Recovery of an Appalachian Forest Following the Chestnut Blight or Catherine Keever-You Were Right!

Abstract

This study was initiated in 1939 on the SW slope of Beanfield Mountain, Giles Co., Virginia, and was repeated in 1970. Prior to the chestnut blight [Endothia paras?tica (Murr.) A. and ?.], which reached a peak about 1920, the study area was covered by an oak-chestnut forest except for low-elevation cove forests. Dominant oak species included chestnut oak (Quercus prinus L.), northern red oak (Q. rubra L. var. borealis) (Michx. f.) and white oak (Q. alba L.). Following the blight these oak species partially filled canopy openings and persisted as codominants for a quarter century. In 1939, at elevations above 850 m, the mountain was covered by an oak complex dominated by northern red oak. On the basis of trends observed in 1953, Catherine Keever speculated that, eventually, oak-hickory forests would replace chestnut-oak forests in the region. Results of our 1970 study support Keever's predictions. By 1970, pignut hickory (Carya glabra, Mill.) had replaced chestnut, red maple (Acer rubrum L.) invaded clearings and sugar maple (A. saccharum Marsh.) became a dominant species in mixed mesophytic forests at low elevations. A half century following the chestnut blight, the oakchestnut forest has been replaced by an oak-hickory forest.