THE NORTHERN HARDWOOD FORESTS ARE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE LANDSCAPE AND ECONOMY OF THE NORTH-CENTRAL REGION. HOWEVER, THE CURRENT SINGLE-TREE-SELECTION PLANT PRODUCTION SYSTEM IS RESULTING IN REDUCED TREE SPECIES DIVERSITY, WITH A DECLINE OF MID-SHADE TOLERANT SPECIES, SUCH AS YELLOW BIRCH, AND INCREASED DOMINANCE OF SHADE-TOLERANT SUGAR MAPLE. REGENERATION FAILURE OF ALL SPECIESHAVE ALSO BEEN REPORT IN SOME AREAS. THIS REPRESENTS A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM, LIMITING THE PRODUCTIVITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF THIS PLANT PRODUCTION SYSTEM IN THE LONG TERM. A DIVERSITY OF SPECIES IS NEEDED TO PROVIDE FOREST RESILIENCE AGAINST A RANGE OF STRESSORS, PARTICULARLY IN THE FACE OF CLIMATE CHANGE. IN ADDITION, A DIVERSITY OF SPECIES IS REQUIRED TO HEDGE LONG-TERM FINANCIAL VALUES AGAINST FLUCTUATIONS SPECIES' TIMBER VALUES. THE GOALS OF OUR PROPOSED PROJECT ARE TO (1) IDENTIFY THE CRITICAL, PROCESS-LIMITING DYNAMICS THAT ARE PREVENTING RECRUITMENT OF MID-SHADE TOLERANT SPECIES IN MANAGED NORTHERN HARDWOOD FORESTS OF THE NORTH CENTRAL REGION, AND THEREFORE THREATENING PRODUCTIVITY AND SUSTAINABILITY THIS PLANT PRODUCTION SYSTEM; AND, (2) DEVELOP AN INNOVATIVE PLANT PRODUCTION SYSTEM FOR THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF NORTHERN HARDWOODS THAT MITIGATES THE IDENTIFIED CRITICAL, PROCESS-LIMITING DYNAMICS. SPECIFICALLY, WE WILL USE EMPIRICAL FIELD EXPERIMENTS, FOREST GROWTH MODELING, AND FINANCIAL ANALYSES TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER THE RECRUITMENT OF MID-SHADE TOLERANT SPECIES IS LIMITED BY SEED AVAILABILITY, LIGHT AVAILABILITY MICROSITE SUITABILITY, OR DEER BROWSE BY EXPERIMENTALLY MANIPULATING FOUR MANAGEMENT COMPONENTS OF THE PLANT PRODUCTION SYSTEM. THIS NOVEL PLANT PRODUCTION SYSTEM WILL BE EVALUATED IN TERMS OF THE QUALITY, VOLUME AND FINANCIAL VALUE OF TIMBER PRODUCED IN THE SHORT- AND LONG-TERM, AND THE STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION OF THE FOREST THROUGH TIME.