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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Thirty-eight years of autogenic, woody understory dynamics in a mature, temperature pine-oak forest

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:250424
In 1935, 32 ha of a pine-hardwood forest were set aside from future timber management in southern Arkansas, U.S.A. Old-growth timber had been cut to a 36-cm stump diameter before 1915. During 38 years of assessment, no catastrophic disturbances occurred within the 32-ha forest. Although loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) and shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) dominated the overstory (64% of basal area in 1954 and 63% in 1993), pines were absent from the understory in all but seedling size classes for the last 38 years. Woody understory diversity indices were essentially stable for 38 years, but the similarity of understory species tended to decline as the time between inventories increased. Relative importance values for woody understory species tended to increase for the more shade-tolerant genera and decrease for less tolerant genera. Survival and height growth for woody understory species were also found to be positively correlated with shade tolerance.
Research Organization:
Forest Service, Monticello, AR (United States). Southern Research Station
OSTI ID:
250424
Report Number(s):
PB--96-174271/XAB
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English