Twenty-Year Trends in Running Buffalo Clover (Trifolium stoloniferum Muhl. Ex A. Eaton; Fabaceae) on a Managed Forest in Northeastern West Virginia

Abstract

Twenty years of monitoring data are assessed for trends in abundance of running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum), an endangered species found on the Fernow Experimental Forest in northeastern West Virginia, where the clover is found under various forest management intensities. Monitored locations were grouped for analysis into sites with common disturbance histories. Of the 13 sites, about half (46%, six sites) were found to have statistically significant trends between numbers of rooted crowns and time. Three out of eight sites with recent and sustained periodic disturbance showed a significant association between time and running buffalo clover counts and the trend is positive. Of the sites with no management or no recent harvest activity, three were found to have negative trends of running buffalo clover counts over time, although at only one site was this statistically significant. This analysis of monitoring data gives some support for previous findings that the number of running buffalo clover rooted crowns is tied to disturbance on the skid roads and increased light conditions created by periodic harvesting.