Transcript Old Growth Forests

Intro to Trees: SW Ohio’s Old
Growth Forests
Outline
• Our Geologic History
• Eastern Deciduous Forests
– Forest Layers
– Forest Types
– Old Growth
• Features of the Krippendorf Forest
– Horticultural Legacy
– Defining Species
• Challenges to our forest today
– Invasive Species
A Forest over A Sea
Geologic History
• Bedrock Formation
– Ordovician Seas – 450,000,000 ya
– Sedimentary – Limestone & Shale
• Tectonic Plates
– North American Plate moves north
• Uplift – Cincinnati Arch
• Lexington Peneplane
• Pleistocene Glaciation
– 2,000,000 ya
Glacial Periods in SW Ohio
• Pre-Illinoian Glacier
– About 1,000,000 ya
• Illinoian Glacier
– 250,000 ya
• Wisconsian Glacier
– 70,000-19,500 ya
Note: Kansan Glacier ( 2M ya) did not reach SW Ohio
Glacial Deposits
• Glacial Till
– Sand, gravel, soil, erratics carried by glacier
• Glacial Outwash
– Carried by melt waters
– Sorted by size when deposited
Ohio Soils
Divided mainly into
those topsoils
resultant from
glacial activity and
those not impacted
Ohio Surface
Water
Primarily small
streams low to
mid-gradient
rivers and
oxbows. Few
natural lakes.
Cincinnati Bioregion
4 Ecoregions
Defined by:
– Geology
– Topography
– Climate
– Hydrology
– Soil type
– Vegetation
– Wildlife
– Land Use
Pre-Wisconsinan Drift Plains
Eco-region
-Illinoian deposits
-Drift – material of glacial
origin (till, lake sediments,
gravel, sand, loess)
-generally flat landscape
-poor drainage (due to young
age)
-Swamp Forest – Pin Oaks
Loess – wind blown glacial
silt
Ohio
Vegetation
Ohio
1803
Ohio
1903
Ohio
2003
Forest Layers
• Canopy
• Understory
– SubCanopy
– Shrub Layer
• Forest Floor
– Herbs and
Vines
Forest Types
Beech-Maple
Mixed Mesophytic (Mesic)
Oak-Hickory
Bottomland Hardwood
Beech-Maple Forest
• Beech-Maple forests once covered much
of Ohio, including parts of Hamilton and
Clermont counties.
• Abundance of beech and (sugar) maple
trees (in some cases up to 90% of the
trees are of these two species).
Beech-Maple Forest
Mixed Mesophytic (Mesic) Forest
• on well-drained soil, usually a loam.
• a high species diversity of trees and other
plants
• generally appear lush.
• Most of the Eastern Deciduous Forest can
be described as Mesic.
Mixed Mesophytic (Mesic) Forest
Oak-Hickory Forest
A forest of nut producing trees: various species of oak,
hickory, formerly chestnut (now surviving only as
understory sprouts).
• Understory of flowering dogwood, sassafras,
hackberry, hawthorn.
• The shrub layer is distinct, dominated by species
characteristic of acidic soils; blueberries,
huckleberries, and laurels. Some shrubs are
evergreen.
Oak-Hickory Forest
Bottomland Hardwood Forest
• Also known as Riverine Forests - moist
sites along rivers and floodplains. Spring
flooding may be an annual occurrence
• Box Elder, Sycamore, Cottonwoods, Silver
and Red Maple occur.
• Some invasion by oak, hickory forest
species.
• Open spaces allow herb growth in though
cover may be minimal throughout a large
portion of the year.
Bottomland Hardwood Forest
Forest Succession
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Field or forest opening
Colonization by herbaceous plants
Early successional shrubs & trees
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Deciduous trees
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Shrub spp
Red Cedar & Black Locust
Mid successional
Young Forest
Mature Forest
Old Growth Forest
Old Growth Forest
• Many old trees –
greater than 150 years
• All age classes
• Standing deadwood
• Prevalence of fallen trees
• High species diversity in all forest layers
• Deep top soil with rich
humus layer
• No signs of human influence
Forest Layers
• Canopy
• Understory
– SubCanopy
– Shrub Layer
• Herbs and
Vines
Sub-canopy
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Paw Paw
Dogwood
Buckeye
Sassafras
Redbud
Paw Paw
Dogwood
Buckeye
Sassafras
Redbud
Shrub Layer
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Spicebush
Service Berry
Bladdernut
Leatherwood
Buttonbush
Spicebush
Service Berry
Bladdernut
Leatherwood
Buttonbush
Common invasive species
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Amur Honeysuckle
Lesser Celandine
Garlic Mustard
Multiflora Rose
Wisteria
Purple Loosestrife
Autumn Olive
Burning Bush (euonymus)
Wintercreeper (euonymus)
English Ivy
Asian Bittersweet
Amur Honeysuckle
Garlic Mustard
Lesser Celandine
Autumn Olive
Burning Bush (Euonymus)
Wintercreeper (Euonymus)
English Ivy
Asian Bittersweet