Development of an ecological classification system for the Wayne National Forest

Abstract

In 1991, a collaborative research project was initiated to create an ecological classification system for the Wayne National Forest of southeastern Ohio. The work focuses on the ecological land type (ELT) level of ecosystem classification. The most common ELTs are being identified and described using information from intensive field sampling and multivariate data analyses. The tentative ELT classification developed as a first approximation for Athens Unit (about one third of the entire forest) includes 17 ecological units defined by their slope position, steepness, aspect, and landform. A total of 62 relatively undisturbed, mature (> 70 years old) forest ecosystems have been sampled. Most ELTs are dominated by mixed forests of white oak (Quercus alba L.), northern red oak (Q. rubra L.), black oak (Q. velutina Lam.), shagbark hickory (Carya ovata (Mill.) K. Koch), sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.), and yellow--poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.). Two of the ELTs are bottomland units. Ultimately, the functional relationships between climate, geology, physiography, soils, and vegetation (both herbaceous and woody) on all three units of the national forest will be separately and quantitatively investigated.

Citation

Hix, David M.; Chech, Andrea M. 1993. Development of an ecological classification system for the Wayne National Forest. In: Gillespie, Andrew R.; Parker, George R.; Pope, Phillip E.; Rink, George: eds. Proceedings of the 9th Central Hardwood Forest Conference; Gen. Tech. Rep. NC-161. St. Paul, MN: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station: 491-501