An American Beech-Dominated Original Growth Forest in Southeast Louisiana

Abstract

WHITE, D. A. (Dept. Biol. Sci., Loyola Univ., New Orleans, LA 70118). An American beechdominated original growth forest in southeast Louisiana. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 114:127-133. 1987.-An old-growth (more than 150 years old) forest in southeastern Louisiana was studied during 1982-1983 using nested quadrats to quantify the ecological importance of the woody species. The canopy of +35 m height is dominated by American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrhart) with 3 other co-dominants: spruce pine (Pinus glabra Walter), southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora L.) and sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua L.). The relict angiosperm star anise (Illiciumfloridanum Ellis) is a very common shrub. Twenty-eight woody species were found, within a forest basal area of 39.8 m2/ha. The overstory species were underrepresented in the smaller size classes, while the shrub and understory species showed typical reverse J-shaped size class distributions. The forest is thought to be climax.