Forest Management Plan for Middlebury Forest
Description of the Middlebury Forest (~2 pages of text)
The Middlebury forest is a 12.5 hectare tract of land in Middlebury, Vermont that encompasses as diverse array of wildlife and natural beauty. The canopy layer of the Middlebury forest refers to all trees greater than 12cmdbh while the sub-canopy layer refers to all trees between 2.5 and 12.5cm dbh. The data collection by the Bio 140 lab sections in the Gorham 11 LTER plot of the Middlebury forest surveyed and measured a total of 319 different trees (>2.5cmdbh), and 15 different species. This plot was surveyed with the intent to be descriptive of the entire forest.
A total of 78 different trees within 12 different species were surveyed within the canopy layer. The hophornbeam tree species currently dominates the species composition in the canopy layer, accounting for roughly 33% of the canopy layer. This one specie accounts for almost as much as the next two most prominent species combined. Bitternut Hickory and Sugar maple both account for roughly 17% of the canopy layer in the Middlebury Forest. Of the 12 species that were surveyed in this layer, hophornbeam, Bitternut hickory and sugar maple dominate the canopy layer, accounting for more than 2/3 of the canopy composition.
A total of 241 different trees categorized within 11 different species were surveyed within the sub-canopy layer. The sugar maple tree species currently dominates the species composition in the sub- canopy layer, accounting for roughly 61% of the trees in the sub-canopy layer. This one specie accounts for more individual trees in the sub-canopy layer than all the other species combined. The next most dominant specie in the sub-canopy layer is the...
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...M. Adams, and C. Holzapfel. 2009. Testing the enemy release hypothesis: A comparison of foliar insect herbivory of the exotic norway maple (acer platanoides L.) and the native sugar maple (A. saccharum L.). Biological Invasions 11, no. 2: 379-388,
Paquette, A., Fontaine, B., Berninger, F., Dubois, K., Lechowicz, M. J., Messier, C., & Brisson, J. (2012). Norway maple displays greater seasonal growth and phenotypic plasticity to light than native sugar maple. Tree physiology, 32(11), 1339-1347.
Klionsky, S. M., Amatangelo, K. L. and Waller, D. M. (2011), Above- and Belowground Impacts of European Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) on Four Native Forbs. Restoration Ecology, 19: 728–737. doi: 10.1111/j.1526-100X.2010.00727.x
Norway maple (Acer platanoides). (n.d.). Vermont Invasives. Retrieved May 11, 2014, from http://www.vtinvasives.org/invaders/norway-maple
Shortleaf pine tends to grow rather slowly in the early stages of its life when compared to its closest competitor, loblolly pine. Therefore it cannot compete for the best sites under natural regeneration, but, because of it's tolerance of a wide range of site conditions, shortleaf pine is found naturally in areas where loblolly pine will not grow effectively. It is for this reason that shortleaf pine was chosen for this site instead of loblolly. When planted artificially, it was found that after the first few years of development, shortleaf pine will match loblolly in height growth on the better sites and will surpass loblolly on the poorer sites (Harrington, 1987). Because of this, shortleaf pine is the most commonly regenerated pine in the northern and western parts of its range where the site conditions are not as ideal as in the southern part of its range.
Reproduction and passing on genetic and behavioral traits to an offspring is a common fundamental to all the species on this planet. When studying forest ecology, it is crucial to study the proportion of individuals surviving at each stage of their growth as the lives and mortality experienced in a species population describes a characteristic of the species in question. In the case of American beech and sugar maple, their attempt to produce seeds is analogous to entering lottery, where every seedling has a potential chance of becoming a canopy but only some will survive and reach the canopy size; thus, becoming the fit ‘winners’. Our information shows that together, based on size class distribution, both the species display a ‘winner takes all’ pattern, which supports our hypothesis. The results showed a greater count for seedlings and short saplings than for tall saplings, sub-canopies and canopies. This is evident for a Type III survivorship curve. In Type III curve all individuals initially having a very low chance of survival. However, once the individuals pass their threshold age and survive, they live an advanced age. Only some individuals out the mast seeding production mature to become fully fit canopy trees. On the other hand, our hypothesis of canopy trees representing the bulk of the biomass was supported as the basal areas decreased going from growth stages of canopy to seedlings. This is evidence that once the individuals survive the bottleneck where there is high mortality of young individuals (seedlings), who are then considered as ‘losers’, will allow for the other larger size class individuals to flourish. Here, having considerable amount of dbh (diameter at breast height) accounts for greater surfac...
These are very difficult questions for me personally to answer because I live in the Pacific Northwest, and I have seen the beauty of the old growth forests first-hand.
Under these conditions, the sugar maple is commonly the dominant species, because it is so shade tolerant. Its seedlings are aggressive under the canopy¡¯s shade and restrict the establishment of other species (11). Natural sugar maple regeneration is typically sufficient for this reason, and the selection harvesting system is commonly chosen.
