Witness Tree Research Articles

Comparison of Presettlement, Second-growth and Old-growth Forest on Six Site Types in the Illinois Shawnee Hills

-Witness tree data from the General Land Office 1806-1807 survey records were used to reconstruct presettlement forest community data and a landscape pattern in the Illinois Shawnee Hills region. Using topographic maps, we categorized section and quarter section corners by physiographic site type: rocky S slope, S slope, ridgetop, high N slope, low N slope and terrace. For each type, species importance values (relative basal area) and community basal area, density and average diameter were determined from witness tree data. These data were compared to plot data of second-growth and old-growth forest communities on analogous sites. Presettlement communities had lowest basal area and highest mean diameter; old-growth had the highest basal area level. Second-growth stands had highest density and lowest mean diameter. Presettlement, second-growth and old-growth forest communities of rocky S slopes, S slopes and ridgetops were compositionally similar (percent similarity = 58-84%). Quercus stellata was the major dominant on xeric rocky S slopes while Q. alba was the most important species on xeric-mesic S slopes and ridgetops. Ridgetops supported a more open presettlement community of large Q. alba and Q. velutina. On these three site types, oldgrowth stands appear to be an acceptable representation of presettlement forest. On mesic high north, low north and terrace sites, presettlement forest communities were more similar to disturbed second-growth (percent similarity = 46-79%) than to old-growth (percent similarity = 22-30%). In presettlement forest, Quercus alba and Q. velutina were the dominants on high and low N slopes; Q. alba, Q. rubra and Liriodendron tulipifera were the most important species on terraces. Acer saccharum was absent or of minor importance. In second-growth forest, Q. alba and Q. alba with Q. rubra were the dominant species of high and low N slopes, respectively. On terraces, A. saccharum dominated but Q. alba, Q. rubra and L. tulipifera also were important. Old-growth forest on high N slopes was dominated by Q. rubra but A. saccharum was the major dominant of low N slope and stream terrace communities. While both presettlement and old-growth communities represent virgin (uncut) forest on mesic sites in the Shawnee Hills, they are relatively dissimilar in composition and structure. This difference exists because our present old-growth forest is an artifact of near total protection while presettlement forest developed under a fire regime.

Effects of Environment and Land-Use History on Upland Forests of the Cary Arboretum, Hudson Valley, New York

GLITZENSTEIN, J. S., C. D. CANHAM, M. J. McDoNNELL AND D. R. STRENG (Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY 12545). Effects of environment and land-use history on upland forests of the Cary Arboretum, Hudson Valley, New York. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 1 17: 106-122. 1990.-Relationships of vegetation to environment and land-use history were investigated in forests of the Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum in the Hudson Valley of New York. Vegetation data were obtained from 76 I/2 ha circular plots randomly located within the forest. Environmental data collected at each plot included slope, aspect, canopy openness, soil texture and nutrients, topographic position, and presence of exposed rock; gravimetric soil moisture was determined weekly during 1985 for a subsample of 25 stands. Land-use history information came from historical records (land deeds and U.S. and N.Y.S. census records), stone-fence locations, landscape patterns in stand ages, an old aerial photograph, and soils data. Vegetation analyses identified three major community types. One group of stands, dominated by chestnut oak (Quercus prinus L.) and northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.), occurred on steep, rocky, upper slope sites never cleared for agriculture. Distinct vertical stratification of dominant canopy species in these stands is consistent with a probable history of intensive selective cutting early in this century. Both of the other major community types occurred primarily on abandoned agricultural land. Stands dominated by white oak (Quercus alba L.), black oak (Quercus velutina Lam.) and pignut hickory (Carya glabra (Mill.) Sweet) tended to occur at lower elevations on rocky, nutrient poor sites probably derived from abandoned pastures. The significantly more open canopy in these stands, less distinct vertical stratification of canopy trees, and a diverse herbaceous understory frequently including grasses and sedges, also suggests very gradual invasion of these forests onto old pasture sites. The third major vegetation type, dominated by red maple (Acer rubrum L.) and white pine (Pinus strobus L.), tended to occur on finer textured, less rocky old field sites possibly abandoned from cultivation. Comparison of current vegetation with witness tree data from early land survey records suggests that the white oak-black oakhickory type was prevalent on lower slope sites prior to forest clearing, but has declined in importance relative to the red maple type during the past 100 years of abandonment of land from agriculture.

