scholarly journals The forests of the midwestern United States at Euro-American settlement: Spatial and physical structure based on contemporaneous survey data

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. e0246473
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Paciorek ◽  
Charles V. Cogbill ◽  
Jody A. Peters ◽  
John W. Williams ◽  
David J. Mladenoff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Midwestern United States ◽  
Uncertainty Estimates ◽  
Data Products ◽  
Young Forests ◽  
Approximate Bayesian

We present gridded 8 km-resolution data products of the estimated stem density, basal area, and biomass of tree taxa at Euro-American settlement of the midwestern United States during the middle to late 19th century for the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana. The data come from settlement-era Public Land Survey (PLS) data (ca. 0.8-km resolution) of trees recorded by land surveyors. The surveyor notes have been transcribed, cleaned, and processed to estimate stem density, basal area, and biomass at individual points. The point-level data are aggregated within 8 km grid cells and smoothed using a generalized additive statistical model that accounts for zero-inflated continuous data and provides approximate Bayesian uncertainty estimates. The statistical modeling smooths out sharp spatial features (likely arising from statistical noise) within areas smaller than about 200 km2. Based on this modeling, presettlement Midwestern landscapes supported multiple dominant species, vegetation types, forest types, and ecological formations. The prairies, oak savannas, and forests each had distinctive structures and spatial distributions across the domain. Forest structure varied from savanna (averaging 27 Mg/ha biomass) to northern hardwood (104 Mg/ha) and mesic southern forests (211 Mg/ha). The presettlement forests were neither unbroken and massively-statured nor dominated by young forests constantly structured by broad-scale disturbances such as fire, drought, insect outbreaks, or hurricanes. Most forests were structurally between modern second growth and old growth. We expect the data product to be useful as a baseline for investigating how forest ecosystems have changed in response to the last several centuries of climate change and intensive Euro-American land use and as a calibration dataset for paleoecological proxy-based reconstructions of forest composition and structure for earlier time periods. The data products (including raw and smoothed estimates at the 8-km scale) are available at the LTER Network Data Portal as version 1.0.

scholarly journals Statistically-estimated tree biomass, stem density, and basal area for the upper Midwestern United States at the time of Euro-American settlement

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Paciorek ◽  
Charles V. Cogbill ◽  
Jody A. Peters ◽  
Simon J. Goring ◽  
John W. Williams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Midwestern United States ◽  
Data Product ◽  
Uncertainty Estimates ◽  
Data Products ◽  
Additive Modeling ◽  
Approximate Bayesian

AbstractWe present gridded 8 km-resolution data products of the estimated biomass, basal area, and stem density of tree taxa at the time of Euro-American settlement of the midwestern United States for the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana. The data come from settlement-era Public Land Survey (PLS) data (ca. 0.8-km resolution) of trees recorded by land surveyors. The surveyor notes have been transcribed, cleaned, and processed to estimate biomass, basal area, and stem density at individual points on the landscape. The point-level data are then aggregated within grid cells and statistically smoothed using a statistical model that accounts for zero-inflated continuous data with smoothing based on generalized additive modeling techniques and approximate Bayesian uncertainty estimates. We expect this data product to be useful for understanding the state of vegetation in the midwestern United States prior to large-scale Euro-American settlement. In addition to specific regional questions, the data product can serve as a baseline against which to investigate how forests and ecosystems change after intensive settlement. The data products (including both raw and statistically smoothed estimates at the 8-km scale) are being made available at the LTER network data portal as version 1.0.

scholarly journals Changes in Forest Composition, Stem Density, and Biomass from the Settlement Era (1800s) to Present in the Upper Midwestern United States

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Goring ◽  
David J Mladenoff ◽  
Charles V Cogbill ◽  
Sydne Record ◽  
Christopher J Paciorek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Land Use ◽  
The United States ◽  
Spatial Distance ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Midwestern United States ◽  
South Central ◽  
Density And Biomass ◽  
Spatially Varying