The vegetation is mostly trees. There are many types of trees, Some of the trees are coniferous trees and deciduous. It is all scattered in the southern part of the Canadian Shield. The forests are all mixed with birch trees, aspen trees, tamarisk trees, black and white spruce trees, willow trees, hemlock trees, pine trees and balsam fir trees. The mixed forests are beautiful in the fall when the leaves of the deciduous trees change color.
Timmons, J. B., Alldredge, B., Rogers, W. E., & Cathey, J. C. (2012). Feral hogs negatively affect native plant communities. Informally published manuscript, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M , College Station, TX, Retrieved from http://feralhogs.tamu.edu/files/2010/04/feral-hogs-native-plants.pdf
Bald cypress is a durable, slow growing but long lived, deciduous, conifer that particularly well adapted to wetland habitats (Cox and Leslie 1988). It is an intermediate shade tolerant species. It is slowing growing in partial shade, and produces the best growth in full overhead sunlight. Along with tupelo (Nyssa spp.), bald cypress is widely considered to be able to grow and thrive at unusually high stand densities (McGarity 1979, Wilhite and Toliver 1990). The exte...
...le would be more than that of American beech because sugar maple produce more seeds than American beech. Furthermore, we study whether the two species co-exist via reciprocal replacement, habitat preference or merely by chance. We believe that habitat preference may be the mechanism of coexistence here and therefore we hypothesize that there will be more American beech tree neighbors as they may represent the most biomass as per our third hypothesis. Thereafter, root sprouting is effective in American beech to give them a greater horizontal growth than sugar maple. Hence, we hypothesize that sugar maple canopies will be less asymmetrical than American beech. Finally, because a nearby canopy may restrict a tree canopy growth in the same direction, we hypothesize that a tree will grow its respective canopy away from its neighboring canopy to receive maximum sunlight.
Global climate change and intensifying temperatures over the past several decades have resulted in shifts in vegetation distribution. With increasing temperature and water deficits, this brings along with it, tree mortality. Tree mortality and environmental changes is the perfect recipe for a change in forest and woodland composition. Bottomland trees such as some oaks and the Magnoliaceae family can’t live in these changing areas anymore and die out. They are found more often by streams or some form of water, where these plants can stay hydrated most the year. The species that regenerate from the light gaps left behind after the dieback are more hardy trees that can handle more dry and hot temperature for longer periods of time.
In 1996, the Asian Longhorn Beetle made its way into the New York and New Jersey creating the decimation of the forests. The Asian Longhorn Beetle has so far caused the cutting of over 10,000 trees in New Jersey, and quarantine of 109 miles in New York today . The spread of this foreign beetle has created great impacts on the environment. The Asian Longhorn Beetle is an invasive specie, a harmful specie from another locations, mainly other countries, that has ended up in a foreign habitat. As time has progressed, invasive species have continued to come into our environment more frequently creating many unforeseen consequences. The relationship of invasive species within the United States’ environment and ecosystem has been changing ever since the arrival of the Europeans in the 1700s to present day. Due to these encounters with other species whether harmful or neutral, the majority, if not all, of the United States has been affected with the threatening encroachment of native species due to the industrialization of waterways and transportation.
The ecozone's forests are composed of 12.8% mixedwood, 2.1% deciduous, and 0.2% coniferous trees. The forest cover spans from 3 to 16%, and 40% of Ontario's rare plants are exclusive to the Carolinian forests. The Wood Poppy, Small-whorled Pogonia, Prickly Pear Cactus, and Cucumber Tree are species listed as Endangered. Wild Raspberry, Black-eyed Susans, Clover, Goldenrod, and Trilliums are widespread in forest ecosystems. Thickets and abandoned fields are h...
a) The Daintree rainforest at Cape Tribulation, in far north Queensland is diverse in many ways. It holds 12 of the 19 primitive plant families in the world (Cairns Today, 2007). The forest covers an area of 1100 square kilometres and is approximately eighty kilometres wide. This dense and luxuriant rainforest has the greatest diversity than any other in Australia and many in the world. The Daintree is also the home of rare and threatened of being extinct plant and animal species. The importance of this ecosystem is the very high. This ecosystem contributes to the overall health of this plant in many ways. The diversity contributes in the breakdown of pollution and helps to control the climate to name a few. This rainforest also is a great ‘carbon sink’. It has many photosynthesising plants and this allows the control of carbon dioxide (CO2). The plants take in the CO2 from the atmosphere and return oxygen (O2)
published in mid-August by researchers at Duke University in North Carolina and the U.S.-based non-governmental organisations Save America’s Forests and Land Is Life
Nigh, Gordon D., Ying, Cheng C. & Qian, Hong. (2004, October). Climate and Productivity of Major Conifer Species in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Forest Science 50(5), 659.
Rainforests once covered 14% of the worlds land surface, however now it only covers a mere 6%. It is estimated that all rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Trees are becoming more needed and used everyday. We need them cut down for many reasons such as paper and timber, while also needing them ‘untouched’ for other reasons like oxygen, we have to ask ourselves, which is more important? At the current rate, most of the rainforests are being cut down for resources like paper and timber, but less importance is being placed on main resources like oxygen.