Pre-European Settlement Forest Composition in East New Jersey and Southeastern New York

A total of 5059 witness trees were counted from survey reports of unappropriated lands in 23 tallies from 14 towns and 13 counties of southeastern New York and East New Jersey. Southeastern New York and northern East New Jersey were dominated by oak, particularly white, red and black oaks, with hickory and chestnut common. Pre-European settlement forests in southern East New Jersey were dominated by oak and pine with cedar and maple, probably the species white cedar and red maple, common in some areas. Cedar was unrepresented in two of five S East Jersey tallies which encompass the modern white cedar-red maple swamp forest areas, while maple was common only in one of the tallies. Distribution of modern forest types and fossil pollen records were consistent with witness tree counts for oak and pine. As compared to pollen records, four tallies overrepresented walnut and underrepresented hickory.

Problems of superimposed effects in the statistical study of the spatial variation of soil

Soil morphology can provide insight into how ecosystems change following periods of extensive disturbance. Soils properties can often be linked to historic environmental influences (e.g., vegetation or climate) to provide a record of pedomemory. Identification and mapping of soil pedomemory properties show promise in providing context for ecological restoration. We have developed a novel use of digital soil mapping of spodic morphology to estimate historical forest composition in the high-elevation forests of the Central Appalachians. This region was extensively disturbed by clear-cut harvests and related fires during the 1880s–1930s. Hardwood forest species recovered much better than local conifers and generally encroached into historic populations of red spruce (Picea rubens) and eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). Spodic soil morphology, which is often associated with subalpine and boreal conifer forests, was mapped using a random forest probability model and showed correspondence to red spruce — eastern hemlock distribution, as derived from local historic property deed witness tree records from 1752 to 1899. These data and resulting models indicate a greater spatial extent of spodic soil properties than documented in previous soil maps, which is more consistent with general theories of much more extensive historic spruce populations. The resulting maps and models provide guidance for field scale restoration planning for historically disturbed spruce–hemlock forests. Our results suggest that historic Euro-American disturbance probably induced conifer-to-hardwood state transitions at mid to high elevation coniferous ecological sites within the Appalachians. Where transitions have occurred, there appears to have been dramatic losses in forest floor thickness (O-horizons) and associated soil organic carbon stocks into atmospheric carbon pools. Spatial modeling of similar pedomemory properties and other soil-ecology linkages is likely to be a powerful tool to guide restoration in other regions as well.

Presettlement Forests of the Unglaciated Portion of Southern Illinois

General Land Office survey notes of 1805-1815 were used to reconstruct the presettlement forests of southern Illinois. Witness trees were grouped into stands according to soil associations. Phytosociological attributes of absolute (D2) and relative density

FORESTS OF THE FAIRFAX LINE∗

ABSTRACT The Fairfax line, surveyed in 1746, starts at the southern tip of western Maryland and extends 76.5 miles (123km), bearing S 46° E, to the headwaters of the Conway River in Madison County, Virginia. The forests of the Fairfax line can be divided into five map units, based on the presence or absence of “key” species, which have significantly different woody floras. The forest units show a pattern of alternations with topography and underlying rock type which can be best explained by differences in substrate moisture. Although the common woody species appear in recurring groups, each species responds more or less independently to variation in topographic form, rock type, and direction of exposure. The surveyor's journal documents a large blowdown in the presettlement forests of the Appalachian Plateau, and witness tree data suggest that distribution patterns of the common woody species have changed little in more than two hundred years.

Presettlement and Present Forest Vegetation in Northern Vermont with Special Reference to Chittenden County

