Two decades of change in vegetation in Adirondack spruce-fir, northern hardwood and pine-dominated forests

EES Authors
Publication Year
2007
Source
Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society
DOI
Abstract
In 2004 we remeasured trees in 42 permanent vegetation plots that had been established in Adirondack spruce-fir, northern hardwood, and pine-dominated stands in 1984. Over the 20yr interval, live basal area (BA) in red spruce and/or balsam fir-dominated plots decreased by 15%. Blowdown was a major cause of balsam fir, but not red spruce mortality in two plots. Excluding the two blowdown plots, balsam fir live BA increased by 17%, while red spruce live BA decreased by 42% (P < 0.05). There was no significant change in the overall live BA of northern hardwood plots. However, excluding beech, the pooled northern hardwoods showed a significant decrease (P
Research Track Category
Authors
Bedison, J.E., Johnson, A.H., Willig, S.A., Richter, S.L., Moyer, A.