Sugar Maple-Environment Relationships in the River Hills and Central Ozark Mountains of Missouri

Abstract

Sugar maple is becoming more important in oak-hickory forests near the relatively xeric western margin of the eastern deciduous forest. To identify site characteristics conducive to sugar maple in these forests, vegetation, environmental and disturbance history data were obtained for 115 oak-hickory stands in the Missouri river hills and central Ozark Mountains. Detrended Correspondence Analysis ordination of the data revealed clear vegetational gradients in importance of sugar maple and oak species. Sugar maple was most important on soils with high pH and water-holding capacity, whereas white and black oak and flowering dogwood were more common on drier sites with more acidic soils. Topographic exposure, fire and grazing were negatively correlated with sugar maple importance and positively correlated with importance of several oak species. Sapling data suggested that oak species are regenerating successfully only on exposed dry sites despite the ubiquitous presence of canopy oaks capable of producing large seed crops. Sugar maple reproduction, on the other hand, is abundant in most areas where a source of seed is present.