The trees recorded in the original land surveys of the township lines of northern Vermont (ca. 1783-1787) and the lotting surveys within the townships of Chittenden Co. (ca. 1763-1802) have been used to study the composition and map the distribution of the presettlement forests. Forest composition was measured in 1962 at 193 points in Chittenden Co. where original survey data was available, and was compared to presettlement composition. Several general regions of forest were delimited in northern Vermont based primarily on the distribution of pine, hemlock, spruce and fir. A gradient of relative abundance of these conifer species was evident from pine in the Champlain Valley and Connecticut River Valley to hemlock on the midslope uplands and fir and spruce in the mountains and northeastern highlands of the state. A map of probable presettlement vegetation of Chittenden Co. was prepared based on geographical distribution of species of witness trees, elevation, soil-substrate types, topography, and early historical records. The outstanding feature of the presettlement forest was the great abundance of beech. Beech ranged from more than 60% of the species composition on the upland midelevation soils in Chittenden Co. to 13% on the spruce-fir-dominated highlands in northeastern Vermont. Average beech abundance in hardwood forests was about 40%, which is in accord with the findings of other studies based on witness trees in New York, Pennsylvania and north central states. Beech made up over 40% of the trees in the presettlement forest, but in 1962 it comprised only 3-5%. This is probably due to the slow but persistent pattern of regeneration of beech in stands by root sprouts and the formation of clones resulting in its maximum development in old-age, undisturbed forests. Comparison of pre-settlement and present forest composition indicated no outstanding changes in the presence or absence of species within soil-substrate types or elevation belts, but there was a distinctive overall increase in the importance of pine, hardhack and poplar in the present forests on the intermediate elevations which reflects the stages of secondary succession on much abandoned farmland throughout Chittenden Co. Surveyor bias for selection of some species over others as witness trees was investigated. A study of stake-to-tree distances which could reveal possible selection due to greater distances to those species which were being favored did not indicate any bias and the surveyors apparently took the tree nearest the stake which met whatever diameter and state-of-vigor requirements the surveyors were using. The number of witness trees per unit area in Chittenden Co. was similar to the number used in studies in other areas in the north central states. 153 1 The work reported in this paper was done as an M.S. thesis at the Botany Department, University of Vermont, Burlington. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.104 on Mon, 20 Jun 2016 05:52:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 154 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 85(1)

Forest Composition and Species Association in the Beech‐Maple Forest Region of Western Ohio

WVitness trees from the land survey records have proved useful as indices of the character of the original vegetation and have served as a primary basis (Sears 1925; Kenoyer 1930, 1940; Blewett and Potzger 1950; Rohr and Potzger 1950; Potzger and Potzger 1950) or as a confirmatory or supplementary source of information (Lutz 1930; Crowl 1937; Dobbins 1937; Shanks 1937, 1938; Gordon 1940; Fassett 1944; Cottam 1949; Norris 1949) in a number of vegetation surveys in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, and WN;isconsin. The present study is based on the land survey records for Shelby County, Ohio, a typical sample area in the heart of the beech-maple forest region of western Ohio (Transeau and Sampson 1935; Braun 1950). Its objectives are: (1) species composition of the original forest based on the witness trees as a representative sample of the vegetation; (2) forest composition differences with differences in soil type and relief; (3) changes in species composition in the secondary forest; (4) analysis of the degree of association between the species used as witness trees in the original land surveys, based on the random pairs of trees used as witnesses at section and quarter-section corners; an(l (5) inferences as to habitat range of major species and their role in the forests. The original land surveys of Shelby County were made by nine surveyors during the years 1798-1832. The typical congressional land survey procedure was used, the land being divided by a grid into sections one mile square. Survey points were established at section corners an(l at intervening half-mile intervals (quarter-section corners) on alternate survey lines. Thus, each mile-square section had six survey points touching it, but the over-all average was two points per square mile, involving four witness trees per square mile. WVith the addition of survey corners along the river and county lines, 2030 trees were listed for this sample area of approximately 413 square miles. These witness tree records were transcribed onto topographic maps for certified copies of the survey records in the County Courthouse, Sidney, Ohio. Several assumptions underlie the analyses and conclusions of this paper: (1) that the species names in the survey records are consistent and identifiable; (2) that the samples are large enough to have validity; (3) that the witness trees are random pairs; and (4) that species can be used as habitat indices. The first two of these assumptions have commonly been discussed in papers which have justified the use of witness trees as a basis of vegetation inferences (S e a r s 1925; 1 Contribution from the Botanical Laboratory, The University of Tennessee, N. Ser. 146. Review of the manuscript and suggestions concerning soil interpretation and terminology by W. S. Ligon, Principal Soil Scientist, Division of Soil Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, are gratefully acknowledged.

The Cities and Towns of the High Plains of Michigan

W < THEN the lumbering industry moved into the forested area of northern Michigan, there was no preexisting structure of settlement on the land. The only cultural patterns were the broad net of Indian trails and the witness trees marked by the Land Office surveys to divide the land into townships and sections. It was necessary for the lumbermen to build their own system of communication, and they built it in accordance with their needs, not with the idea of its usefulness to any economy that might succeed their own. This communication system was naturally the basis for the distribution of the cities, towns, and villages that served lumbering, and parts of it remain in use today.

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