Forest composition change in the eastern United States

Songlin Fei; Peilin Yang

Treesearch

Forest composition change in the eastern United States

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Songlin Fei, Peilin Yang

Year:

2011

Type:

General Technical Report - Proceedings

Station:

Northern Research Station

Source:

In: Fei, Songlin; Lhotka, John M.; Stringer, Jeffrey W.; Gottschalk, Kurt W.; Miller, Gary W., eds. Proceedings, 17th central hardwood forest conference; 2010 April 5-7; Lexington, KY; Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-78. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 103-108.

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Abstract

Forest ecosystems in the eastern United States are believed to be experiencing a species composition change, but most evidence is anecdotal or localized. We used U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis data to quantify the annual changes of three common genera: Acer (maple), carya (hickory), and Quercus (oak) with survey periods between 8 and 20 years across the eastern United States. The majority of the region had an increase in maple abundance. At the same time, hickories and oaks had a near universal decrease in the Central Hardwood region.

Parent Publication

Proceedings, 17th Central Hardwood Forest Conference

Citation

Fei, Songlin; Yang, Peilin. 2011. Forest composition change in the eastern United States. In: Fei, Songlin; Lhotka, John M.; Stringer, Jeffrey W.; Gottschalk, Kurt W.; Miller, Gary W., eds. Proceedings, 17th central hardwood forest conference; 2010 April 5-7; Lexington, KY; Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-78. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 103-108.