Ecological classification systems for the Wayne National Forest, southeastern Ohio

Abstract

The importance of basing land management decisions upon an ecosystem perspective is becoming widely accepted. It is frequently regarded as insufficient to simply manage stands or forest cover types without considering the ecological relationships of the forest vegetation to the other components of the ecosystems, such as soils and physiography. In order to implement the policies of ecosystem management adopted by the USDA Forest Service, ecologically meaningful units of the landscape (ecosystems) must be recognized at various scales or levels. Given this justification, hierarchical ecological classification systems (ECSs) that characterize the range of local ecosystem types, have been developed for the Athens, Ironton, and Marietta Units of the Wayne National Forest. Each ECS was produced separately because of climatic, geologic, and land-use history differences among the three units. The Athens and Ironton Units lie principally within the Western Hocking Plateau Subsection. In contrast, the Marietta Unit is located within the Ohio Valley Lowland Subsection, and was settled first and more heavily farmed. Forest lands of the Athens Unit have experienced the most anthropogenic disturbance, including extensive clay and coal mining. The Ironton Unit was a center of 19th-century iron-ore production, resulting in a majority of the area consisting of even-aged mixed-oak forests.

Citation

Hix, David M.; Pearcy, Jeffrey N. 1997. Ecological classification systems for the Wayne National Forest, southeastern Ohio. In: Pallardy, Stephen G.; Cecich, Robert A.; Garrett, H. Gene; Johnson, Paul S., eds. Proceedings of the 11th Central Hardwood Forest Conference; Gen. Tech. Rep. NC-188. St. Paul, MN: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station: 353