EuroAmerican land use and its legacies have transformed forest structure and composition across the United States (US). More accurate reconstructions of historical states are critical to understanding the processes governing past, current, and future forest dynamics. Gridded (8x8km) estimates of pre-settlement (1800s) forests from the upper Midwestern US (Minnesota, Wisconsin, and most of Michigan) using 19th Century Public Land Survey (PLS) records provide relative composition, biomass, stem density, and basal area for 26 tree genera. This mapping is more robust than past efforts, using spatially varying correction factors to accommodate sampling design, azimuthal censoring, and biases in tree selection. We compare pre-settlement to modern forests using Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data, with respect to structural changes and the prevalence of lost forests, pre-settlement forests with no current analogue, and novel forests, modern forests with no past analogs. Differences between PLSS and FIA forests are spatially structured as a result of differences in the underlying ecology and land use impacts in the Upper Midwestern United States. Modern biomass is higher than pre-settlement biomass in the northwest (Minnesota and north-eastern Wisconsin, including regions that were historically open savanna), and lower in the east (eastern Wisconsin and Michigan), due to shifts in species composition and, presumably, average stand age. Modern forests are more homogeneous, and ecotonal gradients are more diffuse today than in the past. Novel forest assemblages represent 29% of all FIA cells, while 25% of pre-settlement forests no longer exist in a modern context. Lost forests are centered around the forests of the Tension Zone, particularly in hemlock dominated forests of north-central Wisconsin, and in oak-elm-basswood forests along the forest-prairie boundary in south central Minnesota and eastern Wisconsin. Novel FIA forest assemblages are distributed evenly across the region, but novelty shows a strong relationship to spatial distance from remnant forests in the upper Midwest, with novelty predicted at between 20 to 60km from remnants, depending on historical forest type. The spatial relationships between remnant and novel forests, shifts in ecotone structure and the loss of historic forest types point to significant challenges to land managers if landscape restoration is a priority in the region. The spatial signals of novelty and ecological change also point to potential challenges in using modern spatial distributions of species and communities and their relationship to underlying geophysical and climatic attributes in understanding potential responses to changing climate. The signal of human settlement on modern forests is broad, spatially varying and acts to homogenize modern forests relative to their historic counterparts, with significant implications for future management.

scholarly journals Quantifying trends and uncertainty in prehistoric forest composition in the upper Midwestern United States

Ecology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 100 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andria Dawson ◽  
Christopher J. Paciorek ◽  
Simon J. Goring ◽  
Stephen T. Jackson ◽  
Jason S. McLachlan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
Midwestern United States

scholarly journals Novel and Lost Forests in the Upper Midwestern United States, from New Estimates of Settlement-Era Composition, Stem Density, and Biomass

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. e0151935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon J. Goring ◽  
David J. Mladenoff ◽  
Charles V. Cogbill ◽  
Sydne Record ◽  
Christopher J. Paciorek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Midwestern United States ◽  
Density And Biomass

Alteration to Woodland Structure through Midstory Mastication Increased Fuel Loading and Cover of Understory Species in Two Upland Hardwood Stands

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devin E Black ◽  
Mary A Arthur ◽  
Wendy Leuenberger ◽  
David D Taylor ◽  
Jeffrey F Lewis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Stand Structure ◽  
Landscape Heterogeneity ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Habitat Diversity ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Fuel Loading

Abstract The contemporary decline of open woodlands in the eastern United States has prompted land managers to implement management prescriptions that encourage landscape and habitat diversity, often using mechanical thinning and prescribed fire as tools to alter stand structure. To increase habitat diversity and restore natural processes, a long-term oak woodland restoration project was planned for two upland hardwood stands in the Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky, United States. As an initial phase of restoration, we examined the effects of midstory mastication on stand structure, understory vegetation response, and fuels. The mastication treatment reduced stem density and basal area of trees ≤7.9 in. (20.1 cm) dbh by 69 percent and 47 percent, respectively, encouraged vigorous stump/root sprouting, and increased ground cover of forbs (204 percent) and native graminoids (253 percent) the first year on treated plots. Additionally, mastication created a variable cover of woody mulch on the forest floor and increased 1-h and 100-h time-lag fuels compared with controls. In year 2, Microstegium vimineum (invasive grass) cover increased by 700 percent on treated plots. This study imparts novel information on the mastication of upland hardwoods to benefit land managers in directing future treatments to shape desired stand structures and compositions, and increase landscape heterogeneity.

scholarly journals Quantitative and qualitative effects of a severe ice storm on an old-growth beech–maple forest

