The Central Hardwood Forest Conference is a series of biennial meetings that have been hosted by universities and research stations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service in the central hardwood forest region in the Eastern United States. The objective of the conference is to bring together forest managers and scientists to discuss research and issues concerning the ecology and management of forests in the central hardwood region. This, the 16th Conference, includes presentations pertaining to forest regeneration and propagation, forest products, ecology and forest dynamics, human dimensions and economics, forest biometrics and modeling, silviculture and genetics, forest health and protection, and soil and mineral nutrition. The conference consisted of 64 oral presentations resulting in the papers published herein.