Species composition and dynamics in two hardwood stands in Vermont: a disturbance history

Abstract

Stand composition and structure utilizing stem analysis was studied in two hardwood stands in Vermont. In a mixed hardwood stand with some white pine and hemlock, a major entry of new trees in the main canopy seems associated with harvesting coincident with land exchange. More recent partial cuttings have promoted establishment of new seedlings or development of suppressed advanced-growth shade-tolerant beech, ( Fagus grandifolia, Ehrh.), hophornbeam ( Ostrya virginiana, (Mill) K. Koch), and striped maple ( Acer pensylvanicum, L.). Very few sugar maple and red oak seedlings and saplings are present. In a northern hardwood stand some red spruce ( Picea rubens, Sarg.), that were 240 to 306 years old, became established before any known harvest, and exhibited release following harvests of the mid-1800s. This major harvest, coupled with the differential growth between spruce and hardwoods, and seed/seedling availability, resulted in a major change in stand composition. Trees now in the main canopy of sampled stands appear to have either been released or newly established following various harvests. Harvests have been of such frequency that natural disturbances seem insignificant. Many of the competitive understory species have become abundant following harvests of the 1960s and 1980s and may have been present as advanced growth and responded to the release. Following the harvest of 1981–1982, abundant yellow birch became established on skid trails. Elsewhere in the stand, yellow birch seedlings and saplings are only in great abundance in areas that were possibly sizable gaps following earlier harvesting. The dynamics of tree entry and growth in gaps of small or large size probably occur in a similar way in many other stands of the region. Though the sampling of this study is limited, there is no suggestion of continuous tree establishment at any particular location, the new age classes seem associated with either a gap or stand replacing disturbance attributed to harvesting.