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 598-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koichi Takahashi ◽  
Ken Arii ◽  
Martin J. Lechowicz
Keyword(s):  
Detrended Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
Permanent Plots ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Ice Storm ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Stand Basal Area

Comparing permanent plots censused in 1997 and again in 2005, we quantified the impact of a severe ice storm on forest composition and dynamics in an old-growth beech–maple forest in eastern Canada. Acer saccharum Marsh. and Fagus grandifolia Ehrh. accounted for 78% of stand basal area immediately before the January 1998 ice storm. By 2005, eight growing seasons after the ice storm, stand basal area had dropped from 49.1 m2/ha to 31.5 m2/ha, and total tree density (>1 cm diameter at breast height (DBH)) decreased from 6350 stems/ha to 3875 stems/ha. However, A. saccharum and F. grandifolia remained dominant, accounting for 74% of stand basal area. Detrended correspondence analysis of relative dominance ratios at each plot in 1997 and 2005 showed that community composition did not change much during this period for either understory (1 cm ≤ DBH < 10 cm) or canopy trees (DBH ≥ 10 cm). The ice storm did not lead to significant recruitment of saplings (DBH ≥ 1 cm), but appears to have only contributed more to the growth of already-established saplings. We conclude that the ice storm of 1998 substantially decreased stand basal area and stem density but did not act to change the overall species composition or tree diversity in this old-growth beech–maple forest.

scholarly journals Primary and Secondary Igapó Forests in the Peruvian Amazon: Floristics, Physical Structure and the Predictive Value of Soil Bulk Density

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Randall W. Myster
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Soil Bulk Density ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Above Ground Biomass ◽  
Stem Size ◽  
Ground Biomass

Igap&oacute; forests are a key part of the Amazon.&nbsp; And so, it is important to know their floristics and physical structure, and how they may be influenced by their soil.&nbsp; The floristics and physical structure of 16 primary [1o] and secondary [2o] igap&oacute; forest plots in Loreto Province, Peru was described and linear regressions were computed to explore whether soil bulk density could predict structural parameters. In the 1o forest, Fabaceae, Malvaceae and Rubiaceae were the most common families and Calycophyllum spruceanum, Ceiba samauma, Inga spp., Cedrela odorata, Copaifera reticulata, Phytelephas macrocarpa, Guazuma rosea, and Piptadenia pteroclada were the most common species. And as flooding increased, bulk density, stem density, stem size, species richness, Fishers &alpha;, basal area and above-ground biomass all decreased. In the 2o forest, Urticaceae, Rubiaceae and Euphorbiaceae were the most common families and Cecropia membranacea, Sapium glandulosum, Pourouma guianensis and Byrsonima arthropoda were the most common species. The number of stems was greatest in the island 2o forest and lowest in the 1o forest under water for more than four months, and mean stem size, species richness, Fishers &alpha;, basal area and above-ground biomass was lowest in the sandy beach 2o forest and highest in the 1o forest under water one to two months. Soil bulk density predicted mean stem size, species richness and Fishers &alpha; well, where all three decreased as soils became more sandy. I conclude that as soil becomes less sandy with more clay content there is an increase in forest structural complexity, unpredictable flooding in 2o forests reduces structure more than the predictable flood pulse 1o forests receive, and soil bulk density may have a causal role for diversity in igap&oacute; forests.

Inequality in the Promised Land

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-180
Author(s):  
Muhammad Sharif Uddin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Minority Students ◽  
Doctoral Dissertation ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Suburban Area ◽  
Midwestern United States ◽  
Minority Community ◽  
Promised Land ◽  
Land Race ◽  
The Relationship

Inequality in the promised land: Race, resources, and suburban schooling is a well-written book by L’ Heureux Lewis-McCoy. The book is based on Lewis-McCoy’s doctoral dissertation, that included an ethnographic study in a suburban area named Rolling Acres in the Midwestern United States. Lewis-McCoy studied the relationship between families and those families’ relationships with schools. Through this study, the author explored how invisible inequality and racism in an affluent suburban area became the barrier for racial and economically minority students to grow up academically. Lewis-McCoy also discovered the hope of the minority community for raising their children for a better future.

Live tree species basal area of the contiguous United States (2000-2009)

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry T. Wilson ◽  
Andrew J. Lister ◽  
Rachel I. Riemann ◽  
Douglas M. Griffith
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Live Tree
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