PARENT SESSION
Poster Session 2: Forest Ecology
Monday, August 8, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, Exhibit Hall 220 A-E, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal

The structure, composition, and dynamics of old-growth forests in the Berkshire Hills and Taconic Mountains, western Massachusetts.

D'Amato, Anthony^{*,1, 2}, Orwig, David^*,1, ¹ Harvard Forest, Petersham, MA, USA² University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA

ABSTRACT- The forest composition, structure, and dynamics of eighteen recently discovered old-growth stands in the Berkshire Hills and Taconic Mountains in western Massachusetts were analyzed. All sites were characterized by extremely steep slopes (mean = 81.3 %) and ranged in elevation from 330 to 710 m.a.s.l. Composition in these areas ranged from mixed Tsuga canadensis/Picea rubens forests to northern hardwood forests containing mixtures of Acer saccharum, Fagus grandifolia, and Betula alleghaniensis. Extensive dendroecological analyses revealed these sites were characterized by uneven-aged forests with a range of tree sizes and ages. Within these areas, T. canadensis ranged in age from 289- 488 years old, P. rubens from 220-327 years old, and F. grandifolia from 150-225 years old. Analyses of tree ring chronologies from several old-growth sites indicated synchronous and asynchronous tree-ring releases within and among sites suggesting that the development of these stands has been affected by localized disturbance events as well as more regional disturbances. However, discrepancies in the distribution of age-classes and release events between plots, stands, and topographic positions suggest that the disturbance history of these sites has been dominated predominantly by small-scale disturbances such as windthrow and may indicate differential susceptibility to disturbance based on forest composition as well as topographic and physiographic setting.

Key words: old-growth forests, dendroecology, disturbance dynamics, Tsuga canadensis