Modeled distributions of 12 tree species in New York

Abstract

These maps depict the distribution of 12 tree species across the state of New York. The maps show where these trees do not occur (gray), occasionally occur (pale green), are a minor component (medium green), are a major component (dark green), or are the dominant species (black) in the forest, as determined by that species' total basal area. Basal area is the area of a cross-section of the trunk at 4.5 feet above ground (breast height). Basal area is a way of measuring how dominant a particular species is in a stand because of the way large trees contribute more to the total basal area than small trees. The map at the top of the circle (red maple) is the species with the greatest basal area in the state. All other maps are generally arranged to group species that commonly occur together. Of the 105 tree species recorded in New York in the 2005-2009 inventories, the species presented here are the top 12 in the state by total basal area, and together represent 74 percent of the total live tree basal area and 75 percent of the number of trees in New York. The center map shows where forest, nonforest, and water are present. In all maps, white is nonforest and water is blue. High resolution version of this map is available for download (113 MB PDF) Dataset: Live tree species basal area of the contiguous United States (2000-2009)