Composition and Disturbance History of a Forest Fragment in Virginia, USA

Forest ecologists and dendrochronologists are beginning to recognize the conservation and research value of forest fragments. In this study, a forest fragment was studied to quantify the current vegetation composition and structure, reconstruct the disturbance history, and identify evidence of future changes in forest composition. The most important overstory trees were white oak (Quercus alba), eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea), and chestnut oak (Quercus montana). This overstory composition appears to have developed during a 100-year period from 1850 to 1950, when the forest experienced continuous low-levels of disturbance. There was a timber harvest in the early 1950s, which appears to have initiated a reduction in the successful establishment of oaks and an increase in the successful establishment of red maple (Acer rubrum) and eastern white pine. Thus, although this forest fragment is not spatially connected to the larger eastern deciduous forest, it shares the regional pattern of mesophication observed across this region and is likely to experience a shift in composition towards more mesic tree species and a reduction in the dominance of oak.