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Harvard Forest Symposium Abstract 2005

• Title: Stand dynamics and vegetation history of beech forests on Naushon Island, MA
• Primary Author: Posy Busby (Stanford University)
• Additional Authors: David Foster (Harvard University); Glenn Motzkin (University of Massachusetts - Amherst )
• Abstract:

  Throughout New England pollen records show a regional decline in beech and other late successional tree species since European colonization that has been attributed to an increase in fire, cutting, and other anthropogenic disturbances that favor early successional tree species (Foster and Aber 2004, Foster et al. 2002, Cogbill et al. 2002). In contrast, preliminary results from a fossil pollen record on Naushon Island, MA show a substantial increase in beech since colonization. An investigation of the long-term dynamics of modern coastal beech forests will clarify the conditions under which a shade-tolerant late successional tree species may attain dominance in the presence of frequent natural disturbances. Naushon Island, characterized by infrequent fire, frequent wind disturbance, and minimal land use (due to single-family ownership since colonization), is an ideal study site to explore the rise in dominance of beech.
  
  
  I hypothesize that infrequent fire and minimal land use have allowed beech to emerge as the dominant tree species on Naushon Island. Further, in the presence of frequent hurricanes and winter storms, disturbances that would typically permit the establishment of early successsional species, beech’s unique ability to reproduce vegetatively in response to crown, stem or root damage has strengthened its dominance (Ward 1961, Jones &Raynal 1986, Jones and Raynal 1988, Tubbs and Houston 1990). I will test this hypothesis by addressing the following questions: Are analogous beech-dominated periods in the fossil pollen record characterized by low charcoal levels? And conversely, are periods of low beech abundance characterized by high charcoal levels? How do modern vegetation patterns reflect the island’s natural and anthropogenic disturbance regimes? How have beech and oak responded differently to hurricane disturbances?
  
  
  In this study major ecological questions will be addressed from the perspective of long-term data, including lake sediments, annual tree rings, and historical records. The comprehensive historical record for Naushon Island affords an opportunity to verify fossil pollen and tree ring data with documentary sources. Foster and Moztkin have used this approach to study landscape history throughout coastal New England (Foster and Motzkin 1999, Foster et al. 2002, Motzkin et al. 2002). This study uses similar methods to examine a forest type that is uncommon in the modern landscape but has temporal analogs prior to colonization (Foster et al. 2002). Results will provide detailed information on age-structure and growth patterns for coastal beech forests, offer a contrasting story to regional beech decline since European settlement, and inform conservation management decisions throughout coastal New England.
  
  
  Foster, D.R. and Motzkin, G. 1999. Historical influences on the landscape of Martha’s Vineyard: Perspectives on the management of the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest. Harvard Forest Paper No. 23. Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, MA
  
  
  Foster et al. 2002. Cultural, environmental and historical controls of vegetation patterns and the modern conservation setting on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, USA. Journal of Biogeography, 29, 1381-1400.
  
  
  Foster, D.R. and Aber, J.D. 2004. Forests in Time: the environmental consequence of 1,000 years of change in New England. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.
  
  
  Jones, R.H. and Raynal, D.J. 1986. Spatial distribution and development of root sprouts in Fagus grandifolia (Fagaceae). American Journal of Botany 73(12): 1723-1731.
  
  
  Jones, R.H., and Raynal, D.J. 1988. Root sprouting in American beech (Fagus grandifolia): effects of root injury, root exposure and season. Forest Ecology and Management 25: 79-90.
  
  
  Motzkin, G., Eberhardt, R., Hall, B., Foster, D.R., Harrod, J. and MacDonald, D. 2002. Vegetation variation across Cape Cod, MA: environmental and historical determinants. Journal of Biogeography 29, 1439-1454.
  
  
  Tubbs, C.H. and Huston, D.R. 1990. Fagus grandifolia Ehrh. in Silvics of North America, Vol. 2. Hardwoods. USDA FS, Agricultural Handbook 654. Washington, DC.
  
  
  Ward, R.T. 1961. Some aspects of the regeneration habits of the American beech. Ecology 42: 828-832.
  
  
  
  
  
  

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