pine plantations in the southeast US, resulting in 30 million more tons of wood being produced every year

• Demonstrated that the potential productivity of plantations in many areas of the Americas is much higher than previously thought

• Encouraged the worldwide adoption of effective and environmentally sustainable silvicultural practices

• Identified the debilitating effects of chronic nutrient limitations on plantation productivity and the opportunities to enhance productivity through nutrient additions

• Developed remote sensing tools based on Landsat and LiDAR to determine leaf area in plantations

• Created decision support systems and prescription guidelines to optimize the use of soil tillage, vegetation management, fertilization, and thinning to enhance stand growth and value

• Published more than 700 papers, theses, dissertations, and reports dealing with plantation productivity, forest nutrition, soils, and silviculture (a complete list of publications can be found on our web site)

• Provided members with the latest information concerning intensive silviculture through field visits and a successful workshop series

• Served as a founding member of the National Science Foundation Center for Advanced Forestry Systems