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Harvard Forest Data Archive

HF307

Life History of a Climax Forest in Pisgah State Forest in Winchester NH 1929-1930

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Data

Overview

  • Lead: Walter Branch, Raymond Daley, Thomas Lotti, Albert Cline, Richard Fisher
  • Investigators: Anthony D'Amato, David Foster
  • Contact: Information Manager
  • Start date: 1929
  • End date: 1930
  • Status: complete
  • Location: Pisgah State Forest (NH)
  • Latitude: +42.83 degrees
  • Longitude: -72.44 degrees
  • Elevation: 215 to 400 meter
  • Datum: WGS84
  • Taxa: Acer pensylvanicum (striped maple), Acer rubrum (red maple), Acer saccharum (sugar maple), Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch), Betula lenta (black birch), Betula papyrifera (paper birch), Castanea dentata (chestnut), Fagus grandifolia (beech), Fraxinus americana (white ash), Ostrya virginiana (American hophornbeam), Pinus resinosa (red pine), Pinus strobus (white pine), Picea rubens (red spruce), Populus spp. (poplar), Prunus pensylvanica (fire cherry), Prunus serotina (black cherry), Quercus alba (white oak), Quercus rubra (red oak), Tilia americana (American linden), Tsuga canadensis (hemlock)
  • Release date: 2023
  • Language: English
  • EML file: knb-lter-hfr.307.4
  • DOI: digital object identifier
  • EDI: data package
  • DataONE: data package
  • Related links:
  • Study type: short-term measurement
  • Research topic: conservation and management; historical and retrospective studies
  • LTER core area: population studies, disturbance patterns
  • Keywords: forest dynamics, hurricanes, old growth forests, species composition, stand structure, timber harvest
  • Abstract:

    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.

  • Methods:

    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.

  • Organization: Harvard Forest. 324 North Main Street, Petersham, MA 01366, USA. Phone (978) 724-3302. Fax (978) 724-3595.

  • Project: 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. (ROR).

  • Funding: National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210.

  • Use: 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.

  • License: Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal (CC0-1.0)

  • Citation: Branch W, Daley R, Lotti T, Cline A, Fisher R. 2023. Life History of a Climax Forest in Pisgah State Forest in Winchester NH 1929-1930. Harvard Forest Data Archive: HF307 (v.4). Environmental Data Initiative: https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/dfd3e5468b85e2f5dae7c141977203ce.

Detailed Metadata

hf307-01: plot data

  1. plot: plot label
  2. date: date plot was measured
  3. plot.area: plot area in acres (usually 0.1 acres) (unit: acre / missing value: NA)
  4. cover.type: description of forest type
  5. form: description of stand structure
  6. elev.desc: description of elevation
  7. loc.desc: description of plot location
  8. slope: slope in degrees (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
  9. aspect: cardinal direction
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. overstory: whether the tree was in the overstory or midstory
    • 1: overstory
    • 0: midstory
  13. notes: notes

hf307-02: stump data

  1. plot: plot label
  2. date: date plot was measured
  3. plot.area: plot area in acres (usually 0.1 acres) (unit: acre / missing value: NA)
  4. cover.type: description of forest type
  5. form: description of stand structure
  6. elev.desc: description of elevation
  7. loc.desc: description of plot location
  8. slope: slope in degrees (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
  9. aspect: cardinal direction
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. overstory: whether the tree is in the overstory or midstory
    • 1: overstory
    • 0: midstory
  13. stump: whether the tree was standing or cut
    • 0: standing
    • 1: cut
  14. notes: notes