uid=HFR,o=lter,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org all public read doi:10.6073/pasta/dfd3e5468b85e2f5dae7c141977203ce Walter Branch Raymond Daley Thomas Lotti Albert Cline Richard Fisher Anthony D'Amato https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2570-4376 Researcher David Foster https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1171-3762 Researcher 2023 English

Old-growth forest is uncommon across the northeastern United States, as most areas have been historically cleared for agriculture or harvested for timber. This study provides rare direct insight into the overstory and midstory dynamics across a semi-contiguous old-growth landscape in New England. Pisgah State Park in southwestern New Hampshire comprises 5300 ha of Hardwoods-Hemlock-White Pine forest, all but 300 ha of which was cutover by the 1880s. To protect a high-quality, old-growth stand from harvest, Harvard Forest purchased a 10 ha tract (the Harvard Tract) in 1927. In 1929 and 1930, Branch, Daley, and Lotti located and sampled all of the known remaining old-growth stands in the Pisgah area. This included 74 0.04 ha old-growth stands, 14 of which were located the Harvard Tract. They also surveyed 27 0.04 ha stands that had been cut just prior to the study (stump plots), where stumps as well as the remaining overstory trees were recorded. Note that only 61 old-growth plots and 23 stump plots have valid measurements. Species, diameter class, and position (overstory or midstory) were recorded for each tree; cover type, elevation, and location was described for each plot. Dead and downed trees were also recorded.

forest dynamics hurricanes old growth forests species composition stand structure timber harvest LTER controlled vocabulary populations disturbance LTER core area Harvard Forest HFR LTER USA HFR default

This dataset is released to the public under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (No Rights Reserved). Please keep the dataset creators informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset should include proper acknowledgement.

Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal https://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0.html CC0-1.0 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf307 Pisgah State Forest (NH). Coordinates based on WGS84 datum. -72.44 -72.44 +42.83 +42.83 215 400 meter 1929 1930 genus Acer species pensylvanicum striped maple species rubrum red maple species saccharum sugar maple genus Betula species alleghaniensis yellow birch species lenta black birch species papyrifera paper birch genus Castanea species dentata chestnut genus Fagus species grandifolia beech genus Fraxinus species americana white ash genus Ostrya species virginiana American hophornbeam genus Pinus species resinosa red pine species strobus white pine genus Picea species rubens red spruce genus Populus species spp. poplar genus Prunus species pensylvanica fire cherry species serotina black cherry genus Quercus species alba white oak species rubra red oak genus Tilia species americana American linden genus Tsuga species canadensis hemlock complete Information Manager Harvard Forest

324 North Main Street Petersham MA 01366 USA

(978) 724-3302 hf-im@lists.fas.harvard.edu Harvard Forest

324 North Main Street Petersham MA 01366 USA

(978) 724-3302 (978) 724-3595 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu

Stands were located within the Pisgah Forest in which no signs of human disturbance such as cutting or culling were evident. In each suitable stand, a sample plot of 0.1 acre was laid out with a staff compass and steel tape. The upper story, middle story, and advance growth were recorded. The upper story included all the dominant and codominant trees, which were tallied by species and by diameter and height classes. Diameter classes for the overstory were as follows: 0-10, 10-15, 15-20, 20-25, 25-30, 30-35, and 35 inches or greater. For this dataset, values that were recorded in classes are listed as the lower limit (i.e. if the tree fell in the 20-25 in class, it would be recorded as 20). The species forming this story were the basis for classification of the various stands into types. The middle story consisted of all of the intermediate and suppressed trees down to a height of 15 feet, which were also tallied by species, and diameter and height classes. The breaks for the midstory are: 0-4, 4-6, 6-10, 10-15, and 15 inches or greater. Trees in the upper and middle story are differentiated by the binary category “overstory,” which equals 1 if the tree is in the overstory and 0 if it is in the middle story.

Harvard Forest

324 North Main Street Petersham MA 01366 USA

(978) 724-3302 (978) 724-3595 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu https://ror.org/059cpzx98 pointOfContact The Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program examines ecological dynamics in the New England region resulting from natural disturbances, environmental change, and human impacts. National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210. hf307-01-plot.csv plot data hf307-01-plot.csv 407346 d454a12aef31905deb4bbc922d06e29f 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p30/hf307/hf307-01-plot.csv plot plot label plot label NA missing value date date plot was measured YYYY-MM-DD 1 day NA missing value plot.area plot area in acres (usually 0.1 acres) acre 0.01 real NA missing value cover.type description of forest type description of forest type NA missing value form description of stand structure description of stand structure NA missing value elev.desc description of elevation description of elevation NA missing value loc.desc description of plot location description of plot location NA missing value slope slope in degrees degree 1 whole NA missing value aspect cardinal direction cardinal direction NA missing value species species acpe Acer pensylvanicum acru Acer rubrum asca Acer saccharum beal Betula alleghaniensis bele Betula lenta bepa Betual papyrifera cade Castanea dentata fagr Fagus grandifolia fram Fraxinus americana osvi Ostrya virginiana pire Pinus resinosa piru Picea rubens pist Pinus strobus pop Populus spp. prpe Prunus pensylvanica prse Prunus serotina qual Quercus alba quru Quercus rubra tiam Tilia americana tsca Tsuga canadensis NA missing value dbh Diameter at breast height (4 feet 6 inches) Diameter was recorded as a bin range; lower bin range is shown. For overstory: 0-10, 10-15, 15-20, 20-25, 25-30, 30-35, ≥35 For midstory: 0-4, 4-6, 6-10, 10-15, ≥15 “dead” and “down” represent snags and coarse woody debris, respectively diameter at breast height NA missing value overstory whether the tree was in the overstory or midstory 1 overstory 0 midstory NA missing value notes notes notes NA missing value 3298 hf307-02-stump.csv stump data hf307-02-stump.csv 99212 1389f0313f56279509d5f72ebe17d29e 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p30/hf307/hf307-02-stump.csv plot plot label plot label NA missing value date date plot was measured YYYY-MM-DD 1 day NA missing value plot.area plot area in acres (usually 0.1 acres) acre 0.01 real NA missing value cover.type description of forest type description of forest type NA missing value form description of stand structure description of stand structure NA missing value elev.desc description of elevation description of elevation NA missing value loc.desc description of plot location description of plot location NA missing value slope slope in degrees degree 1 whole NA missing value aspect cardinal direction cardinal direction NA missing value species species acpe Acer pensylvanicum acru Acer rubrum asca Acer saccharum beal Betula alleghaniensis bele Betula lenta bepa Betual papyrifera cade Castanea dentata fagr Fagus grandifolia fram Fraxinus americana osvi Ostrya virginiana pire Pinus resinosa piru Picea rubens pist Pinus strobus pop Populus spp. prpe Prunus pensylvanica prse Prunus serotina qual Quercus alba quru Quercus rubra tiam Tilia americana tsca Tsuga canadensis NA missing value dbh diameter at breast height (4 feet 6 inches) Diameter was recorded as a bin range; lower bin range is shown. For overstory: 0-10, 10-15, 15-20, 20-25, 25-30, 30-35, ≥35 For midstory: 0-4, 4-6, 6-10, 10-15, ≥15 “dead” and “down” represent snags and coarse woody debris, respectively diameter at breast height NA missing value overstory whether the tree is in the overstory or midstory 1 overstory 0 midstory NA missing value stump whether the tree was standing or cut 0 standing 1 cut NA missing value notes notes notes NA missing value 845 conservation historical short-term measurement