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
Understory plant community response to silvicultural treatments in northern hardwood forests of northern New York.
Twery, Mark*,1, Wade, Gary1, 1 USDA Forest Service, Burlington, VT, USA
ABSTRACT- The USDA Forest Service, Paul Smiths College, and the New York Adirondack Park Agency Visitor Information Center (VIC) are cooperating in a public education project to demonstrate six forest management silvicultural systems : (1) single tree selection, (2) group selection, (3) shelterwood, (4) two-age management, (5) clearcut, and (6) no cutting. Part of that project is a study of the effects of a variety of silvicultural treatments on the diversity and abundance of vascular flora within the treated areas. In each of the seven 2-ha blocks delineated within each of two replicated northern hardwood stands, an extensive inventory of the flora has been conducted each year since 1998. The treatments were applied during the winter of 1999-2000. Overall species richness is affected little by treatments, except to add new species in areas with greater disturbance. The primary effects to date appear to be in relative abundance of species already present. Almost all species persist in at least small numbers in all treatments.
Key words: plant diversity, northern hardwoods, species richness, forest management