Heiberg Forest Report

Seed and Seedling Comparison in Two Tree Stands

The trees of Heiberg Forest vary greatly by area. One area could be heavily shaded by huge mature trees, with rich, cool and moist air. Another could be a much sunnier area, with younger trees and sapplings. Just a few steps can take you to a completely different atmosphere. There is a reason why certain areas are the way they are. Factors contributing to the trees of an area can range from land use history, soil quality, or human intervention. One leading component, perhaps the most important, is seed regeneration. The way a tree species disperses seeds to reproduce will affect its success in certain areas. Some trees disperse their seeds in a close range, some are carried by the wind, and others are carried by animals.

Two stands were chosen, one dominated by white pines and the other dominated by black cherry. Among these stands, groups were divided into plots to observe the prominence of species, seeds and seedlings. Observations were then averaged for each plot, and recorded in Figures 1 and 2.

The white pine stand had a rich vegetative understory. Since there wasn’t much of a canopy, more sunlight was allowed to reach the ground. This stand used to be used for farming, and was likely plowed over many times. This is evident in the landscape of the ground, which is fairly smooth. Covering the ground was a distinct layer of needles from the surrounding white pines. There generally seemed to be a majority of red maple and sugar maple seedlings (Figure 1). There was also an abundance of black cherry and red maple seeds (Figure