Forty-Eight Years of Forest Succession: Tree Species Change across Four Forest Types in Mid-Missouri

Abstract

In the central and eastern United States, many forest ecosystems have undergone recent shifts in composition and structure that may conflict with contemporary management objectives. Long-term forest inventory data were used to determine patterns of forest succession over a 48-year period for four forest types in mid-Missouri: bottomlands, dry ridge and slope, glade-like, and mesic slopes. All forest types increased in stand basal area and overstory quadratic mean diameter through time, with concomitant decreases in the number of midstory trees. Sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marshall) increased in importance value on dry ridge and slope and mesic slope forest types, largely due to the accumulation of trees in smaller diameter classes. White oak (Quercus alba L.) increased in overstory basal area in dry ridge and slope plots through the duration of the study, whereas black oak (Quercus velutina Lam.) and Shumard oak (Quercus shumardii Buckley) decreased in overstory density and basal area through time. Oak stems were nearly absent from the midstory across forest types in the recent sampling, suggesting future challenges for maintaining oak-dominated canopies following attrition of canopy trees through time on upland forest types. In glade-like plots, eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) increased in both overstory density and basal area through time, and Shumard oak decreased in density. The importance value of chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii Engelm.) in the overstory decreased through time in glade-like plots, largely due to the increase in density of eastern redcedar rather than the loss of chinkapin oak from the overstory. The patterns of succession in this forest landscape of mid-Missouri suggest that forest management may be needed to address two common contemporary concerns: (1) the need for increasing oak advance reproduction and recruitment to maintain oak as a canopy species; and (2) reducing eastern redcedar encroachment for glade restoration and management.

Topography Affects Tree Species Distribution and Biomass Variation in a Warm Temperate, Secondary Forest

“…Similar to many previous studies (e.g., [13,58,59]), our results indicate that only a few species contributed to most of the tree biomass within the study area. Although the plot had 51 species, only five species accounted for 78.4% of the biomass and only 10 species accounted for 91.1% of the biomass.…”

Expansion of Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) into the Deciduous Woodlands within the Forest–Prairie Ecotone of Kansas

“…Eastern redcedar encroachment into the deciduous woodlands as a percentage of existing deciduous woodlands for the three sites were 25%, 13%, and 18%, respectively. This observed ERC encroachment into deciduous woodlands within the forest-prairie ecotone of Kansas, is in parallel to what was reported for other forest types in this region, such as the Cross Timbers of north-central Oklahoma [39] and the glade-like forest types in mid-Missouri [40]. Table 6.…”

“…Thirty-year ERC change within the three study areas. what was reported for other forest types in this region, such as the Cross Timbers of north-central Oklahoma [39] and the glade-like forest types in mid-Missouri [40]. Total eastern redcedar (ERC) encroachment between 1986 to 2017 in the three study areas, broken down by conversion of deciduous forests and non-forest classes to ERC.…”

Changes in beta diversity and species functional traits differ between saplings and mature trees in an old‐growth forest

“…Given the multiple threats to forests in the Anthropocene (Lindner et al., 2010), it is of great importance to monitor changes in tree species size, abundance, and composition in forests (e.g., Knapp & Pallardy, 2018; Legendre & Condit, 2019; McCarthy, Small, & Rubino, 2001; Pinheiro, Goebel, & Hix, 2008; Runkle, 2013; Savage & Vellend, 2015). For example, monitoring of permanent and semipermanent forest plots (“legacy studies”) has provided new insights into linking temporal β‐diversity with climate change and other threats, as well as into the conservation of forest diversity (Becker‐Scarpitta et al., 2019).…”

“…Given the multiple threats to forests in the Anthropocene (Lindner et al, 2010), it is of great importance to monitor changes in tree species size, abundance, and composition in forests (e.g., Knapp & Pallardy, 2018;Legendre & Condit, 2019;McCarthy, Small, & Rubino, 2001;Pinheiro, Goebel, & Hix, 2008;…”